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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13 --
(#17) Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
2:30 p.m. PDT (3:30 p.m. MDT), Yellowjacket Field, Billings, Mont.
• Webcast:  www.nmtvsports.com
• LiveStats:  www.sidearmstats.com/msubillings/msoc

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 --
(#17) Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
2:00 p.m. PDT (3:00 p.m. MDT), NNU Soccer Field, Nampa, Idaho
No Live Game Coverage

The long journey ends this week for the 17th-ranked Seattle Pacific men (8-2-1, 3-1 GNAC), who conclude an eight-game soccer road trip with two Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests. The Falcons visit Montana State Billings (5-7, 1-4) on Thursday, Oct. 13 at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time. SPU won 2-0 last year at Yellowjacket Field to halt a three-game winless streak in visits to Billings. On Saturday, Oct. 15 the Falcons are in Nampa, Idaho to play Northwest Nazarene (5-6-1, 0-5) for a 2 p.m. PDT kickoff. They won all 10 previous meetings against the Crusaders.  Next week, the SPU men return home to host the University of Mary on Oct. 20 at 7 p.m., their first home game in over a month.

Recently Ranked
Seattle Pacific returned to the national rankings for the first time in two years, receiving a No. 17 listing in the NCAA Division II coaches poll released Tuesday (Oct. 11). The Falcons are ranked for the first time since Oct. 19, 2009 when they were No. 24 before losing consecutive road games to drop out of the next poll. SPU has faced two opponents listed in the current rankings, defeating No. 18 Metro State 2-1 on Sept. 10 in Seattle and losing by one goal at No. 2 Simon Fraser on Oct. 1 in Burnaby, B.C.

Notable
The Falcons have scored 23 goals to rank No. 48 nationally and second among GNAC teams  ... SPU got game-winning goals from five different players in its eight victories, including Drew Williams and Sean Russell last week ... Junior goalkeeper Zach Johnson has posted six shutouts with a 0.99 goals against average while averaging more than three saves per game.



Recent Recap
SPU won eight of its last nine games, including a pair of 1-0 victories last week in Phoenix. The Falcons beat Cal Baptist (Oct. 6) behind a 9th-minute free kick goal from Drew Williams. On Saturday (Oct. 8) they defeated 16th-ranked Grand Canyon on a 43rd-minute strike from Sean Russell. Zach Johnson had three saves in each shutout.

Terrific Tyler
SPU senior Tyler Schultz leads the conference and ranks 32nd nationally with eight goals. He scored a goal in four straight games from Sept. 21 to Oct. 1. The Sept. 26 GNAC Athlete of the Week posted his first career hat trick in a 5-2 win at Mary (Sept. 21). Schultz leads the team with 18 total points. He topped all SPU goal-scorers in each of the last two seasons with 10 in 2010 and eight in 2009. Schultz has 30 career goals, needing six more to join the ranks of SPU's all-time top-10 scorers.

Playoff Pursuit
The SPU men are vying for their 31st NCAA Division II Tournament berth, the first since 2006. They won five national titles; in 1978, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1993.

2011 Preview
The full 11-man starting lineup returns intact from last year's team that posted a 10-6-2 record and placed second in the GNAC with a 7-2-1 mark. Heading the list of returning talent is senior midfielder Tyler Schultz who topped the team with 10 goals last year. A first-team All-GNAC selection, Schultz ranked third among conference scorers with 23 points. Also back is forward Blaine Carver, who was honored as the GNAC Freshman of the Year. He was second on the team with eight goals last fall. Junior goalkeeper Zach Johnson returns after compiling four shutouts and a 1.36 goals against average. The defense features junior Jon Pearman, a second-team All-West Region honoree.

This Week's Opponents
Montana State Billings (5-7-0, 1-4-0 GNAC) -- The Yellowjackets, winners of their last three games, are led by the four goals apiece of Thomas Sheets, Garion Holian and Kyle Emrick. Goalkeeper Eoin Hurley has a 1.90 goals against average. SPU won the last four meetings and owns a 9-3-2 lead in the all-time series, including a 2-0 victory on Sept. 17 in Seattle. The Falcons finally won at MSUB last season, a 2-0 decision on Sept. 30, 2010 that snapped a three-game winless streak in Billings. SPU also won last year's rematch, a 2-1 overtime game on Oct. 23, 2010 in Seattle that was ended by Elliot Morton's 95th-minute golden goal.

Northwest Nazarene (5-6-1, 0-5-0 GNAC) -- The Crusaders are fourth-year GNAC men's soccer competitors who finished with an 8-8 record in 2010 and a 4-6 league mark. Five of NNU's six losses this season came by one-goal margins. Four players are tied atop the Crusaders leaderboard with three goals. One of those is Alex Mangeac, who also distributed three assists. Goalkeeper Zander Engeman posted one shutout and a 1.47 goals against average. SPU won all 10 previous meetings with Northwest Nazarene, including 2-0 decision on Sept. 15 in Seattle. The Falcons were 3-2 victors in the last Nampa, Idaho meeting, on Oct. 21, 2010.

Coach Collings
Fourth-year coach Mark Collings is the third head coach in the 44-year history of Seattle Pacific men's soccer. He has a 35-23-9 record with the Falcons. Collings was named the 2010 GNAC Co-Coach of the Year after directing SPU to a 10-6-2 overall record and a second-place league mark of 7-2-1. The Falcons were 11-5-3 in 2009, finishing third with a 4-3-1 league ledger. In his first season, SPU was 6-10-3 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
The Falcons don't intend to settle for second, even if that's where the Great Northwest Athletic Conference coaches predict they will finish. For the third straight season, the Seattle Pacific men were listed second in the preseason GNAC soccer poll. “We're certainly not going to settle for second place. It's probably a fair assessment on paper, now it's just a matter of putting everything into action,” said SPU coach Mark Collings. The Falcons lived up to the preseason projection last year, posting a 7-2-1 record as runners-up to Simon Fraser. SPU dealt the Clan its lone league defeat, a 4-0 drubbing in Burnaby, B.C. The conference coaches named the defending champion as this season's front-runner. The Clan return eight starters, including five first-team All-GNAC selections that helped the team to a 19-2 record in 2010. SFU was 9-1 in league play. Simon Fraser received four first-place votes and 33 points in the preseason poll. Seattle Pacific logged two first-place tallies and 30 points. Western Washington was selected third in the coaches poll with 24 points, followed by Montana State Billings (16), Northwest Nazarene (14) and Saint Martin's (7).

Fantastic Finish
The SPU men hope a tremendous ending in 2010 will carry over into 2011. The Falcons finished with 10 wins in their final 12 games to forge a 10-6-2 record in 2010. Included was a seven-game winning streak that was their longest since 2006. SPU started the season slow with on 0-4-2 record with an 0-4 record on a road trip. The Falcons were outscored 11-4 during their opening six games, but responded to outscore opponents by a 32-12 tally in their final 12 outings.