Bellingham, Wash. – Saif Ghodhbani became the eighth Jimmie to record a goal on the season, but the University of Jamestown men's soccer team dropped a 4-1 decision at Western Washington Saturday.
The Jimmies record sits at 1-9-4 with one game remaining on the season schedule. The Vikings improve to 8-7-2 as they will continue GNAC play.
A shot from the Vikings hit the post in the third minute, but Finley Comstock came down on the other end and put on the game's first shot on goal in the fourth minute.
Jose Perez opened the scoring in 18th minute after he took four dribbles and scored from 18 yards out right over Valon Ismaili for the 1-0 WWU advantage.
Right after the goal, the Vikings pressured heavily the new few minutes which included four shots and two corner kicks, but Jamestown survived. Ismaili made his first save of the game during this stance.
Sohaib Bouika el Haddad Kaddour had the second UJ shot on net in the 28th minute, but Western Washington doubled its lead in the 44th minute. A dangerous shot was blocked, but Tommy Carroll followed this up and found the twine bottom right for the insurance goal.
However, the Jimmies did some damage before halftime came around after they drew a foul in the Vikings box with 19 seconds left. Ghodhbani took the penalty shot and capitalized with his first goal of the season to make the contest 2-1.
WWU was ahead by one goal at the break while they also led total shots 11-4. Both sides notched three shots on goal while the Vikings led corner kick chances 4-0.
Jack Greenwood hit the left pipe a shot in the 59th minute and Justin Junaid followed this with a shot on net, but Junaid's attempt was saved by Quinn Sappington with the netminder keeping the Vikings out in front.
Each side had one more shot on net before Western Washington added their third goal off the game in the 73rd minute. This tally was scored after a long throw into the box was initially headed away by UJ but then recovered by the Vikings as Julian Herring scored his first goal of the year to put the hosts ahead 3-1.
Comstock had two more shots in the remainder of the game, but the Jimmies were never able to follow up Ghodhbani's goal with any success. The Vikings scored one more time in the 79th minute to win 4-1 over Jamestown in Bellingham.
Ghodhbani joined a list of seven other UJ players to score a goal on the season. With the final game set one week from today, the native of Tunisia sits at second on the team with four points. Ismaili made three saves in the contest.
Western Washington led shots 22-12 and shots on net 7-6. Six shots on net were tied for the second most all season for the Jimmies and tied for the most against a GNAC opponent.
One more game remains on the schedule for UJ which will be on Halloween on Saturday, October 31 against Seattle Pacific University at 1 p.m. PT (3 p.m. CT).
