Box Score
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – For the second time in as many years, the Montana State Billings men's soccer team defeated Western Washington University on the road as the Jackets posted a wild 3-2 victory as senior Chris Andre scored a goal and an assist to lead the way for MSUB.
“It was a great win for us tonight,” MSUB head coach Dan McNally said. “It's so important that we got our first conference win after losing the opener at Simon Fraser.”
The Yellowjackets (5-2-1, 1-1 GNAC) got on the board early as sophomore Thomas Sheets was on the receiving end of a pass from senior Chris Andre, who hit a bend shot to the near post from 12 yards out, at the 10:09 mark for a 1-0 lead. It was Andre's team-leading third assist of the season and Sheets' third goal.
MSUB held a 4-1 lead in shots through the first 10 minutes, but the Vikings roared back with six shots over the next seven minutes, including back-to-back key saves by Yellowjacket senior goalkeeper, Matt Mitchell.
Later in the half, Sheets fired his third shot of the night at the 34:55 mark. It was the first shot by the Jackets since the goal 10 minutes in. Western Washington (3-3-2, 0-2-1 GNAC) rattled off eight consecutive shots during that span.
The game stayed 1-0 in favor of MSUB through the rest of the half. The Yellowjackets had five shots in the opening period with Sheets leading the way with three and the score. WWU had 10 shots and had four players with two shots each.
“I told the team at halftime that we had to play our best half of the season in the second half to get the win,” McNally said.
Moments after a nice save from Mitchell, the Vikings hit pay dirt as Jin Dangvan scored off an assist from Kenny Parker on tap in off a rebound for a 1-1 score at the 49:41 mark.
The tie was short lived, however, as the Yellowjackets regained the lead five minutes later as Andre found the back of the net from 16-yards out for the fifth time this season with an assist from senior Kyle Moriarty and a 2-1 lead at the 55:19 mark.
MSUB added an insurance goal in the 69th minute as junior Peter Davies took a breakaway pass from senior Ryan Covey for the score and a 3-1 lead. It was Davies' first goal as a Yellowjacket and Covey's second assist of the season. Prior to the game tonight, MSUB had never scored more than two goals on WWU in 14 meetings.
From there, the Vikings began shooting with a sense of urgency as Mitchell came up with a big save at the 79:11 mark, followed by a shot from Dangvan that sailed high moments later.
Things got interesting in the final four minutes as WWU was rewarded with a penalty kick and Kellan Brown converted the kick for a 3-2 deficit at the 86:35 mark. Andrew Weishaar then fired a shot with just under two minutes left and Mitchell came up with the biggest save of the night.
Brown then had a shot off back-to-back corner kicks which sailed wide with just over a minute left in regulation.
The victory was the second consecutive victory at WWU for MSUB as the Jackets tallied a 2-1 double overtime victory last season, marking the first win at WWU in school history. MSUB was 0-7 prior to last season in Bellingham all-time.
“The guys showed great character tonight and I am very proud of them,” McNally added. “We have a young team and we are learning as we go. One thing that we have is team spirit and they are all fighting for each other.”
MSUB was led by four shots from Andre and Sheets each. Andre had three shots on goal and Sheets had two. The Yellowjackets fired 12 shots as a team with seven on goal. The Jackets tallied six corner kicks and Mitchell tallied seven saves.
WWU had 24 shots as Dangvan, Brown and Brendan Quilici had five shots each to lead the team. Dangvan and Brown each had two shots on goal with a pair of scores.
MSUB returns home to host rival Seattle Pacific on Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Yellowjacket Field and then will host Saint Martin's for Futbol Frenzy on Sat., Oct. 2, at 1 p.m. at Yellowjacket Field.
