PORTLAND, Ore. – They're coming into the season as the defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer champions.
 
But as they set their sights on a repeat, the Seattle Pacific Falcons also will have to keep their eyes on a pair of teams ranked ahead of them in the GNAC preseason coaches poll.
 
SPU has been picked for a third-place finish in the poll that was announced today. The Falcons received one of the seven first-place votes, and wound up with 37 points in the voting.
 
Simon Fraser comes into the season as the favorite, with five first-place votes and 47 points. Western Washington received the other first-place vote and collected 40 points.
 
The GNAC will have seven if its 10 schools sponsoring men's soccer this year, with the addition of Western Oregon, which is getting ready for its inaugural season.
 
Seattle Pacific, Simon Fraser, and Western Washington were the top three teams in the conference last fall, with the Falcons going 6-2-2 for 20 points. Simon was 6-4-0 for 18 points, and Western was 5-3-2 for 17. SPU went 1-1-0 against Simon and 1-0-1 against WWU. The Vikings and Simon went 1-1-0 against each other, with both games being decided in overtime.
 
 

With head coach Kevin Sakuda beginning his second year in charge, Seattle Pacific is coming off a stellar year that ended with a 12-4-2 overall record, the conference crown and a trip to the NCAA Tournament, The Falcons into the 2022 campaign with some solid goal-stopping power, but will be counting on different players to step up with some goal-scoring power.
 
The back part of the field starts in the net with fifth-year goalkeeper Lars Helleren, who is taking advantage of the additional season of eligibility from the pandemic-forced cancelation of the 2020 schedule. Helleren is the reigning GNAC Defender of the Year, having allowed just 19 goals in 18 games (1.04 goals-against average). He played all but 45 of the 1,691 minutes logged by the Falcons last fall. Helleren had six shutouts and a .774 save percentage.
 
Among those in front of him will be Evan Aune and Aidan Thrall, both juniors. Aune started 17 of the 18 games he played, and Thrall answered the opening whistle in 16 of his 17 games. Thrall, who also assisted on four Seattle Pacific goals, earned All-GNAC honorable mention status.
 
Of the 37 goals SPU scored in 2021, players who accounted for 25 of them graduated, including GNAC Player of the Year Alex Mejia, who tallied 14.
 
Topping the list of returners up front are senior forward Alden Massey and junior forward Judah Johnston. Massey, an All-GNAC first-team selection, punched in six goals and assisted on three others, good for 15 points. His goal and points totals were the second-highest on the team. Johnston added four goals.
 
A pair of starting midfielders and three other letterwinners at that position are returning to the field. Senior midfielder Tyler Speer started 16 of his 18 games and racked up a team-high five assists. Sophomore Demien Alvarez played all 18 games with 12 starts.
 
Senior Aidan Chaparro, junior Joey Van Horn, and sophomore Aaron Stapleton are back in the midfield, as well.
 
Joining all of those veterans will be a crop of 10 incoming freshmen – nine of them from the state of Washington – and four eligible redshirts.
 
 
2022 GNAC PRESEASON MEN'S SOCCER COACHES POLL
 Team (1^st-place votes)                        2021 record (GNAC)                           Points
 1. Simon Fraser (5)          9-7-0  (6-4-0—18 pts, 2^nd)     47
 2. Western Washington (1)    7-8-2  (5-3-2—17 pts, 3^rd)     40
 3. Seattle Pacific (1)      12-4-2  (6-2-2—20 pts, 1^st)     37
 4. Northwest Nazarene        8-8-0  (5-5-0—15 pts, 4^th)     29
 5. Saint Martin's           4-13-0  (3-7-0 —9 pts, 5^th)     17
 6. Montana State Billings    4-9-3  (2-6-2 —8 pts, 6^th)     15
 7. Western Oregon           First season                    11