• Complete Release (pdf)
     • VIDEO: Janie  Wurth

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20 --
(#12) Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's
3:00 p.m. PDT, SMU Soccer Field, Lacey, Wash.
No Live Game Coverage

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22 --
(#12) Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
11:00 a.m. PDT, WOU Soccer Field, Monmouth, Ore.
LiveStats:  http://athletics.wou.edu/live/xlive.htm

The 12th-ranked Seattle Pacific women's soccer team (11-2, 8-1 GNAC) plays four of its final five regular-season games on the road, beginning on Thursday, Oct. 20 at Saint Martin's (3-8-2, 3-6-0 GNAC). Kick-off is 3 p.m. at SMU Soccer Field in Lacey, Wash. SPU was a 3-0 victor in this season's first meeting, on Sept. 22 in Seattle. On Saturday, Oct. 22 the Falcons visit Monmouth, Ore. to play Western Oregon (5-5-3, 4-3-2) at 11 a.m. SPU won 6-0 in last year's matchup at WOU Soccer Field. The Falcons remain on the road next week to play at Northwest Nazarene (Oct. 27) and Montana State Billings (Oct. 29) before concluding the regular season at home against Central Washington on Nov. 5 at 1 p.m.

Road Warriors
With a four-game road trip forthcoming, the Falcons are fortunate they flourish away from home. SPU is undefeated on enemy fields in the last two seasons and won its last 11 road games. The Falcons last road loss was a 3-1 setback at Central Washington on Oct. 31, 2009. They were 7-0 on the road in 2010 and are 3-0 this season.



GNAC Standings
With five games left to play the Seattle Pacific women (8-1-0) reside atop the GNAC standings with 24 points. They own a six-point lead over second-place Montana State Billings (5-1-3, 18 points). Central Washington (5-2-2) is third with 17 points and Western Washington (5-4-0) has a fourth-place total of 15.

GNAC Title Chase
The defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Seattle Pacific women were projected by a preseason poll of the league's coaches to collect a third consecutive soccer title. SPU received seven of eight first-place votes en route to a 63-point total. The Falcons return nine starters from last season's team that captured the GNAC crown with a 12-1-1 record. SPU won seven of the 10 titles since the GNAC began sponsoring women's soccer in 2001. WWU was picked second, garnering 52 points.

Throw-Ins
SPU leads the conference and ranks ninth nationally with 2.92 goals per game ... The Falcons have a 38-7 scoring advantage and have more than doubled opponent's totals in shots (233-113) and shots on goal (98-45) ... Kellie Zakrzewski had two-goal outings during two of the last three games ... SPU completed non-conference play with a 3-1 record, including a 5-0 blanking of NCAA Division I Nebraska-Omaha (Sept. 10).

Player of the Week
Junior Megan Lindsay, who registered game-winning goals in both Seattle Pacific victories last week, received the GNAC Athlete of the Week award on Monday. Lindsay tallied two goals during Thursday's 4-0 home victory over Simon Fraser. She scored the opening goal on Saturday in the Falcons 3-0 win over Western Washington in Seattle. That was the most lopsided result since 2006 in the series between the Northwest rivals. Lindsay netted a goal in each of the last four SPU games, amassing seven during that span. She leads all GNAC players with eight goals.

Season Preview
Nine starters return from the SPU squad that compiled a 16-2-2 overall record in 2010, won its seventh GNAC title and earned its eighth straight postseason invitation. One of the two starters SPU needs to replace is goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson, the 2010 GNAC Defender of the Year who departed as the school's all-time leader with 28 shutouts.  Seven returning players garnered first or second-team all-conference acclaim last year, including second-team All-Americans Megan Lindsay and Taylor Sawyer. The Falcons won the 2008 national title and reached the NCAA semifinals in 2005 and 2007.

This Week's Opponents
Saint Martin's (3-8-2, 3-6-0 GNAC) -- The Saints won their last two games, both in overtime. A trio of SMU players have two goals to their credit; Ashley Richardson, Sasha Dini and Hanna Massee.  Gina Cardenas and Ashley Engel share the workload in goal, combining for a 1.53 goals against average. SPU won all nine previous meetings with the Saints, including a 3-0 decision on Sept. 22 in Seattle that featured the only two collegiate goals from Mackenzie Laird. The Falcons were 3-1 victors in their last visit to Lacey, Wash., on Sept. 23, 2010.

Western Oregon (5-5-3, 4-3-2 GNAC) -- The Wolves are unbeaten in their last four outings, with three wins and a tie. Lindsay Bauman and Marina Austin each have three goals to pace the WOU attack. Brittney Rightrup has played every minute in goal, compiling five shutouts and a 1.01 goals against average. SPU won the last 17 encounters to take an 18-2 series lead. The Falcons won this season's first meeting by a 3-0 score on Sept. 24 in Seattle. SPU's last trip to Monmouth, Ore. resulted in a 6-0 victory on Sept. 25, 2010. Hannah Masson registered a hat trick in that game.

Coach Chuck  Sekyra
In his ninth season, Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific to a remarkable 161-18-14 record, three Final Four appearances and the 2008 national championship. He directed six of those teams to GNAC championships, and all eight of his squads participated in the NCAA tournament. His Falcons advanced to the 2005 championship game. Sekyra was a defender on the SPU men's soccer teams that won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1985 and 1986. He served as an assistant men's coach at SPU in 1998 and 1999 under Cliff McCrath, then was an assistant women's coach at Washington for three years before being named head coach of the SPU women in 2003. Sekyra was named GNAC Coach of the Year five times (2003-05, '07, '09) and the Regional Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2007. He received the NSCAA National Coach of the Year award in 2007.

All in the Family
Like father, like daughter. Senior midfielder Kelsey Jenkins is making the type of impact you might expect from the offspring of a standout professional player. Jenkins leads the GNAC with seven assists and both of her goals were game winners. She scored six goals last season and three of them were game-winning strikes, including a brilliant 23-yard free kick in SPU's 2-0 NCAA second-round win over Montana State Billings. Jenkins is a native of Kent, Wash., who prepped at Kentwood High School. Her father, Tommy Jenkins, was a left winger with several English clubs between 1966-75, including a three-season stint from 1969-72 with Southampton of the First Division. Tommy came to Seattle to play from 1976-79 with the NASL Sounders.

Playoff Pursuit
Seattle Pacific seeks to return to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the ninth straight year. The Falcons won the 2008 national championship. Last season they advanced to the West Region final before losing 1-0 to UC San Diego on a 73rd-minute goal. SPU advanced to the Final Four in three of the last six years.

Poll Patter
SPU rose two spots to No. 12 in this week's (Oct 18) national coaches poll. The Falcons started the season at No. 10 in the NSCAA rankings, exactly where they finished the 2010 campaign.