SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University men's soccer team opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this weekend with a match on the road and at home. The Falcons make the quick trip to Saint Martin's for a game at 2 p.m. on Thursday, followed by a massive match under the lights at Interbay Soccer Stadium against Western Washington on Saturday at 7 p.m.
QUOTABLE
"The conference is competitive and every game brings out the best in each other," head coach
Kevin Sakuda said. "Most of us know each other very well so we need to be at our best in every moment to get the performances and results we are striving for. We have grown a lot over our first six games and the group has not only shown resilience but a ton of belief in who we are and what we can achieve. We are excited to kick off the GNAC season on Thursday."
GNAC TEAM OF THE WEEK
The Falcons closed out nonconference play with the GNAC Team of the Week award after completing a weekend sweep that featured two shutouts on the road.
The Falcons took their first road trip of 2024, with matches against Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams Regis and RV Westminster.
Carter Gay's brilliant first career goal proved to be the game-winner against Regis, as SPU took the 1-0 on Sept. 19. On Sept. 21, three Falcons found the back of the net on their way to a 3-0 win over RV Westminster. The Griffins entered the match just outside the top 25 in the United Soccer Coaches national poll. The Falcons took down the Griffins absolutely with a complete game.
THE PIZZA MAN DELIVERS
On Sept. 23, The GNAC announced its men's soccer weekly awards, with Seattle Pacific's
Pierluca Carnovale selected as the conference's Defensive Player of the Week.
Carnovale is in the midst of a masterful run of goalkeeping for the Falcons. He picked up his third-consecutive shutout in a 3-0 win over RV Westminster. He shut down Regis as the team took a 1-0 win. Dating back to Sept. 14, he helped the Falcons earn a hard-fought 0-0 tie with #3 Cal State Los Angeles.
Carnovale's excellence started in last Thursday's match against Regis. The graduate transfer from Willamette picked up his third clean sheet of 2024. He faced 10 shots from the Rangers and made four saves in 90 minutes between the posts.
Carnovale picked up his GNAC-leading fourth clean sheet last Saturday against Westminster. Excellent defense from
Evan Aune,
Jackson Goode, and
Carter Gay kept Westminster to five shots on goal. Carnovale saved all five shots.
Carnovale has been superb for the Falcons in 2024. He's made 24 saves while allowing just eight goals, six of those goals came in one match. Carnovale ranks second in total saves, third in saves per game, third in save percentage, and leads the league in shutouts with four.
AN UNBELIEVABLE GOAL
Carter Gay was selected as one of two SPU Athletics Falcons of the Week on Sept. 24. He broke a scoreless tie in the 16th minute against Regis with his first college goal. The goal gave the Falcons a 1-0 victory against Regis in a non-conference game at Salt Lake City. The freshman center-back took a pass from Connor Tolan at the top of the penalty area and ripped an 18-yard screamer into the top left corner of the net.
THE OFFENSE WAS HUMMING
Three Falcons scored sensational goals in a 3-0 win over Westminster on Sept. 21.
Diego Pena-Salgado got the scoring started in the 25th minute.
Raymundo Mendez passed the ball to Pena-Salgado outside the 18-yard box. He ripped a missile toward the top right corner of the goal and scored. Pena-Salgado's second career goal gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead.
Mendez added to the SPU lead in the 39th minute. Mendez poked the ball away from the Griffins, worked down the end line, and snuck one past the keeper on a tough angle. Mendez has three goals in 2024, after scoring 13 a season ago.
The Falcons continued to add on in the second half.
Christopher Soto worked down the sideline and used a nifty move to get past his defender. The space Soto created led to a pass to
Connor Tollan in the middle of the 18-yard box. Tollan turned, shot, and scored for the Falcons. Tollan's third career goal gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead.
AMONGST THE BEST IN THE NORTHWEST
The Falcons are found throughout the GNAC statistical leaderboards heading into conference play.
Raymundo Mendez has accrued eight points and is tied for the most in the conference with two players from Western Oregon. He has two assists and is joined by
Connor Tollan as players tied for second in the conference in assists. Mendez's three goals are tied for the second-most in the GNAC.
Diego Pena-Salgado,
Carter Gay, and
Raymundo Mendez have scored game-winning goals for the Falcons. SPU's three different players are the most of any team inside the top 10 in game-winning goals.
ABOUT SAINT MARTIN'S
Saint Martin's collected 10 points in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll and was projected to finish seventh in this year's standings. The Saints went 4-8-4 overall in 2023, including a mark of 2-6-3 in conference play to finish in sixth place with 0.82 points per game. Rob Walker begins his 18th season leading the SMU program in the fall of 2024.
Xander Koenig, an Honorable Mention All-Conference pick in 2023, is back on the SMU roster after leading the team with four goals and adding an assist for nine points. Another key offensive component will be senior forward Angel Alvarado-Fajardo, who netted a pair of goals and started all 16 matches last season. Senior Ethan Jud, a 2022 Honorable Mention selection, is back on the roster after missing the 2023 campaign.
ABOUT WESTERN WASHINGTON
Western Washington tied for third with the Falcons in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll. They went 6-6-6 overall and 3-4-5 in conference play for 1.17 points per game. Head coach Greg Brisbon is in his 12th season leading the Vikings in 2024 and produced the program's most recent GNAC title during the 2019 campaign.
First-team all-GNAC forward Albin Jonsson is back on the roster for WWU in 2024, after leading the team with five goals and a pair of assists for 12 points. The Vikings' other First-Teamer in 2023, Sebastiano Silvetti, will bring his 6-foot-5 presence to the WWU backline again in his sophomore season. Senior midfielder Lucas Hakamada, a second-team pick in 2023, returns after starting 17 of 18 matches and logging 1,338 minutes.
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