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     • LiveStats (Sept. 14 at WWU)
     • VIDEO: Kellie  Zakrzewski

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14 --
Seattle Pacific at Western Washington
7:30 p.m. PDT, Orca Field, Bellingham, Wash.
LiveStats: http://www.wwugamedaystats.com/livestats/

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 --
Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
7:00 p.m. PDT, Terry Fox Field, Burnaby, B.C.

With sights set on a third straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, the Seattle Pacific women's soccer team (3-1-0) begins league play on the road this week. The Falcons visit Western Washington (1-1-2) on Wednesday, Sept. 14 for a 7:30 p.m. game at Orca Field in Bellingham. The Vikings dealt SPU its only GNAC loss last season, but were beaten 3-2 in the rematch on a 107th-minute golden goal. On Saturday, Sept. 17 the Falcons meet Simon Fraser (1-1-0) in Burnaby, B.C. The Clan put the only other blemish on SPU's 2010 league ledger, battling to a scoreless tie in Seattle. Next week the Falcons return home for the start of a four-game Interbay Stadium homestand, beginning on Sept. 22 at 7 p.m. against Saint Martin's.

GNAC Title Chase
The defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Seattle Pacific women were projected by the league's coaches to collect a third consecutive soccer title in the preseason poll. SPU collected 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. Seattle Pacific won seven of the 10 titles since the GNAC began sponsoring women's soccer in 2001. Western Washington, the 2008 champion, was projected to finish second this year by the league's coaches with 52 points. Simon Fraser received the remaining first-place vote and finished third in the poll with 46 points. Montana State Billings was fourth in the preseason projections with 40 points followed by Central Washington (33), Saint Martin's (24), Western Oregon (16) and Northwest Nazarene (14).

Notable
Just four games into the season and already three Falcons have multi-goal games (Mandy Verdoia, Ali Martin, Heather Young) ... SPU is outscoring opponents 13-4 on the strength of a 64-39 shots advantage.



Player of the Week
SPU senior Brandi Hamre was named the GNAC Player of the Week on Monday after scoring in both games last week. Hamre tallied the game-winning goal and added an assist in a 6-1 win over Notre Dame de Namur (Sept. 8). Against Nebraska-Omaha, she netted the Falcons' third goal in a 5-0 rout.

Recent Recap
The Falcons were victorious in two home games last week by a combined 11-1 score. They routed Notre Dame de Namur 6-1 behind two goals apiece from Mandy Verdoia and Ali Martin. Heather Young joined that two-goal club against NCAA Division I Nebraska-Omaha in a 5-0 blanking. SPU ended non-league play with a 3-1 record.

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. Lindsay, a junior forward led the team with 11 goals in 2010. Sawyer is a junior defender who helped the defense limit opponents to 10 goals. SPU boasts three of the GNAC's top-four returning scorers, including Lindsay. Senior Brandi Hamre tallied six goals last year and tied for the league lead with nine assists. Kellie Zakrzewski scored eight goals en route to 2010 GNAC Freshman of the Year honors. The Falcons won the national championship in 2008. They advanced to the national semifinals in 2005 and 2007.

This Week's Opponents
Western Washington (1-1-2, 0-0-0 GNAC) -- The Vikings, who dealt SPU its lone GNAC loss in 2010, are coached for the ninth season by former four-year Seattle Pacific letterman Travis Connell (1991-95). Emily Frankland leads WWU with two goals. Goalkeeper Jamie Arthurs compiled two shutouts and a 0.66 goals against average. SPU leads the series 14-4-3 despite a 2-3-2 record in the last seven meetings. The visitor won both games last season. The Vikings won the first 2010 meeting, a 1-0 win in Seattle that snapped the Falcons 45-game home unbeaten streak. Kristin Maris netted the game-winner in the 89th minute. SPU got a 3-2 overtime victory during the rematch in Bellingham on a 107th-minute golden goal from Kellie Zakrzewski.

Simon Fraser (1-1-0, 0-0-0 GNAC) -- The Clan are the newest members of the GNAC, joining the league last year after becoming the first Canadian school to join the NCAA. Shelley Howieson is in her 23rd season as head coach, having directed SFU to two NAIA national championships, in 1996 and 2000. Jessica Hadden and April Coffin accounted for the two Clan goals. Goalkeeper Amelia Ng has one shutout and a 0.50 goals against average. The Falcons own a 1-0-1 series edge, with both meetings coming last season. The teams tied 0-0 in Seattle and SPU was a 2-1 victor in the Burnaby, B.C. rematch.

Coach Chuck  Sekyra
In his ninth season, Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific to a remarkable 153-17-14 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 Falcons with three assists and netted the game-winner in the season-opening 2-1 win over Chico State. She scored six goals last season and three of them were game-winning tallies, 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 then came to Seattle to play from 1976-79 with the Sounders of the NASL.

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 dropped out of the national rankings last week (Sept. 6) after starting the season at No. 10 in the NSCAA coaches poll, right where they finished the 2010 campaign. The Falcons were listed fourth last week among teams also receiving votes.