Athletics

Redhawks Earn First Round Bye

November 8, 2021

Seattle University men’s soccer clinched a first round bye in the upcoming Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Tournament after a 2-1 victory over San Jose State on senior night Nov. 6.   

Levonte Johnson scored twice, while Akili Kasim made eight saves in the WAC finale at Championship Field. 

“What a terrific win,” said Head Coach Pete Fewing. “San Jose State came out strong but we continued to get better as the game went on and pulled out the result. Akili was huge for us and for him to do it on senior night was impressive. It is an exciting opportunity to go to the WAC tournament and there will not be any easy games.”

In a pregame ceremony, the team honored seniors Alex Acton-Petronotis, Richard Bedats, Josh Castrillon, Akili Kasim, Noe Meza, Dante Perez, Sam Tessler, Malte Thesenvitz and Hal Uderitz.

SU (12-7-0, 8-3-0 WAC) withstood a strong start from San Jose State as Kasim made four saves in the first 15 minutes. Four minutes later, Johnson put the Redhawks in front after capitalizing on a rebound created by a rocket of a shot from Noe Meza. San Jose then quickly equalized in the 21st minute. The game winning goal came off the foot of Johnson as he pounced on a great cross from Peter Kingston after Declan McGlynn drove the ball down the left side. 

In the second half, SU’s defense came out strong and held on to the one goal lead as San Jose State continued to fire shots towards the net. Kasim's final save of the evening was one of his best as he knocked away a shot that was fired from the top of the box. 

The Redhawks will matchup with the winner of Air Force and UTRGV in a semifinal matchup on Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m.