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WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 --
Seattle Pacific at Western Washington
7:00 p.m. PDT, Orca Field, Bellingham, Wash.
LiveStats: www.wwugamedaystats.com/livestats

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1 --
Seattle Pacific at (#12) Simon Fraser
7:00 p.m. PDT, Terry Fox Field, Burnaby, B.C.
Webcast: www.educationcdn.com/schools/clan/
LiveStats: http://cgi.sfu.ca/~athlwww/livestats/msoccer/xlive.htm

Seattle Pacific (5-1-1, 2-0 GNAC) embarks on a two-game road trip that has significant men's soccer league championship implications. The second-place Falcons visit Bellingham to meet Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Western Washington (3-3, 2-1) on Wednesday, Sept. 28 at 7 p.m. The Vikings have played one more game, but are tied with SPU in the standings with six points. They both trail the nine points of league-leading Simon Fraser (7-0, 3-0). The Falcons travel to Burnaby, B.C. to clash with the undefeated and 12th-ranked Clan on Saturday, Oct. 1 at 7 p.m. Last year, on Nov. 4, the SPU men visited Simon Fraser and dealt the previously undefeated (16-0) Clan by a 4-0 score. The Clan won the 2010 GNAC championship. This week's games are the third and fourth outings on an eight-game road trip for the SPU men, who do not return home to play at Interbay Stadium until Oct. 20. Next week the Falcons travel to Phoenix, Ariz. for non-conference games against Cal Baptist (Oct. 6) and Grand Canyon (Oct. 8).

Notable
Connor Meppen and Sean Russell each scored twice last week, their first SPU goals ... The Falcons' five assists last week were each distributed by a different player ... After going scoreless for the opening 193-minutes of the season, the SPU men netted 17 goals in 457 subsequent minutes ... Junior goalkeeper Zach Johnson has posted three shutouts with a 0.98 goals against average.



Recent Recap
The Falcons started an eight-game road trip with two non-conference wins, starting on Sept. 21 at Mary. Tyler Schultz netted a hat trick in the 5-2 victory. SPU defeated Sioux Falls 5-1 behind goal-and-assist performances from Danny Brill and Schultz.

Player of the Week
SPU senior Tyler Schultz, who compiled four goals and an assist in a pair of road victories, received the GNAC Athlete of the Week award on Monday. A forward from Scottsdale, Ariz., Schultz recorded his first career hat trick on Wednesday, netting the Falcons' first, fourth and fifth goals in a 5-2 win at the University of Mary. On Friday, he assisted on the opening goal and then capped SPU's 5-1 triumph over Sioux Falls with a 57th-minute strike. Schultz has tallied a team-leading six goals and 14 total points, a figure that includes two assists. He topped all SPU scorers in each of the last two seasons, registering 10 in 2010 and eight in 2009. His 28 career goals rank No. 7 among all-time GNAC scoring leaders. This is the third weekly conference award for Schultz in his career.

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
Western Washington (3-3-0, 2-1-0 GNAC) -- The Vikings are coached for the 13th season by Travis Connell, a four-year SPU soccer letterman from 1991-95. WWU won its last two games, at Northwest Nazarene (1-0) and at Montana State Billings (2-1). Oscar Jimenez has two goals and three assists to lead the team that lost GNAC Player of the Year Gibson Bardsley to graduation. Goalkeepers Leo Cohen and Keegan Rogers combined for a 1.83 goals against average. Western won the most recent meeting, a 2-0 decision on Nov. 6, 2010 in Bellingham. The Northwest rivals played to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 20, 2010 in Seattle as SPU's Andy Wolverton netted the 84th-minute equalizer. The Falcons boast a 39-13-6 lead in the all-time series against Western.

Simon Fraser (7-0-0, 3-0-0 GNAC) -- The 12th-ranked Clan are in their second year as an NCAA Division II competitor and member of the GNAC. For the third straight meeting, the Falcons will be playing an undefeated Simon Fraser squad. The Clan are outscoring opponents 23-2 led by four goals apiece from Carlo Basso and Joseph Martin. Goalkeeper Sheldon Steenhuis has four shutouts and a 0.18 goals against average. SPU and SFU split the season series in 2010 with the visiting team winning both games. Simon Fraser got a 94th-minute golden goal from Joseph Martin to claim a 3-2 overtime win over the Falcons on Oct. 6 in Seattle. SPU led 2-1 before the Clan equalized in the 86th minute. In the Nov. 4 rematch in Burnaby, the Falcons dealt Simon Fraser its first defeat in a 4-0 rout. 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 20-17-6 lead in the all-time series.

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 32-22-9 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.