The Mesa State men’s soccer team opened home play Sept. 13 against traditional powerhouse Seattle Pacific University.
The Mavs, who went into the game with a 3-0 record and riding a wave of confidence, didn’t leave the capacity crowd disappointed.
“The crowd was fantastic,” coach Josh Pittman said. “Playing in front of this many people, you could tell made the kids nervous, but they came out and battled.”
A standing room only crowd of 763 witnessed a back and forth battle that resulted in a 2-1 Maverick overtime victory. Senior forward Steve Shaw opened up the scoring with a goal 12 minutes into the first half. With the crowd behind the home team, the defense held for the remainder of
the first half.
The first 35 minutes of the second half had scoring chances by both teams, but neither the Falcons or the Mavs could find the back of the net. Seattle Pacific broke through the Maverick defense late in regulation, evening up the score in the 81st minute. The Mavericks sealed the win with a header by senior defensemen Jake Jobe. The goal came less than two minutes into overtime.
“I told Sam to give one a chance in the air,” Jobe said. “If he did that I knew I could finish the goal. I got goose bumps playing in front of this crowd, they were unbelievable. It was a big inter-regional win, beating a really solid team like Seattle Pacific looks really good going into the rest of the season.”
Pittman was proud of the team following the win.
“I think this game showed us how to battle, how to compete,” Pittman said. “We need to get better at all facets of the game. That includes the coaching staff as well. When pressure situations come up, we have to react like we’ve been there. It was a big win.”
The Mavericks looked to sustain that momentum heading into weekend as they took on nationally ranked #3 Colorado School of Mines Sept. 17. The Mavericks failed to get anything going offensively as the Orediggers handed the Mavericks their first defeat of the season by the score of 5-1.
Game two of the weekend once again went to the opposition as Metro State beat the Mavs 1-0. Scott Grode of Metro scored the lone goal 10 minutes into the game.
With a 4-2 record, the Mavs play at Walker Field against Fort Lewis College Wednesday. The team then goes back on the road with a match up against University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Friday.

chughes@mesastate.edu