After big win over Northwest U, PDL friendlies & season lie ahead for Gonzaga players

Defender Josh Phillips (2) and the Zags all smiles from the first minute | Photos: Gerald Barnhart (gallery) 

With the exception of their five-a-side tournament April 28, the Gonzaga men’s soccer team wraps up an extremely busy spring slate with a trip to the Puget Sound this weekend to face the USL Premier Development League duo of North Sound SeaWolves and Kitsap Pumas after a big 6-0 win over Northwest University last weekend and a previous trip to Canada.

The Bulldogs set the tone in the first minute in last Saturday’s contest against Northwest, scoring off a throw-in that bounced around in the box before Josh Phillips (Olympia, WA) blasted it into the roof of the goal from close range.

From that point it was nearly all Gonzaga, which had a 4-0 lead by the break.

Galbraith's early free kick save

“The guys had a good outing today, probably because we had a good three games up in Canada to get under our belts. So, I think we were more game ready than they were,” said GU head coach Einar Thorarinsson. “That could have been the difference.”

Gonzaga nearly doubled the lead in the 11th minute on a free kick from the edge of the box, but goalkeeper Joe Galbraith (Whitefish, MT) made a fantastic diving saving to parry it away.

Nine minutes later though the Zags were about to find their second when advantage was played about 30 yards out, allowing the ball to slip out slightly to the left to Dustin Ferger (Spokane, WA), who had plenty of space to run into the box and fire past the onrushing keeper.

In the 33rd minute Alec Cutter (Spokane, WA) broke behind the defense and beat the challenge from Galbraith to net Gonzaga’s third, and with five minutes left in the half Zach Hamer (Spokane, WA) did the same up the middle of the box.  The Zags nearly had a fifth with a minute left, but Galbraith was able to finally come up with a close-range diving stop in the middle of the box on Cutter.

Hamer beats keeper for tally

Despite plenty of offensive possession it took nearly a half-hour for the Zags to find the back of the net in the second half. A brilliant combination play from 25 yards out put Lars Ludwigs in 17 yards out for an easy finish after a lengthy series of possession in the 70th minute.

Nine minutes later a ball from the right to Ludwigs on the left side of the box, was redirected to the middle of the box where Cutter one-timed it out of the air with a simple touch for the easy goal.

The best chance on the day for Northwest did not come until the 81st minute of the contest. Taylor Young (Bellevue, WA) played the ball in from the right flank to Abraham Nesbeth in the box, but his effort from 12 yards was blocked by a defender.

In addition to Galbraith, the two other Montana natives, Trever Moll (Polson) and Hunter Madich (Kalispell) on Northwest’s roster saw plenty of action in the friendly.

The Bulldogs now turn their attention to the PDL duo. They face the SeaWolves at Starfire Saturday afternoon (4:30) and Kitsap in Bremerton Sunday (11 am).

“I think we are as ready for games as we have ever been in the spring because of that trip, so the spring has been good for us. We have two games coming up this weekend against the SeaWolves and the Kitsap team so I think we are ready for those kind of games.

Einar Thorarinsson 

“That [Canada trip] was a once in a four-year thing that we have an opportunity to go on a foreign tour. Canada was our foreign tour; that’s all we can afford at this time.

“It was good. We played Simon Fraser; that was really our key game. They were in the national championship last year in Division 2 so we wanted a good opponent. We beat them 1-0. The other two were - the last game was a pro team from Edmonton. They were a good team and we were just tired. And in the first game against Trinity we lost 2-1, but had a good showing that weekend.”

The program concludes its spring slate in the five-a-side event April 28 at GU that will also feature teams from North Idaho College and CC Spokane. After that, a number of players will head out for the summer to play in the PDL according to Thorarinsson.

“We have a lot of guys – we have two going to Tucson; we have one going to Chicago Fire; we have one with the Portland Timbers. We have probably five with the SeaWolves and at least one or two with the Sounders, so they are all over the place. Pretty much the whole starting 11.

“It means they are playing and fit, but maybe a little fatigued,” he said in response to what that means for the fall. “It’s always the pluses and minuses. They get to play and they are fit, but are sometimes tired.”

“I miss it a lot. That was good,” he said of previously having a PDL team in his own back yard in Spokane. “Those were good soccer days in Spokane,” he added about the Shadow PDL side.

Gonzaga Women

The Lady Zags were also victorious last Saturday – a 1-0 victory against Eastern Washington on a late Sila Tuiofea strike – and are headed to the west side of the state this weekend. They will spend some of the weekend with the professional Seattle Reign as well as with the Sounders MLS side before taking on Seattle University Sunday (noon) in their final game before hosting the seven-a-side tournament April 27 at Gonzaga.

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