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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11 --
Montana State Billings at (#9) Seattle Pacific
4:30 p.m. PDT, Interbay Stadium (900), Seattle, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 13 --
Northwest Nazarene at (#9) Seattle Pacific
7:00 p.m. PDT, Interbay Stadium (900), Seattle, Wash.
LiveStats for Both Games:  www.sidearmstats.com/spu/msoc
 

Home is where the heart is. It's also where the ninth-ranked Seattle Pacific men's soccer team will be for five of its final seven regular-season games. With a five-game road trip behind them, the third-place Falcons (8-1-2, 4-1-2 GNAC) play a pair of games at Interbay Stadium this week. They host fourth-place Montana State Billings (6-3-1, 3-3-1) on Thursday, Oct. 11 at 4:30 p.m. as the opener of a doubleheader with the SPU women who play at 7 p.m. The Yellowjackets men battled SPU to a 1-1 draw on Sept. 22 in Billings. On Saturday, Oct. 13 the Falcons entertain second-place Northwest Nazarene (6-2-3, 5-0-2). Those teams played to a scoreless tie in this season's first meeting, on Sept. 20 in Nampa, Idaho. The Falcons are vying for their 32nd NCAA Division II Tournament berth. They advanced to the West Regional championship game last fall.
 
Home Sweet Home
Seattle Pacific returns home to play at Interbay Stadium for the first time since Sept. 15. The Falcons are undefeated in four home games this season. They compiled an impressive 23-6-5 home record during the last four seasons, starting in 2009.
 
Fastest to Fifty?
Mark Collings has compiled 49 victories in 87 games as the Falcons head coach (49-26-12). The next win with be the 50th for the fifth-year coach. Legendary SPU coach Cliff McCrath (1970-2007) got his 50th win in his 94th game. Collings ranks No. 2 among all-time SPU coaches with 49 wins. McCrath had a 512-190-87 record at SPU.
 


Falcons Fast Facts
SPU shut out four opponents this season while being blanked just once, in a scoreless tie at Northwest Nazarene (Sept. 20) ... Junior forward Blaine Carver leads the Falcons with four goals, doubling his scoring output from 2011 ... The Falcons are outscoring opponents 23-14 with a balanced attack that features 12 players who scored at least one goal. They outshot foes 178-118, including a 71-37 advantage in shots directly on goal.
 
Ranking Report
Seattle Pacific climbed three spots, to No. 9, in this week's national poll. SPU received its highest men's soccer ranking in 18 years with a No. 2 listing in the NCAA Division II poll that was released Sept. 10 by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). That was the Falcons highest poll position since a No. 1 ranking on Sept. 20, 1994. Current SPU assistant coach Nate Daligcon was a starting midfielder on that top-ranked team. Fifth-year head coach Mark Collings played for the Falcons from 1995-98, but none of the SPU teams he played on climbed as high in the rankings as the current team he is coaching. The Falcons were ranked No. 12 last week. Simon Fraser is the only other GNAC team in the poll, listed at No. 4 this week.
 
Player of the Week
Senior Kyle Smurdon, who netted a pair of goals in Seattle Pacific's 5-3 win at Saint Martin's, received the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week award on Monday. Smurdon came off the bench Saturday to register the first multiple-goal performance of his career. His 39th-minute strike evened the score at 2-2. He found the back of the net again with 2:29 remaining to secure SPU's road victory over the Saints. Those were the first goals of the season for the forward from Sherwood (Ore.) High School.
 
Stellar Start
This year's Falcons equaled the best start in school history with six season-opening wins. The 1985 and 1991 SPU squads both started 6-0 before both lost in their seventh outing. The 1985 team proceeded to win the third of SPU's five NCAA titles.
 
This Week's Opponents
Montana State Billings (6-3-1, 3-3-1 GNAC) -- The fourth-place Yellowjackets were shut out in their last two games to halt a four-game unbeaten streak. Legofi Crawford and Landon Horst are tied for team scoring honors with three goals and Thomas Chameraud tops the squad with six assists. Goalkeeper Eoin Hurley has three shutouts and a 1.04 goals against average. SPU won four straight encounters with the Yellowjackets before tying the last two meetings on the road, 0-0 on Oct. 13, 2011 and 1-1 on Sept. 22, 2012. The Falcons own a 9-3-4 lead in the all-time series.
 
Northwest Nazarene (6-2-3, 5-0-2 GNAC) -- The second-place Crusaders won their last four games and are undefeated in the last eight outings with a 6-0-2 mark during that span. Goalkeeper Alfredo Ontiveros played every minute for NNU and surrendered just eight goals. He registered six shutouts and a 0.69 goals against average. Jaime Torres tops the team with four goals. SPU won the first 11 meetings in the series before tying 0-0 at Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 20.
 
Coach Collings
Fifth-year coach Mark Collings is the third head coach in the 45-year history of Seattle Pacific men's soccer. He has a 49-26-12 record with the Falcons. Collings directed SPU to a 14-4-2 record in 2011, capped by its first playoff appearance in five years. The Falcons earned the top seed in the West and advanced to the regional championship game. Collings was named the 2010 GNAC Co-Coach of the Year after leading 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.
 
2012 Preview
Eight starters return from the SPU men's soccer team that registered a 14-4-2 record and advanced to the West Regional final of the 2011 NCAA Division II Tournament. Heading the list of returnees are first-team All-America defender Jon Pearman and honorable mention goalkeeper selection Zach Johnson. They lead a defense that compiled 11 shutouts and a 0.88 goals against average. The midfield features first-team All-GNAC standout Caleb Nyone. Helping ease the loss of the team's top-three scorers, including All-American Tyler Schultz, is junior forward Blaine Carver along with frontline mates Elliot Morton and Kyle Peterman who were both sidelined last season due to injury.