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NW Collegiate Soccer, Seattle Pacific University

The 47 Factor

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He calls it “God’s sense of humor.” Others contend it’s coincidence. It’s objectively known as The 47 Factor, and it somehow figured into each of Seattle Pacific University’s five NCAA Championships under coach Cliff McCrath.

McCrath adopted his lucky number upon joining the Wheaton College soccer team in 1955. He was issued an old football jersey bearing the number 47. He went on to become a three-time All- American and wore a 47 on his shirts throughout his 38 seasons as men’s coach.

In 1978, the Falcons won their first NCAA Championship, scoring a huge upset over No. 1 Alabama A&M. The time of the deciding goal: 126:47. In 1983, Seattle Pacific captured a second title by toppling top-ranked Tampa. At the time McCrath was 47 years of age. SPU took home its third trophy in ’85 by clipping Florida International, 3-2. It marked McCrath’s 470th game as coach.

The 1986 NCAA Championship game was played in Seattle, situated on the 47th latitude. In front of their hometown fans, the Falcons beat Oakland for their second straight title and fourth overall. No wonder McCrath and many SPU followers felt good about the Falcons’ ability to hold an early 1-0 lead against Southern Connecticut in 1993. The goal came 9 minutes, 47 seconds into the match.

McCrath is not alone in celebrating 47. The 47 Society on Facebook continually tracks the 15th prime number and its plentiful appearances in news and culture.

NW Collegiate Soccer, Seattle Pacific University

Never, Ever, Give Up

Forever they will be known as the guys who refused to give up. They easily could’ve quit, well before even reaching the 1993 NCAA Championship game.

Instead they stood strong, stood together and, ultimately, prevailed.

For the record, Seattle Pacific’s fifth national title was won in workmanlike fashion against reigning champion Southern Connecticut. But that match was anticlimactic in comparison to the epic semifinal two days earlier.

(Joanie Komura photo/Frank MacDonald Collection)

Seattle Pacific and top-ranked and undefeated Florida Tech played a game for the ages. The sleepy Space Coast city of Melbourne, Florida was forced to stay awake well past midnight to learn the outcome of the 4 hour, 7 minute marathon.

FIT followers firmly believed the Falcons had been put to bed early after the Panthers pulled ahead by two goals, 5-3, in overtime. But SPU refused to surrender, and went forward in numbers as All-America sweeper James Dunn pulled-on the keeper shirt to become an 11th attacker.

Travis Connell’s header closed the gap to 5-4 with 62 seconds left. Then in the dying moments a loose ball fell fortuitously to the feet of record-setting scorer Jason Dunn, James’s identical twin. From the right flank Dunn uncorked a low 25-yard drive which caromed into the net off a lunging defender – just as the clock expired.

The two teams played another 30 minutes of sudden-death overtime before finally settling matters in a gut-wrenching, 13-round penalty-kick shootout. James Dunn, still in goal, made two saves, Jason converted two kicks, and SPU won the tiebreaker, 10-9.

Although physically (an injured James Dunn was unable to play) and emotionally spent, some 44 hours later Seattle Pacific parlayed an early goal by Dominic Dickerson and clutch goalkeeping All-American Marcus Hahnemann (served red card suspension in semi) into a 1-0 result against Southern Connecticut.

During that off day, in between the semifinal and final, Jason Dunn was asked about those dying seconds of the overtime, when all hope seemed lost. Immediately after the goal was scored, Dunn whirled and ran, screaming, past the celebrating SPU bench. What was his cry? “That’s why you never give up!”

Thanks for reading along. If you enjoyed this content, perhaps you will consider supporting initiatives to bring more of our state’s soccer history to life by donating to Washington State Legends of Soccer, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to celebrating Washington’s soccer past and preserving its future.

Know Your History, NW Collegiate Soccer, Seattle Pacific University, Washington Huskies

Live, Coast to coast

It was a big game, for sure. A chance for the Little School by the Canal to once again burnish its image as a collegiate soccer upstart. Oh, yeah, and have witnesses coast-to-coast.

Such was the set-up 40 years ago, when Seattle Pacific met Southern Illinois-Edwardsville in the second game of the 1979 season. The Falcons were defending NCAA Division II champion and SIUE arrived in Seattle ranked No. 4 in all the land, having reached the Div. I quarterfinals the previous season. And a new cable network, hungry for live content, saw fit to televise it.

SPU coach Cliff McCrath, left, next to opening goal-scorer Mark Metzger.

The yellowed newspaper clippings reference the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Before long, it would become known by its acronym, ESPN.

“We were told, and we believe it was the first soccer game televised by ESPN,” says Cliff McCrath, the legendary SPU coach. ESPN had only been on the air for four days by September 11. Cable TV was relatively new and not available in many neighborhoods in Seattle, so in some ways the broadcast was no big deal at the time.

Only 20 million U.S. homes had cable at the time, and just 1 million carried ESPN. In Puget Sound, Viacom and Teleprompter cable systems served 73,000 homes, though not all had – or were aware that they had – the new all-sports station whose first live game broadcast was from the Slow-Pitch Softball World Series.

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