Men’s Soccer Blanks Saint Martin’s 1-0

Box Score

LACEY, Wash. – A goal by Tyler Moriarty in the first half and great defense throughout, propelled the Montana State Billings men’s soccer team to a 1-0 shutout at Saint Martin’s University Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Yellowjackets improved to 7-2-1 on the year and 2-0-1 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. SMU fell to 6-5 and 1-1 in conference play.

“It was a good win today against a very determined Saint Martin’s team,” head coach Dan McNally said.  “SMU is a very difficult place to play, but we dealt with the situation very well.  We created chances in the first half and deserved the 1-0 lead.  In the second half, we defended very well as SMU played a direct style.”

Moriarty came up with his second goal of the year in the 32nd minute off an assist from Sam Charles for the game winner.  Charles increased his GNAC-record for consecutive games with a point to 13 games dating back to last season. 

The Saints held a slim 6-5 lead in shots for the first half and a 4-1 lead in corner kicks.  However, it was the Yellowjackets who found the back of the net.  MSUB goalkeeper, Matt Mitchell, came up with three, first half saves to keep the Saints off the board.

In the second half, the Saints dominated the shots to the tune of 7-1 and 13-6 for the game, including 6-3 in shots on goal.  Mitchell made five saves on the day and the Yellowjackets came up with two team saves to preserve the shutout.

As the Saints went to the direct style in the second half, McNally credits his two center backs in dealing with the long balls by SMU.

“My two center backs, James Henry and Ross Carmichael, were outstanding in dealing with all the long balls by Saint Martin’s today.”

The Yellowjackets have won three straight and four of five (4-0-1) and will return home to host Northwest Nazarene, Oct. 3 at 3:30 p.m., on Futbol Frenzy Day at Yellowjacket Field.  The MSUB women’s team hosts Central Washington at 1 p.m. to kickoff the doubleheader.

“Overall, I am very pleased with the win,” McNally added.  “We have made a solid start to our conference season and now we have to learn from the two victories this week, get better and make sure we are ready and focused for Northwest Nazarene next Saturday.”

This season ALL MSUB men’s and women’s soccer matches will be FREE on the internet with live video and audio as the voice of the Yellowjackets, Ken Adelblue, will have the call.