Eagles Shut out C of I, Clinch #3 Seed!

Men's Soccer: Friday November 6, 2009

KIRKLAND, Wash. - Following early afternoon lightning and thunder and heavy rain, the NU Eagles clinched the #3 seed in the conference tournament by shutting out the College of Idaho, 2-0, this afternoon on the NU Athletic field.

With three players and Head Coach Gary McIntosh sitting out the contest due to red cards in the previous Corban game on Tuesday, the Eagles pulled together and pulled out the crucial victory.

Luke Fischer put NU into the lead with his goal off C of I goalkeeper Aaron Reynolds from 10 yards out 36:54 into the first half. Nate Jung and Kyle Tatro were credited with the assists on the goal. The half ended with NU with the 1-0 lead and it would remain that way until the 66th minute when Brandon Screen's corner kick would get by the goalie.

Eagle Goalkeeper Brian Swanson earned the shutout along with senior Kyle Wall who took over in goal at the half. Each had 3 saves for the game. C of I goalie, Reynolds saved 8 shots for the Coyotes who were outshot by NU, 22-15 and 5-3 on corner kicks.

Kazuki Murata, Jesus Lopez, Brian Buckingham and Matt Kelly all had 3 shots for the Yotes, Buckingham with 3 shots on goal. Brandon Screen had 5 shots for NU and teammate Alex Taylor had 6 shots including 2 shots on goal.

"What a fantastic win!" commented Head Coach Gary McIntosh. "We set out at the beginning of the season to have a shot at making the playoffs. The boys came out and played for each other today and it was definitely a team victory. Our defense was solid all the way around and it was a well-played game by the guys," McIntosh continued. I could tell in the first minutes of the game the boys wanted to win and they played that way. They deserved this victory. Chris Peterson did a great job in my place today on the substitutions and managed the team well."

The Eagles will now await the result of the game between Warner Pacific and Oregon Tech tomorrow. Concordia is presently in the league lead but a Warner Pac win tomorrow could vault Warner Pacific back first place by a single point as they trail Concordia 33-31 in the point standings.