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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4 --
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
7:00 p.m. PDT, Terry Fox Field, Burnaby, B.C.
Webcast: www.educationcdn.com/schools/clan/
LiveStats: http://cgi.sfu.ca/~athlwww/livestats/msoccer/xlive.htm

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 6 --
Seattle Pacific at Western Washington
7:00 p.m. PDT, Orca Field, Bellingham, Wash.
LiveStats: www.wwugamedaystats.com/livestats

The regular-season ends on the road this week for the hot Seattle Pacific men's soccer team (9-5-2, 6-1-1 GNAC) that continues to hold postseason aspirations. The top-two teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference clash on Thursday, Nov. 4 when the second-place Falcons visit first-place Simon Fraser (16-0-0, 8-0-0). Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Terry Fox Field. The Clan edged SPU 3-2 in overtime in this year's first meeting on Oct. 6 in Seattle. SPU visits third-place Western Washington (8-6-2, 3-4-1 GNAC) on Saturday, Nov. 6 to close out the regular-season schedule. They meet at Orca Field on the Whatcom Community College campus for a 7 p.m. game. The Vikings and SPU played to a 2-2 tie on Sept. 20 in Seattle. SPU is vying for its 31st NCAA Division II Tourney berth, the first since 2006.

GNAC Title Hunt
The Falcons (6-1-1, 19 points) would need some help to overtake undefeated Simon Fraser (8-0-0, 24 points) in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings. They trail the Clan by five points and can trim that deficit to two with a win on Thursday. Then, SPU would need to win Saturday at WWU and have Saint Martin's win or tie at Simon Fraser to keep its conference championship hopes alive. The Falcons, who tied for the 2006 title, are in pursuit of their first outright championship of the 10-year-old GNAC.



Streaking SPU
The Falcons are riding a six-game winning streak, their longest since a seven-game stretch in 2006. They were victorious in nine of their last 10 games with the lone loss being a 3-2 overtime setback at home against Simon Fraser on Oct. 6. SPU is outscoring opponents 28-10 during its last 10 games. The 9-1-0 record comes immediately after the Falcons started the season slow with an 0-4-2 record and were outscored 11-4 during that span.

Terrific Tyler
Sparking Seattle Pacific's second-half surge has been the remarkable play of Tyler Schultz. The junior midfielder amassed five goals and an assist during the last five games. He has a team-leading nine goals this season, one more than his eight-goal total that topped the Falcons in 2009. The nine goals by Schultz are the highest total by a Falcon since Brent Egbert netted 13 in 2004.

Fabulous Frosh
First-year forward Blaine Carver ranks second on the team with seven goals, the highest total by a Falcons freshman since Grant Falco scored 11 times in 1999. Carver recorded a hat trick against the Univeristy Mary (Oct. 16).

2010 Preview
Nine starters return from last season's 11-5-3 Seattle Pacific squad, including the potent junior midfield tandem of Tyler Schultz and Drew Williams. Schultz led the Falcons with eight goals in 2009 and Williams distributed a team-high nine assists. The back line is anchored by junior Elliott Morton, an all-district selection, and sophomore John Pearman who was the 2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. Senior goalkeeper Kaleb Kuehn posted five shutouts and a 1.10 goals against average. The other four returning starters are all sophomores, defenders Corey McGuire and Celeb Nyone along with midfielders Richie Evoy and Christopher Morris. Morton and Schultz were first-team 2009 All-GNAC selections, Kuehn, Pearman and Williams were second-team picks and Morris and Nyone were honorable mention honorees.

This Week's Opponents
Simon Fraser (16-0-0, 8-0-0 GNAC)
The Clan are in their first year as an NCAA Division II competitor and member of the GNAC. While transitioning to full NCAA membership, SFU is still competing in its previous affiliation and is ranked No. 2 among NAIA teams. Carlo Basso has eight goals to lead a balanced Clan attack that is outsoring opponents 52-8. Goalkeeper Hide Ozawa has nine shutouts and a 0.49 goals against average. Simon Fraser got a 94th-minute golden goal from Joseph Martin to claim a 3-2 overtime win over the Falcons on Oct. 6 in Seattle. SPU led 2-1 before the Clan equalized in the 86th minute. The teams did not play the last three seasons after meeting at least once in each of the previous 32 years dating to 1975. The Falcons own a 19-17-6 lead in the all-time series.

Western Washington (8-6-2, 3-4-1 GNAC)
Winners in five of their last seven outings, the Vikings are coached for the 12th season by Travis Connell, a four-year SPU soccer letterman from 1991-95. Senior Gibson Bardsley enters the final week as the NCAA national points leader and just two goals short of the WWU career record. He scored 16 goals this season, increasing his career total to 39. The Northwest rivals played to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 20 in Seattle as SPU senior Andy Wolverton netted the 84th-minute equalizer. The Falcons boast a 39-12-6 lead in the all-time series against Western.

Terrific Turnaround
The SPU men posted an 11-5-3 record last year, their most single-season wins since the 2006 team finished with a 12-7 record. The Falcons won five more games than the previous season in 2008 (6-10-3).

Finally Some Veterans
Coach Mark Collings tutored extremely young units in his first two SPU seasons, including last year's team with 20 underclassmen on the 26-player roster. Despite only two seniors, Collings finally has some experienced players to work with as 10 juniors fill the roster and nine sophomores saw plenty of action as rookies in 2009.

Coach Collings
Third-year coach Mark Collings is the third head coach in the 43-year history of Seattle Pacific men's soccer. He has a 26-20-8 record with the Falcons. Collings' squad posted an 11-5-3 record in 2009, placing third with a 4-3-1 league ledger. SPU was 6-10-3 in his first season with a second-place GNAC finish (4-4) in 2008. Collings replaced Cliff McCrath, who compiled a 512-190-87 mark in 38 seasons (1970-2007). Arnie Aizstrauts was 1-14-1 from 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.

GNAC Poll
If the coaches are correct, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer race will be a tight battle. And Seattle Pacific will be right in the thick of it. The Falcons were projected for a second-place tie in the preseason GNAC coaches poll. Defending champion Saint Martin's returns its entire starting lineup and was picked to win the league again. But the Saints 6-2 record was just one loss fewer than the next three teams in the 2009 standings. The top four finishers were separated by just two games. The conference coaches predict similar congestion atop the 2010 standings. Saint Martin's received three first-place votes and 30 points in the preseason poll. SPU had one first-place tally and 26 points, tying for second with GNAC newcomer Simon Fraser, which had the remaining two first-place votes. A perennial powerhouse in the Canadian ranks, the Clan are in their first year as an NCAA Division II member. They advanced to the NAIA national semifinals last season.