Sept. 18, 2005

Box Score

Olympia, Wash. - Western Washington University had a six-game series winning streak snapped as it fell 4-2 to The Evergreen State College in a non-league men's soccer game Sunday at TESC Field.

The Vikings, who dropped to 1-7-1, trailed 3-1 at halftime and then had two defenders handed red cards during the second half, Blake Brown (Jr., West Linn, OR) in the 49th minute and Kenny Mueller (Jr., Snohomish/Bothell) in the 77th minute.

Evergreen, ranked No.16 in the latest NAIA National Poll, improved to 4-1-0. It was the Geoducks' first win over Western since 1996.

"We definitely came out slow in the beginning, and they made us pay for it," said Western coach Travis Connell. "We did battle back a little bit, but then we shot ourselves in the foot by getting red carded."

"We still haven't put together 90 minutes yet. We're just playing good in spots right now. We have to do it for the whole game."

Evergreen freshman Ryan Kuffler scored the first two goals of his collegiate career, connecting off a corner kick to break a scoreless tie in the 15th minute and breaking away to score the last goal of the contest in the 69th minute.

Forward Filomon Afenegus (Sr., Spokane/North Central) scored both Western goals, giving him a team-high of four for the season. He connected from 18 yards out in the 39th minute, Matt Zigulis (Fr., Sebastopol, CA/Analy) getting the assist, as the Vikings cut the Evergreen lead to 2-1.

Afenegus also scored in the 57th minute, heading in a cross from Gus Zadra (Jr., Poulsbo/North Kitsap), as Western again pulled to within one, 3-2.

"Filomon had one of his best games," Connell said. "He scored our two goals and almost scored a third, and was all over the field."

Kyle Andrews gave Evergreen a 2-0 lead with a goal in the 34th minute, and Ryan Dey put the Geoducks up 4-1 with his first collegiate goal in the 39th minute.

Evergreen had a 21-12 shot advantage and each team had six corner kicks.

Western, which is 0-4-0 on the road this season, opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Thursday (7:30 p.m.), entertaining Humboldt State University at the Whatcom CC Soccer Field.

Western Washington vs. EvergreenDate: 9/18/05  Attendance: 168Goals by Period     1   2     TotalWestern Washington  1   1 ---   2Evergreen           3   1 ---   4SCORING SUMMARY:TESC - Kuffler (Saxman), 14:07TESC- Andrews, 33:15WWU - Afenegus (Zigulis), 38:08TESC - Dey (Arthur), 38:49WWU - Afenegus (Zadra), 56:17TESC - Kuffler, 69:48Shots: Western Washington 12, Evergreen 21Corner kicks: Western Washington 6, Evergreen 6Saves: Western Washington 7 (Dragavon 7), Evergreen 8 (Oliver 6, Riley 2)