SEATTLE – Earning back-to-back wins for the first time since the beginning of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team topped host Seattle Pacific University 3-2 under the lights at Interbay Stadium Saturday evening.
 
Freshman Pascal Pisarek scored a pair of goals for the Yellowjackets, after Samuele Folla notched his first-career finish to give his team the lead in the 14th minute. MSUB withstood a late rally by the Falcons, as Reid Baez scored a header goal with less than five minutes remaining to get his team within one.
 
The 'Jackets improved to 7-7-2 on the year, and are all square at 4-4-1 in league play with Saturday's result. MSUB climbed to second place in the GNAC standings with the win, leaping past SPU, Saint Martin's, and Western Washington on Saturday with a total of 13 points. "What a team performance," said MSUB head coach Alex Balog. "SPU deserves credit for making tactical changes that made it difficult for us in the second half. However, we succeeded at something we weren't capable of doing earlier on in the season: Seeing a game out by playing more mature. Our guys fought like lions and the way we kept working and working deserves respect. Tonight's result is us coming together as a team, and i cannot be more proud of our boys for that."
 
After Thursday's 4-2 win over Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho, Saturday's result made it the first time MSUB has earned six points on the road in a single GNAC weekend since the 2009 season when it defeated Western Washington 2-1 on September 24 and Saint Martin's 1-0 two nights later.
 
The 'Jackets came close to pulling ahead early on, when Falcon goalkeeper Lars Helleren reached up to his right and made a reaction save after an on-target header by Ricardo Palomino. The senior forward tied SPU's Titus Grant for the game high with seven shots, including two on target in the match.
 
The Yellowjackets' Italians connected in the 14th minute, in a play that started with Folla passing from the midfield out wide to Luca Battistotti. Adam Hepburn had the first of his two assists on the night with a lead pass to Battistotti, and Folla found himself wide open on the cross and smashed the ball into the far corner of the net to make it a 1-0 game.
 
Midway through the first a foul deep in the defensive third set SPU up with the scoring chance on its first goal. Grant elected to go under the wall of defenders with a 20-yard left-footed strike, and beat everybody with the low shot that was deflected into the back of the net.
 
Helleren laid out for a diving stop on another header attempt by Palomino two minutes later, and the senior striker came close to capitalizing on the ensuing corner as his shot attempt carried just high. He rattled the crossbar on the Yellowjackets' next offensive push, as the opening half continued to yield frequent scoring chances.
 
Hepburn intercepted a clearance by the SPU back line in the 33rd minute, and promptly ripped a shot from beyond the box that was blocked. Pisarek was there to collect the rebound, and finished an open shot from inside the box to make the score 2-1.
 
MSUB goalkeeper Ludvig Rhodin had a big save as time wound below 10 minutes in the first half, reacting to push away a header attempt by Sam Rucklos from point-blank range.
 
Grant had another free-kick opportunity from just outside the box 10 minutes into the second half, but this time his deflected attempt carried away from the goal frame. Rhodin somehow denied the striker on another shot that came from inside the box, sticking his leg out to keep the 'Jackets ahead on what looked to be a sure goal.
 
The Falcons began to move the ball more freely offensively late in the second, resulting in another strong look towards goal from the top of the box. This time it was Alden Massey with the left-footed strike on frame, but Rhodin slid to his left to corral it.
 
MSUB's lead grew to 3-1 in improbable fashion with 28 minutes left to play, as Pisarek let loose a long, left-footed one-time effort from a tight angle on the left side and watched as it soared into the side netting on the far post. The finish came after a drop pass from freshman Brady Tesch, who logged an assist for the second straight game.

The Falcons left themselves a chance with 4:30 left on the clock, when Baez nodded home a shot from five yards out to make it a 3-2 game. The finish came after a nifty combination from Grant and Rucklos that pushed the ball forward into the box.
 
THE BUZZ: Pisarek was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 6-18-5 all-time against SPU and is 3-13-3 in road matches…the teams split the season series with SPU winning 3-2 on a 90th-minute goal when the teams met on September 27 in Billings…Saturday marked the Yellowjackets' first six-point weekend of the conference season…the assists were Hepburn's first in two seasons, and he now has four in his career…three of those assists have come on the date of October 20, as his two Saturday night followed his previous one two years ago to the day…the assists for Battistotti and Tesch were each their third of the year.
 
NEXT WEEK: MSUB remains on the road for its final away contests of the season, playing at Concordia University on October 25 and at Saint Martin's University on October 27. Kickoff against the Cavaliers in Portland, Oregon, is set for 4 p.m. Pacific/5 p.m. Mountain next Thursday, and the game against the Saints in Lacey, Washington is at noon Pacific/1 p.m. Mountain next Saturday. Live video and live statistics will be available online through the MSUB Stretch Internet portal here.

Date	Location	H/A/N	Result	Score
10-18-99	Seattle, WA	A	L	9-2
10-16-00	Seattle, WA	A	L	13-0
10-7-02	Seattle, WA	A	L	3-0
9-19-03	Seattle, WA	A	L	3-0
9-28-04	Seattle, WA	A	L	5-1 (SPU #10)
9-20-07	Seattle, WA	A	T (2 OT)	1-1
10-22-07	Billings, MT	H	W	2-0
10-4-08	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
11-6-08	Seattle, WA	A	W	4-2
9-19-09	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	1-1
10-17-09	Seattle, WA	A	L	4-1
9-30-10	Billings, MT	H	L	2-0
10-23-10	Seattle, WA	A	L	2-1
9-17-11	Seattle, WA	A	L	2-0
10-13-11	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	0-0
9-22-12	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	1-1 (SPU #2)
10-11-12	Seattle, WA	A	L	2-0 (SPU #9)
9-28-13	Seattle, WA	A	L	3-2
10-19-13	Billings, MT	H	L	2-0
10-9-14	Seattle, WA	A	L	2-1
11-1-14	Billings, MT	H	L	1-0 (SPU #2)
10-8-15	Billings, MT	H	L	3-1 (SPU #18)
10-31-15	Seattle, WA	A	L	1-0 (SPU #9)
9-29-16	Seattle, WA	A	T (2 OT)	1-1
10-22-16	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
9-28-17	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
10-21-17	Seattle, WA	A	W	2-1
9-27-18	Billings, MT	H	L	3-2
10-20-18	Seattle, WA	A	W	3-2