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     • Wednesday Livestats
     • Friday Live Coverage

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 21 --
(#24) SPU at (#13) Cal State L.A.
7:00 p.m. PDT, Jesse Owens Stadium, Los Angeles, Calif.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23 --
(#24) SPU at Cal State Dominguez Hills
7:00 p.m. PDT, Toro Stadium, Carson, Calif.

The 24th-ranked Seattle Pacific men's soccer team (10-2-3, 3-2-1 GNAC) embarks on a difficult trip to Los Angeles this week to close out the road portion of its regular season schedule. The Falcons play a pair of non-conference games, beginning at No. 13 Cal State L.A. (13-2-1) on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. SPU leads the series 6-3-1 despite two losses and a tie in the most recent encounters. On Friday, Oct. 23, SPU clashes with defending NCAA Division II national champion Cal State Dominguez Hills at 7 p.m. The Toros won seven straight games against SPU, whose last series win came in 2002. The Falcons' next home game is Oct. 29 against Western Washington. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Interbay Stadium.

Live Coverage
Fans can follow both road games this week. Wednesday's game has a Livestats feed available at: www.csulaathletics.com/custompages/livestats/gel.htm   A webcast and Livestats for Friday's game are available at: www.gotoros.com/live

Player of the Week
Sophomore midfielder Tyler Schultz received the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer Athlete of the Week award for the second time Monday. He amassed four goals for the Falcons, who won two of three games. Schultz leads the team, and is tied for second among GNAC players, with seven goals. Schultz netted the lone goal in the 51st minute, carrying the Falcons to a 1-0 victory at No. 17 Grand Canyon (Oct. 12). He scored both SPU goals in a 3-2 loss at Saint Martin's (Oct. 15). Schultz headed in the Falcons' third goal during a 4-1 home triumph over Montana State Billings (Oct. 17).

Throw-Ins
Sophomore midfielder Drew Williams leads the conference with nine assists, including three in SPU's 4-1 win over MSU Billings on Saturday ... The Falcons have outshot opponents by a combined 234-141 tally, including twice as many (101-50) attempts directly on goal ... Junior goalkeeper Kaleb Kuehn has six shutouts, twice as many as any other goalkeeper in the GNAC. His 0.88 goals against average leads the conference.

Terrific Turnaround
At 10-2-3, the SPU men have their most single-season wins since the 2006 team finished with a 12-7 record. They already have four more victories than last season's squad, which finished at 6-10-3.  Through 15 games a year ago, SPU had a 5-7-3 record and had been outscored 28-18. SPU has outscored foes 27-13 in 15 games this year.

Strenuous Schedule
The Falcons are unbeaten against ranked opponents. They tied then No. 17 Sonoma State 0-0 (Aug. 31) and defeated No. 20 Metro State 4-1 (Sept. 12) and No. 17 Grand Canyon 1-0 (Oct. 12). Two tough foes await this week as SPU visits No. 13 Cal State L.A. on Wednesday and defending national champion Cal State Dominguez Hills on Friday. Cal State L.A. was ranked No. 1 two weeks ago.

Conference Campaign
Seattle Pacific, which tied for the 2006 Great Northwest Athletic Conference title, is two points behind Saint Martin's in the pursuit of its first outright championship of the nine-year-old conference. The Falcons had a 4-4 record last season and were runners-up to league champion Western Washington. They seek to return to the postseason after a two-year absence. SPU has won five NCAA championships, the most recent in 1993, and have a Division II record 30 playoff appearances to its credit.

Ticket Talk
Tickets for SPU soccer games can be purchased in advance (206-281-2085) or at Interbay Stadium (3027 17th Ave. W., Seattle 98119) on game day. All seats are general admission, priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens.

The Opponents
Cal State L.A. (13-2-1) -- The Golden Eagles were ranked No. 1 in the nation before losing consecutive games to drop to No. 13 in last week's poll (Oct. 13). They have a perfect 9-0 home record. Cal State L.A. is outscoring opponents 28-13, led by the seven goals and six assists of Federico Cino. Goalkeeper Tobias Humel has five shutouts and a 0.81 goals against average. SPU owns a 6-3-1 series advantage despite going 0-2-1 during the last three meetings. The Eagles were 2-1 double-overtime victors last season in Seattle, on Nov. 1.

Cal State Dominguez Hills (10-5-1) -- The Toros won the 2008 NCAA Division II national championship with a 3-0 victory over Dowling on Dec. 7 in Tampa, Fla., the same site where SPU won the women's title one day earlier. Dominguez won its last four games and features a balanced attack with 13 players netting at least one goal. Andrew Marinez tops the team with six goals and three assists. Goalkeeper Markus Dickerson has five shutouts and a 0.94 goals against average. The Toros won the last seven meetings to take a 9-4-1 series lead. CSUDH won 3-0 last season in Seattle on Sept. 3. SPU last beat the Toros on Oct 5, 2002.

Return to the Rankings
The Seattle Pacific men's soccer team returned to the national rankings Sept. 29 for the first time in two years. They rose one spot, to No. 24, in last week's (Oct. 13) NCAA Division II poll released by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and adidas. The Falcons are ranked for the first time since Sept. 25, 2007 when they were No. 6 before losing consecutive games to drop out of the next poll. “I'm really excited for our group of guys. It's great for our team to have the coaches acknowledge what they've done,” said second-year SPU coach Mark Collings.

Youth Movement
Seattle Pacific's success has come despite fielding an inexperienced lineup that includes four freshmen and three sophomores among the primary starting 11. The 26-man roster includes 20 underclassmen, including 11 freshmen and nine sophomores. Just five of the 21 players who started at least one game this season are upperclassmen.

Coach Collings
Second-year coach Mark Collings is the third head coach in the 42-year history of Seattle Pacific men's soccer. He has a 16-12-6 record with the Falcons. Collings registered a 6-10-3 record in his first season, directing the team to a second-place GNAC finish (4-4) in 2008. He replaced Cliff McCrath, who compiled a 512-190-87 mark in 38 seasons (1970-2007). Arnie Aizstrauts was 1-14-1(1968-69). The co-captain of SPU's 1998 Final Four team, Collings was a five-year assistant coach. He avoided a first-year Falcon curse as his predecessors were winless in their inaugural seasons.

2009 Preview
Eight starters return for Seattle Pacific, including senior midfielder Alec Nelson (Lynnwood, Wash./Meadowdale) who is the team's leading returning scorer with five goals and three assists. The other returning starters are sophomore forward Ryan Brand, senior defender Jordan Dettmer, junior midfielder Andy Wolverton, sophomore defenders Elliot Morton and Griffin Fahling and sophomore midfielders Tyler Schultz and Drew Williams.  Nelson and Morton were first-team 2008 All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference selections, Williams was a second-team pick and Brand and Schulz were honorable mention honorees. The youthful 26-player roster includes 20 underclassmen, including a standout recruiting class of nine incoming freshmen.

2008 Review
Seattle Pacific completed the 2008 season with a 6-10-3 record, placing second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a 4-4 mark. Less than half of the players on the roster had ever played a game for SPU before the 2008 season, including 10 freshmen. Six freshmen were regular starters as just four starters returned from the previous year. The Falcons bids for the GNAC title and a winning season were derailed by a late-season skid with losses in six of their last eight outings. SPU must fill the void left by departed senior starters, defender Colin Kosco, midfielder Wyatt Seddon-Johnstone and goalkeeper Ben Lovelace.