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FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 –
SPU at (#20) Metro State
12:30 p.m. PDT (1:30 MT), Auraria Field, Denver, Colo.
LiveStats: www.gometrostate.com/custompages/wsoccer/livestats/xlive.htm

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 13 –
SPU at Mesa State
6:00 p.m. PDT (7:00 MT), Walker Field, Grand Junction, Colo.
Webcast: http://www.b2tv.com/partner_members.asp?id=250&s=2393&stype=Sports
LiveStats: www.mesamavs.com/custompages/msoccer/xlive.htm

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 –
SPU at Regis
2:30 p.m. PDT (3:30 MT), Regis Soccer Pitch, Denver, Colo.
LiveStats: www.regisathletics.com/mens_soccer/xlive.htm

The Seattle Pacific men's soccer team (0-1-1) embarks on a three-game road trip to Colorado in pursuit of its first victory and first goal of the season. The Falcons play a trio of undefeated teams on the trip that begins Friday, Sept. 10 at 20th-ranked Metro State (2-0). Kick-off is 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time (1:30 Mountain) at Auraria Field in Denver. The two teams squared off last season in Seattle, resulting in a 4-1 SPU triumph over the Roadrunners who were ranked No. 20 at the time. The Falcons visit Grand Junction to play Mesa State (2-0) on Monday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. PDT (7 MDT) before closing the trip back in Denver at Regis University (2-0) on Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 2:30 p.m. (3:30 MDT). Upon their return, the SPU men begin Great Northwest Athletic Conference play by hosting Western Washington on Sept 20 at Interbay Stadium. The Falcons are vying for their 31st NCAA Division II Tournament berth, the first since 2006.

Goals are Scarce
The SPU men surrendered their first goal of the season in the 61st minute Monday at Chico State in a 1-0 loss. They are still in search of their first goal after opening the season Sept. 3 at home with a 0-0 double-overtime draw against Humboldt State. Chico's goal snapped SPU's season-opening 170-minute, 31-second scoreless stretch of defensive minutes.

Missing Midfielders
Hindering the Falcons offense on Monday at Chico State was the absence of a trio of returning midfield starters from last season. Junior Drew Williams, who led the team with nine assists in 2009, was forced to miss the Chico game after being issued a red card in the season opener but he will be back for the Colorado trip. Sophomores Richie Evoy and Christopher Morris also did not play Monday due to injuries.

Coach Mark Collings Comments
“We just can't live off of never ever giving up goals and relying on that. We have to find a way to score some goals. We have a lot of good soccer players that can perform and we're just not clicking right now. Our opposition isn't really getting a lot of good looks at our goal so I'm happy with that. We just need to be better in the attack. You can't win games unless you score goals. We're okay, the team will bounce back and we will certainly work hard this week to be ready for Friday.”

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
Metro State (2-0) -- The Roadrunners have not surrendered a goal. Metro opened with a 1-0 double-overtime win over Mary before beating Upper Iowa 2-0. Three different players accounted for the Roadrunners goals. Goalkeepers Issa Bissau and Dominique Griffith each have a shutout to their credit. SPU has a 3-1 lead in the all-time series, including a 4-1 win last season on Sept. 12 in Seattle. Four different Falcons scored goals and Drew Williams was credited with the game-winner.

Mesa State (2-0) -- The Mavericks have outscored opponents 7-1 with a 3-0 victory over Colorado Christian and 4-1 win over Adams State on their ledger. They play Dixie State on Friday (Sept. 10). Alex Mattevi leads MSC with two goals. Goalkeeper Chris Raines has one shutout and hasn't allowed a goal in 114 minutes of action. This is the first meeting between SPU and the Mavericks.

Regis (2-0) -- The Rangers beat Mary 2-1 to start the season followed by a 3-1 win over Upper Iowa. Taylor Diem leads the attack with two goals and goalkeeper Doug Passalaqua has a 1.00 goals against average. The Falcons have never lost to Regis, compiling a 6-0-1 series advantage that included a 2-0 win at Denver in 2006 during the most recent meeting.

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 17-16-7 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. Western Washington was selected fourth in the poll with 24 points, followed by Montana State Billings (13) and Northwest Nazarene (7).

Throw-Ins
Junior midfielder Tyler Schultz netted eight goals to lead SPU and rank fourth among GNAC players last season. Schultz scored five of his goals during a four-game span from Oct. 12-21 ... Junior midfielder Drew Williams ranked No. 2 in the conference with nine assists last year, including three in SPU's 4-1 win over MSU Billings on Oct. 17 ... In 2009, the Falcons outshot opponents by a combined 290-216 tally, including a 117-82 advantage in attempts directly on goal ... SPU blanked six opponents last season and limited eight other foes to just one goal.