Chapman Loses Final of Soccer’s Far West Classic, 1-0

Before Chapman’s soccer team headed into its Far West Classic championship game against Seattle Pacific Saturday night, Panther Coach Eunice Bobert expressed nothing but respect for the defending Division II champion Falcons. “When you talk about them, you’re talking about greatness,” Bobert said. “They’re just one outstanding club.”

The Falcons were impressive Saturday, scoring a 1-0 victory at Chapman Stadium to give them the tournament crown for the third straight year.

“There were a number of times in that game that I thought they were going to pull it out,” Seattle Pacific Coach Cliff McCrath said of the 11th-ranked Panthers. “That team plays hard for 90 minutes and pounds away at you. When you do that, you’re going to win a lot of games.”

Chapman was on the offensive for much of the game, outshooting Seattle, 15-11. The only goal of the contest came at the 49:39 mark when Craig Ottosen headed in a pass from Glenn Lurie. The Panthers had a couple of opportunities to score in the second half, but Falcon goalie Jeff Storrs made two outstanding saves in the last five minutes.

“Rick Snyder played a great game tonight,” Bobert said. “He got off five shots with people marking him all night. Doug Neely was a little tired but still played a good game.” Neely was named the tournament’s most valuable player, joining Snyder on the all-tournament team.

In earlier action: Westmont defeated Chico State, 3-0, in the third-place game; Northeast Missouri won the consolation final, 2-1, over Sacramento State, and Midwestern State beat Southern California College, 8-0, in the seventh-place game.

Far West Classic Notes

Far West Classic All-Tournament team: goalie Jeff Storrs, Mark Faller, Danny Machado and Glenn Lurie (Seattle Pacific), Rick Snyder (Chapman), Tim Winstone and Rich Smith (Westmont), Steve Schlichtig (Northeast Missouri State), Ben Pollock (Chico State) and Mike Gaither (Sacramento State).