BURNABY, B.C. – The SFU Red Leafs stayed red hot on Thursday night, as Devin O'Hea (North Vancouver, B.C.) and Michael Hennessy (Vancouver) notched first-half markers en route to a 2-1 win over the visiting Seattle Pacific Falcons at Burnaby Mountain's Terry Fox Field.
 
"Obviously, we take wins when we can get them, and to win a game that way against a quality opponent like SPU going down a man with a lot of time left is a massive credit to the entire group," said SFU head coach Clint Schneider. "It was a moment to rise to the occasion, and we could hear in the group there was more talking, energy levels were good, and we conceded a goal late, but for the most part we did a good job seeing out the game."
 
Seven minutes into the contest, SFU (9-2-2, 6-0-1 GNAC) took advantage of their first prime opportunity. After Red Leafs senior Niko Papakyriakopoulos (New Westminster, B.C.) was upended in the corner of the SPU (4-7-2, 2-4-1 GNAC) box by Jesse Thrall, O'Hea stepped to the spot.
 
The senior forward made no mistake, burying a shot to the bottom left corner, sending Falcons' goalkeeper Cam Welty diving the other way for his seventh goal of the season.
 
O'Hea played the facilitator role on SFU's second marker. Nearing the end of the half, Hennessy sifted his way through the Falcons' defence, laying it off to O'Hea about 15 yards out from the SPU goal.
 
O'Hea put a one-touch back to Hennessy almost immediately, and the freshman forward's low shot seemed to catch Welty off guard as it hit the bottom right corner for the 39th-minute goal. With 25 points on the season (11 goals and three assists), Hennessy is tied for the GNAC lead in points scored.
 

A 69th-minute red card put the home side down a player. With less than a minute left before the clock hit zeros, the Falcons got on the scoreboard off a brilliant long ball from Diego Pena Salgado. The defender put a high-arcing shot from midfield just about 10 feet out from the Red Leafs' cage. The ball bounced, and Reymundo Mendez did well to leap and make contact on the header.
 
However, the clock ran out on the Falcons just seconds later as SFU extended their win streak to six games, their unbeaten streak to nine, and stayed undefeated in conference play.
 
SFU will look to keep up their impressive run next week on the road, as they head down to Nampa, Idaho, to face the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks (4-5-4, 2-2-3 GNAC) on Thursday, November 2.
 
For the latest information on SFU Athletics, visit athletics.sfu.ca. You can also find us on social media at @SFU_Athletics. Follow SFU men's soccer on Instagram @SFUMSOC.

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