BELLINGHAM, Wash. – A goal apiece from freshmen Andres Perez and Austin Shafer propelled the Montana State University Billings men's soccer team to a 2-1 road victory over Great Northwest Athletic Conference foe Western Washington University on Saturday evening at Harrington Field.
 
With the score tied at 1-1 and less than seven minutes remaining on the clock, Shafer elevated to nod home the game-winning goal inside the far post. Senior Guillaume Kremer provided the delivery from the corner on the play, recording his second assist of the night and his third career multi-assist game.
 
The win made it five results in the last six matches for MSUB, which is 4-1-1 in that time span. The team improved to 4-4-1 overall on the year, and evened its GNAC record at 1-1 after falling at No. 3 Simon Fraser 4-0 on Thursday.
 
"I am very proud of the group today, and we really battled," said MSUB head coach Alex Balog. "After we conceded the goal in the second half, we restored the balance and we took it to them. Throughout the team, there were a lot of players who battled for the program today."
 
Western Washington slipped to 4-4 on the year, and started its conference schedule with a mark of 0-2. The Vikings have lost four of their last five matches, after starting the season 3-0.
 
WWU goalkeeper Brandon Wolter came up with a top-notch save just three minutes into the match, diving backwards and to his left to tip away an on-target header attempt by Dana Kowachek. It was the first of four stops made on the evening by WWU's goalkeeper.
 
The 'Jackets continued to create chances in the opening 20 minutes, and won a corner kick after a shot by Kremer was pushed wide of the far post by Wolter.
 
Shantik Bedrosian helped create the opening goal, carrying the ball from the left side into the center of the field before making a pass to Kremer. The senior showed off his touch by controlling the ball and quickly feeding it to Perez on the right side of the box, and on his 18th birthday the freshman took care of the rest with a hard, dipping shot that carried into the far-upper corner of the net.
 
The Yellowjackets held a dominant mark of 9-2 in shots over the opening 45 minutes, and maintained possession well in the first half.
 
The Vikings came out of the halftime break on the offensive, and evened the score less than seven minutes into the second. Gaining possession in the middle of the field, WWU's Drew Farnsworth held the ball before touching a perfectly-timed through ball into the goal box. From there, Georg Cholewa nudged a one-time effort with the outside of his right foot into the lower left corner of the net.
 
WWU won a dangerous free kick with 22 minutes left in the second half, but a block by the MSUB wall and an ensuing shot that missed just wide of the far post kept the score at 1-1.
 
The 'Jackets dodged a bullet with less than four minutes remaining, when goalkeeper Ludvig Rhodin smothered a shot by Stephen Jinneman from point-blank range inside the box. Rhodin made a pair of saves in the contest, and helped keep the Yellowjacket defense organized during WWU's late push to equalize.
 
Shafer's goal came on the lone corner kick won by MSUB in the second half, as he maneuvered himself into position against his defender at the far post and scored his first-career game-winner.
 
"This is a very important win for us, and I am happy we were able to rebound after the poor result on Thursday," Balog said.
 
Defensively, Samuele Folla, Liam Knox, and Pascal Pisarek each played a full 90 minutes, as did Adam Hepburn and Bedrosian in the midfield and forward positions, respectively.
 
THE BUZZ: Perez was picked as the St. Vincent Healthcare Player of the Game…MSUB is now 11-18-1 all-time against WWU and is 6-12 in road contests…MSUB has won six of the last eight games between the teams…Kremer moved into a tie for fifth place in MSUB history with 16 career assists, as he pulled even with 2016 graduate Julian Toenges.
 
UP NEXT: After four straight matches away from home, the 'Jackets return to Billings for the next three weeks. First up during the five-game home stand are matches against Seattle Pacific University on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday. Kickoff against the Falcons is set for 3:30 p.m. and kickoff against the Nighthawks is at 3 p.m., and live video and live statistics will be available for both matches through the MSUB Stretch Internet portal online here.

Date	Location	H/A/N	Result	Score
9-11-98	Arcata, CA	N	L	4-1
10-17-99	Bellingham, WA	A	L	4-0
9-17-00	Bellingham, WA	A	L	3-1
10-17-01	Bellingham, WA	A	L	4-0
9-28-02	Bellingham, WA	A	L	2-0
9-22-03	Bellingham, WA	A	L	2-0
9-27-04	Bellingham, WA	A	L	3-1
9-10-07	Billings, MT	H	W	2-1
9-22-07	Bellingham, WA	A	L	3-0
10-19-08	Bellingham, WA	A	L	1-0
10-31-08	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
9-24-09	Bellingham, WA	A	W (2 OT)	2-1
10-31-09	Billings, MT	H	L	3-2
9-25-10	Bellingham, WA	A	W	3-2
10-28-10	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
9-24-11	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
10-20-11	Bellingham, WA	A	W	3-1
9-15-12	Bellingham, WA	A	L	2-1
10-18-12	Billings, MT	H	W (OT)	2-1
9-21-13	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	0-0
10-24-13	Bellingham, WA	A	L	1-0
9-27-14	Bellingham, WA	A	W	1-0
10-23-14	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
9-24-15	Billings, MT	H	W	1-0
10-24-15	Bellingham, WA	A	W	1-0
10-13-16	Billings, MT	H	W	3-1
10-29-16	Bellingham, WA	A	L	2-0
10-12-17	Bellingham, WA	A	L	2-0
10-28-17	Billings, MT	H	W	2-0
9-22-18	Bellingham, WA	A	W	2-1