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      • VIDEO: Andrea  Chan

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27 --
(#13) Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
2:00 p.m. PDT, NNU Soccer Field, Nampa, Idaho
• No Live Game Coverage

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 --
(#13) Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
12:00 p.m. PDT, Yellowjacket Field, Billings, Mont.
•Webcast:  www.nmtvsports.com
•LiveStats:  www.sidearmstats.com/msubillings/wsoc/

The stakes are high this week when 13th-ranked Seattle Pacific (13-2, 10-1 GNAC) completes the road portion of its regular-season schedule. The Falcons need one more win to clinch their third consecutive Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship and can secure that on Thursday, Oct. 27 at Northwest Nazarene (4-11, 2-9). Kick-off is 2 p.m. at NNU Soccer Field in Nampa, Idaho. SPU won the last 19 meetings against the Crusaders. On Saturday, Oct. 29 the SPU women visit Montana State Billings (9-2-4, 6-1-4), seeking to avenge their only league loss. The Yellowjackets won 1-0 on Sept. 29 in Seattle, getting a 45-yard free kick in the 77th-minute from Whitney Siler that bounced into the goal. That decision snapped the Yellowjackets 11-game losing streak against SPU. The Falcons conclude the regular season at home against Central Washington on Nov. 5 at 1 p.m.

GNAC Standings
With three games left to play the Seattle Pacific women (10-1-0) reside atop the GNAC standings with 30 points. They own a seven-point lead over second-place Central Washington (7-2-2, 23 points) with MSU Billing another point back (6-1-4, 22).

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.



Shutout Streak
With senior Brooke Yokers in goal, SPU shut out its last four opponents. The Falcons haven't allowed a goal in their last 369-minutes, 12-seconds, dating to Oct. 7.

Road Warriors
In the midst of a four-game road trip, the Falcons are fortunate they flourish away from home. SPU is undefeated on enemy fields in the last two seasons and won its last 13 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 5-0 this season.

Throw-Ins
Seattle Pacific's balanced attack got at least one goal from 15 different players this year, the most single-season scorers in school history ... The Falcons rank No. 10 nationally with 2.87 goals per game and are No. 12 in goals against average at 0.47 ... SPU owns a 43-7 scoring advantage and has more than doubled opponent's totals in shots (280-127) and shots on goal (124-51) ... Kellie Zakrzewski had two-goal performances during three of the last five 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 defender Taylor Sawyer, who helped Seattle Pacific record a pair of shutouts, was named the GNAC Athlete of the Week on Monday. Sawyer anchors a defense that blanked its last four opponents. She helped the Falcons limit last week's two opponents to only 14 shots. SPU outshot Saint Martin's 30-4 en route to a 2-0 victory last Thursday in Lacey, Wash. On Saturday the Falcons won 3-0 at Western Oregon with a 17-10 advantage in the shot count. SPU registered 10 shutouts this season and is yielding just 0.47 goals per game. Sawyer received All-America recognition in each of her first two seasons, garnering second-team acclaim in 2010 and honorable mention notice in 2009.

This Week's Opponents
Northwest Nazarene (4-11-0, 2-9-0 GNAC) -- The Crusaders lost their last seven games, having been outscored 23-4 during that span. Jenny Field and Autumn Yturbe each accounted for one-third of the team's 18-goal total with six apiece. Goalkeeper Tanya Zickefoose posted three shutouts and a 2.15 goals against average. NNU trails the all-time series with SPU by a 20-1 margin, their lone win coming in 2001. The Falcons won this season's first meeting 4-0 on Oct. 1 in Seattle behind a hat trick from Megan Lindsay.

Montana State Billings (9-2-4, 6-1-4 GNAC) -- The third-place Yellowjackets have two wins and three ties in their last six outings. Jaucelyn Richter compiled eight goals to pace an MSUB attack that outscores opponents 27-10. Goalkeeper Danielle Gordon has six shutouts and a 0.63 goals against average. The Yellowjackets dealt SPU its lone league loss, winning 1-0 on Sept. 29 in Seattle on a 45-yard Whitney Siler free kick that bounced in at 76:47. That stopped an 11-game series winning streak for the Falcons, who won all three meetings last season. The GNAC rivals met last season in Seattle in a second-round NCAA Tournament encounter on Nov. 13 nd SPU won 2-0. The Falcons have outscored MSUB 31-4 in all-time meetings.

Coach Chuck  Sekyra
In his ninth season, Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific to a remarkable 163-18-14 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 eight 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 fell one spot to No. 13 in this week's (Oct. 25) national coaches poll. The Falcons started the season at No. 10 in the NSCAA rankings, exactly where they finished the 2010 campaign.

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.