Saint Mary's men's soccer gave up four second-half goals Saturday, Oct. 3, and lost 4-2 at Seattle U, ending a Pacific Northwest road trip without a West Coast Conference win.
Sophomore midfielder Cameron Kobey struck first. In the fourth minute, outside back Talan Rochelle launched a long throw-in into the attacking third. A Seattle U defender headed it out, but the ball stayed in the box. It was chested down, and Kobey pounced with a right-footed volley into the net for his fifth goal of the season.
That early strike held up through halftime. The Gaels limited Seattle U to just four first-half shots and carried a 1-0 lead into the break.
The second half was a different match.
Seattle U fired 17 shots after halftime and found the net four times. Alex Notzka did most of the damage, scoring in the 63rd, 77th and 79th minutes to complete a hat trick. Teammate Nico Wiskel added a fourth in the 81st minute, pushing the score to 4-1.
Graduate transfer Luke Schaefer pulled one back in the 87th minute, heading in a corner kick for his fourth goal of the season. Kobey earned the assist, his third of the year, tying Rochelle for the team lead. The Gaels also hit the crossbar on a late penalty kick but could not close the gap further.
Kobey's goal-and-assist performance was the second of his season. He did the same in a 3-3 draw against No. 12 Creighton earlier this fall. He now leads Saint Mary's with 13 points and has already matched Bastien Toelhoej's team-leading goal total from last season.
Sophomore goalkeeper Tommy Davis matched his career high with five saves in his fifth start of the year. Freshman center back Eemil Laamanen logged his team-leading 11th full 90-minute match, according to the SMC Athletics game recap.
The loss drops Saint Mary's to 2-6-4 overall and 0-2-1 in WCC play. Seattle U improved to 5-3-3 and earned its first conference win.
The Gaels return to Moraga on Saturday, Oct. 10, to host Pacific at 1 p.m. in their first WCC home match of the season.
