SEATTLE -- A Monday night clash of Northwest rivals opens conference play for the Seattle Pacific men's soccer team.

The Falcons entertain Western Washington on Sept. 20 to start their Great Northwest Athletic Conference campaign. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Interbay Stadium.



The SPU men are in pursuit of their first GNAC title since 2006. They placed third last season behind champion Saint Martin's and runner-up WWU. The Vikings captured the 2008 GNAC crown.

“We're excited to get going with the conference season on Monday night against Western,” said Coach Mark Collings, who is in his third season at the SPU helm. “We definitely have goals and aspirations of winning the GNAC this year.”

The Falcons and Vikings enter league play in different positions. Western is off to its best start in six years at 3-1-1 and has outscored its opposition 14-7.

SPU is winless at 0-4-1, but the record is misleading. The Falcons are coming off a four-game road trip where every opponent was undefeated and untied. Two of the three teams they played in Colorado appear in the national rankings.

The combined record of the five Falcons foes to date is 15-1-1.

“We feel like our non-conference schedule has really done a great job of challenging us and exposing us in some areas. At the same time we played some very good soccer against some quality opponents,” Collings said.

“We're hoping that getting home on our field at Interbay and having the home crowd behind us will get us going.”

While playing many of their opponents on even terms, SPU has struggled converting shots into goals. The Falcons have two goals on 56 attempts, a four-percent scoring ratio. Their foes have nine goals on 80 shots, an 11-percent success rate.

SPU boasts a 39-12-5 lead in the all-time series against Western.

The teams split last year's season series, each winning on the road. SPU was a 1-0 victor on Oct. 3, 2009 in Bellingham and the Vikings answered with a 4-0 win on Oct. 29 in Seattle.

”No matter what the records are heading into the game you can probably throw them out. Both teams know each other so well. A lot of them have grown up playing against each other,” Collings concluded.

“To have the opportunity to compete and play against Western our first game certainly will add some extra interest and incentive to both teams.”

Western is coached for the 12th season by Travis Connell, a four-year Seattle Pacific soccer letterman from 1991-95.