Men's soccer season closes with defeat in round 2 of NCAA Tournament

No. 16 Seattle University men’s soccer saw its season end in penalty kicks at No. 7 Stanford on Sunday evening. The Redhawks played the Cardinal to a 1-1 draw in the NCAA Tournament second round match at Cagan Stadium, with Stanford advancing, 2-1, in penalties.

With the result, the Redhawks (15-3-5) extended their unbeaten streak to 16 games, the longest active unbeaten string in the nation.

"I'm really proud of the team," said Coach Pete Fewing. "They exemplified how a team should play and how they should behave. I'm really sick for the team and how the season ended." 

Seattle U showed it belonged with one of the top programs in the country on Sunday, matching the Cardinal for much of the night. The teams played a scoreless first half, as both teams earned chances that were denied by the defenses.

In the second half, the Redhawks created several dangerous opportunities early, as Declan McGlynn hit the crossbar on a laser shot. The hosts answered with the first goal of the night in the 61^st minute to go up, 1-0.

SU continued to search for a goal and in the 75^th minute, it struck pay dirt. Hamish Ritchie sent in a ball from the offensive left, where Hal Uderitz headed it closer to the goal line. Noe Meza was there to flick in the equalizer and reset the match.

As regulation wound down, the Redhawks kept at it and had several chances to go ahead, but Stanford made the plays to force overtime. In extra time, neither side mustered much offense and the teams prepared for penalty kicks.

After Stanford scored first, Uderitz converted his try to make it 1-1. Akili Kasim made a save on the next Cardinal shot to keep level after two rounds. After SU was stopped in the third round, Stanford converted for a 2-1 edge. Kasim came up with another save to extend the match, but the Cardinal made another stop to advance to the third round. 

SU will lose eight seniors-Julian Avila-Good, Nkosi Burgess, Cody Buchanan, Harrison Kurtz, Thomas Mickoski, Connor Noblat, Hamish Ritchie, and Kees Westra. It returns a strong cast of Redhawks for 2020, as All-WAC performers Alex Acton-Petronotis, Declan McGlynn, Noe Meza, along with WAC Freshman of the Year James Morris, come back to lead SU next year.