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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27 --
(#1) Simon Fraser at (#15) Seattle Pacific
7:00 p.m. PDT, Interbay Stadium (900), Seattle, Wash.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 --
Western Washington at (#15) Seattle Pacific
7:00 p.m. PDT, Interbay Stadium (900), Seattle, Wash.

LiveStats for Both Games:  www.sidearmstats.com/spu/msoc

The men's soccer game of their year in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference takes place at Interbay Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7 p.m. Seattle Pacific (11-2-2, 5-1-1 GNAC), ranked 15th nationally, hosts No. 1 Simon Fraser (14-0, 7-0). The undefeated Clan (21 points) have a five-point lead in the standings over the second-place Falcons (16), who must win Thursday to prevent SFU from clinching the league championship. The Falcons have not surrendered a goal since losing 4-3 at Simon Fraser on Oct. 1. Last year, on Nov. 4, the SPU men visited Simon Fraser and beat the previously undefeated (16-0) Clan by a 4-0 score. Simon Fraser won the 2010 GNAC championship and SPU was the runner-up. On Saturday, Western Washington (5-8, 3-4) makes its annual trek to Seattle for a 7 p.m. game at SPU. The Falcons were 1-0 victors at WWU on Sept. 28 in the first meeting. Tyler Schultz converted an 85th-minute penalty kick for the game-winner. The SPU men complete the regular season at home on Nov. 5 with a 7 p.m. game versus Saint Martin's.

Ticket Talk
Tickets for SPU soccer games can be purchased on game day at Interbay Stadium (3027 17th Ave. W., Seattle 98119). Ticket windows open one hour prior to kickoff. All seats are general admission and priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. SPU students and staff are admitted free. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for reduced ticket rates by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance.

Shutout Streak
SPU blanked its last six opponents, compiling a current shutout stretch of 577-minutes, 21-seconds. The last goal allowed by SPU came at Simon Fraser on Oct. 1.



Poll Position
The Seattle Pacific men climbed five spots to No. 15 in this week's (Oct. 25) NCAA Division II coaches poll. They returned to the national rankings Oct. 11 for the first time in two years, receiving a No. 17 listing. SPU has faced three opponents listed in the current rankings, defeating No. 18 Metro State 2-1 (Sept. 10) in Seattle, tying No. 24 Chico State 0-0 at home (Sept. 1) and losing 4-3 at No. 1 Simon Fraser (Oct. 1) in Burnaby, B.C.

Race to the Regional
The lofty national ranking bodes well for the Falcons, who are poised to earn their first playoff berth since 2006. SPU is the top-ranked postseason eligible team from the West as Simon Fraser is still in its NCAA probationary period. If the Falcons are the West's top seed, they would get to host the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, Nov. 10 and 12 at Interbay Stadium. SPU has competed in 30 NCAA Tournaments and won five national titles (1978, 1983, 1985, 1986 and 1993).

Falcons Fast Fact
Junior SPU goalkeeper Zach Johnson has posted 10 shutouts and his 0.72 goals against average ranks 14th nationally.

Player of the Week
Tyler Schultz, who netted both SPU game-winning goals last week, received the GNAC Athlete of the Week award on Monday. Schultz compiled four goals and an assist. He led a 5-0 home win over Mary on Oct. 22 with two goals and an assist and had another two-score performance on Oct. 24 in a 3-0 victory at Saint Martin's. The SPU senior leads the league with 13 goals, five of them coming during the last three outings. Schultz also leads the conference in total points (29) and game-winning goals (6). He ranks fourth among all-time GNAC players with 35 career goals. His next goal will move Schultz into the No. 10 spot among Seattle Pacific's all-time scorers. He ranks third in the GNAC career record book with 13 game-winning goals and it fifth with 78 points. “To me he is playing like the player of the year in our conference,” says SPU coach Mark Collings.

This Week's Opponents
Simon Fraser (14-0-0, 7-0-0 GNAC) -- The top-ranked Clan are in their second year as an NCAA Division II competitor and member of the GNAC. They are the only unbeaten, untied team in the nation. For the fourth straight meeting, the Falcons will be playing an undefeated Simon Fraser squad. The Clan are outscoring opponents 51-9 led by 11 goals from Carlo Basso. Goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis has five shutouts and a 0.57 goals against average. Simon Fraser won this season's first meeting, a 4-3 decision on Oct. 1 in Burnaby, B.C. Those are the last goals allowed by the Falcons, who shut out their last six opponents. Near the end of last season, on Nov. 4, 2010, SPU visited an undefeated Clan squad and left Canada with a 4-0 victory. The teams did not play from 2007-09 after meeting at least once in each of the previous 32 years dating to 1975. The Falcons own a 20-18-6 lead in the all-time series.

Western Washington (5-8-0, 3-4-0 GNAC) -- The Vikings are coached for the 13th season by Travis Connell, a four-year SPU soccer letterman from 1991-95. WWU lost four of its last five games. Kellan Brown has six goals and two assists to lead the team that lost 2010 GNAC Player of the Year Gibson Bardsley to graduation. Goalkeepers Leo Cohen and Keegan Rogers combined for a 1.69 goals against average. SPU won this season's first meeting 1-0 on Sept. 28 in Bellingham on an 85th-minute penalty kick from Tyler Schultz. The Falcons have not swept the season series since 2006, which is the same year of their last postseason appearance. The Northwest rivals played to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 20, 2010 in the most recent Seattle encounter as SPU's Andy Wolverton netted the 84th-minute equalizer. The Falcons boast a 40-13-6 lead in the all-time series against Western.

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 38-23-10 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.