• Complete Release (pdf)
      • LiveStats (for both games)
      • VIDEO: Coach Mark  Collings

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6 --
Seattle Pacific vs. Cal Baptist
5:00 p.m. PDT, GCU Soccer Field, Phoenix, Ariz.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8 --
Seattle Pacific at (#16) Grand Canyon
7:30 p.m. PDT, GCU Soccer Field, Phoenix, Ariz.

LiveStats for both games:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/gcu/msoc/xlive.htm

A difficult eight-game road trip doesn't get any easier for the Seattle Pacific men's soccer team (6-2-1, 3-1 GNAC). The Falcons travel to Phoenix, Ariz. to face a pair of the Pacific West Conference's best teams, beginning Thursday, Oct. 6 with their first ever meeting versus Cal Baptist (6-3). The neutral-site encounter kicks off at 5 p.m. Pacific Time at GCU Soccer Field, where SPU plays 16th-ranked Grand Canyon (6-2-1) on Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7:30 p.m. The Antelopes are a familiar foe that has clashed with SPU 14 times during the last 10 seasons. The Falcons return to Great Northwest Athletic Conference play next week with visits to Montana State Billings and Northwest Nazarene that end the road stretch.

Falcons vs. Ranked Foes
Saturday's clash with No. 16 Grand Canyon marks the third time the Falcons will have faced a ranked foe this season. SPU opened the year with a 0-0 tie against then-No. 8 Chico State and lost 4-3 at No. 5 Simon Fraser on Saturday. Simon Fraser moved up to No. 3 in this week's national poll and Metro State is No. 14 despite losing 2-1 at SPU on Sept. 10. The Falcons last win over a team ranked at the time of the game was a 3-0 victory over No. 19 Grand Canyon on Oct. 14, 2010 in Seattle. Their last road win over a ranked foe was a 1-0 decision at No. 17 Grand Canyon on Oct. 12, 2009.

Notable
The Falcons have scored 21 goals to rank No. 33 nationally and second in the GNAC  ... Drew Williams is tied for the league lead with four assists ... After going scoreless for the opening 193-minutes of the season, the SPU men netted 21 goals in 637 subsequent minutes ... Junior goalkeeper Zach Johnson has posted four shutouts with a 1.20 goals against average while averaging more than three saves per game.



Recent Recap
The Falcons got an 85th-minute penalty kick from Tyler Schultz to win 1-0 at Western Washington (Sept. 28) for their sixth straight victory. That streak ended on Saturday (Oct. 1) with SPU's first GNAC setback, a 4-3 loss at No. 5 Simon Fraser. Schultz scored the Falcons first goal and Blaine Carver netted the other two against the Clan.

Terrific Tyler
SPU senior Tyler Schultz leads the conference and ranks 17th nationally with eight goals. He scored a goal in four straight games, amassing six during that span. The Oct. 1 GNAC Athlete of the Week posted his first career hat trick in a 5-2 win at Mary (Sept. 21). Schultz has 18 total points, a figure that includes two assists. 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
Cal Baptist (6-3-0, 4-1-0 PacWest) -- Located in Riverside, Calif., Cal Baptist currently stands in second place  in the PacWest Conference standings. The Lancers lost their last outing 2-1 at Dixie State to snap a six-game winning streak. Michael Salazar has five goals to lead the CBU attack that has outscored opponents 20-9. Goalkeeper Joey Pacheco has two shutouts and a 1.01 goals against average. Thursday marks the first ever meeting between the Lancers and Seattle Pacific. Their lone common opponent is Notre Dame de Namur, a team that defeated the Falcons 3-1 (Sept. 8). Cal Baptist defeated NDNU 2-1 (Sept. 20).

Grand Canyon (6-2-1, 3-1-1 PacWest) -- The Antelopes, in third place in the PacWest Conference, are undefeated in their last four games. They routed Hawaii Hilo 9-0 in the last outing. GCU has outscored opponents 23-5 this season. Saeed Robinson accumulated 10 of his team-leading 11 goals during the last six games. Goalkeeper Adam Garcia compiled three shutouts and a 0.57 goals against average. The Antelopes and SPU clash Saturday for the 11th straight season, having met 14 times sine 2001. SPU leads the all-time series 14-3-5, including a 3-0 win last season in Seattle (Oct. 14).

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 33-23-9 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.