• News
• |
• Schedule
• |
• Roster
• |
• Stats
• |
• Archives

Oct. 3, 2012

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Western Washington University men's soccer team entertains West Region top-ranked and nationally No.7-rated Simon Fraser on Saturday (3 p.m.) in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest at Orca Field on the Whatcom CC campus.

The Vikings, 4-5-1 overall and 2-3-1 in league play, are 4-1-1 at home this season. They split a pair of home games last week, defeating Saint Martin's, 4-1, and losing 1-0 to nationally No.3-rated Seattle Pacific.

Simon Fraser, which is seeking a third straight GNAC title, is 9-1-0 overall and atop the league standings at 5-1-0. They were a near unanimous pick in the conference preseason poll after going 18-0-1 last season and 9-0-1 in the GNAC. The only blemish was a 2-2 overtime draw with WWU at Bellingham.

The Clan won its first five games this season, then lost to No.6-ranked Northwest Nazarene, 2-1, and is currently working on a four-game victory string.

SFU has the top three scorers in the league, led by Carlo Basso with a GNAC-high nine goals and 21 points. Justin Wallace (16) has five goals and six assists, and Jovan Blagojevic (14) has five goals and four assists.

Two Clan goalkeepers are holding opponents under a goal per game. JD Blakely is allowing an average of 0.80 goals per game and Hide Ozawa 0.99.

Two WWU seniors, midfielder Sujinda Dangvan (Vancouver/Mountain View) and forward Justin Moore (Port Orchard/South Kitsap), each have scored four goals to lead the team.

Freshman midfielder Leonard Kusina (Fairbault, MN/Shattuck St. Mary's Prep) had two assists in the Vikings' win over Saint Martin's.

Sophomore goalkeeper Keegan Rogers (So., Portland, OR/Portland Christian) has three shutouts and a 1.17 GAA with 30 saves in 920 minutes.

Defender Kurtis Pederson (Puyallup/Bellarmine Prep) was named Red Lion/GNAC Defensive Player of the Week for his play in WWU's wins over Hawaii Pacific and Dixie State. He gave the Vikings a great opportunity to tie the game late against SPU.

WWU trails 14-32-4 in its series with Simon Fraser. Last year's tie snapped a five-game losing streak for the Vikings.

WWU's Travis Connell (14th year, 121-120-16) is the school's winningest coach in both men's and women's soccer. His women's record is 110-57-19 in 10 seasons.

Great Northwest Athletic Conference

2012 Men's Soccer Report Week 5 (Oct. 2, 2012)

		        Conference			                All
	                W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts	W	L	T	GF	GA
Simon Fraser	        5	1	0	22	6	15	9	1	0	40	9
Northwest Nazarene      4	0	2	10	3	14	5	2	3	13	8
Seattle Pacific         3	1	2	8	7	11	7	1	2	18	11
MSU Billings            3	2	1	8	6	10	6	2	1	15	9
Western Washington      2	3	1	8	8	7	4	5	1	11	12
Mary                    2	4	0	9	11	6	3	6	1	14	24
Saint Martin's          1	5	0	4	20	3	2	8	0	8	31
Sioux Falls	1	5	0	7	15	3	1	8	0	10	28

LAST WEEK: Thursday - Northwest Nazarene 2 at Mary 1; MSU Billings 1 at Sioux Falls 0; Saint Martin's 1 at Western Washington 4; Seattle Pacific 1 at Simon Fraser 5. Saturday - MSU Billings 2 at Mary 1 (ot); Northwest Nazarene 3 at Sioux Falls 1; Seattle Pacific 1 at Western Washington 0. Sunday - Saint Martin's 0 at Simon Fraser 6.

THIS WEEK: Saturday - Mary at Sioux Falls, 11 a.m.; MSU Billings at Northwest Nazarene, 3 p.m.; Seattle Pacific at Saint Martin's, 3 p.m.; Simon Fraser at Western Washington, 3 p.m.

NEXT WEEK (Week of Oct. 8-14): Thursday - Mary at Simon Fraser, 5 p.m.; MSU Billings at Seattle Pacific, 4:30 p.m.; Northwest Nazarene at Saint Martin's, 3 p.m.; Sioux Falls at Western Washington, 7:30 p.m. Saturday - Mary at Western Washington, 7 p.m.; MSU Billings at Saint Martin's, 1 p.m.; Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific, 7 p.m.; Sioux Falls at Simon Fraser, 3:30 p.m.

POLLS: NSCAA National (Oct. 2) - 7. Simon Fraser, 12. Seattle Pacific. NSCAA West Region (Oct. 2) - 1. Simon Fraser; 2. Seattle Pacific, 8. Northwest Nazarene.

NCAA NATIONAL STATISTICS (Through Sept. 30): Team (Top 30): Scoring - 2. Simon Fraser 3.78. Total Goals - 2. Simon Fraser 34. Goals Against - 21. Northwest Nazarene 0.75. Shutout PCT. - 18. Northwest Nazarene .500. Saves - 11. Mary 6.60; 13. Sioux Falls 6.56; 18. Saint Martin's 6.11. Save PCT. - 15. Northwest Nazarene .846. Total Assists - 9. Simon Fraser 23. Total Points - 4. Simon Fraser 91. Individuals (Top 30): Points - 13. Carlo Basso, SFU, 2.33. Total Points - 8. Carlo Basso, SFU, 21. Goals - 9. Carlo Basso, SFU, 1.00. Total Goals - 8. Carlo Basso, SFU, 9. Assists - 11. Thomas Chameraud, MSUB, 0.67; 19. Chris Bargholz, SFU, 0.63. Total Assists - 6. Thomas Chameraud, MSUB, 6; 22. Chris Bargholz, SFU, 5. Goals Against - 20. Alfredo Ontiveros, NNU, 0.75. Save PCT. - 14. Alfredo Ontiveros, NNU, .846. Saves Per Game - 9. Michael Frenzel, Mary, 6.50; 10. Kyle Simons, USF, 6.44. Total Saves - 4. Michael Frenzel, Mary, 65; 9. Kyle Simons, USF, 58; 27. Alfredo Ontiveros, NNU, 44.

GNAC RED LION PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Offense - Justin Wallace, Simon Fraser (M, 5-11, Jr., Kamloops, BC - Thompson Rivers) scored two goals and had four assists as the Clan had a pair of dominating performances in beating third-ranked Seattle Pacific 5-1 and Saint Martin's 6-0. Against the Falcons, Wallace earned assists on SFU's first two goals and scored the third in the 29th minute as the Clan bolted to an early 3-0 lead. Against Saint Martin's he earned assists on the Clan's fourth and fifth goals before completing the scoring with an unassisted goal in the 61st minute. "Justin was brilliant against SPU," SFU coach Alan Koch said. "He was a constant offensive threat and a big part of why our offense exploded against the No. 3 team in the nation. He continued an impressive week with a great strike against SMU. He is starting to find his stride and is thoroughly deserving of this honor." Defense - Matt Besuschko, Simon Fraser (M, 5-10, Sr., Port Moody, BC) led the Clan defense which limited its opponents to just 16 shots in two lopsided wins and also scored a goal. "Matt anchored our defense to two key victories," Koch said. "He fought through illness to help us contain an excellent SPU attack, and he was the leader of a back 4 against SMU that limited them to very few opportunities. It was also nice to see him go forward and score an excellent goal." Honorable Mention - Justin Moore, Western Washington; Pat Cole, Western Washington; Jaime Torres, Northwest Nazarene; Dylan Coffee, Northwest Nazarene; Thomas Sheets, MSU Billings; Matt Brink, MSU Billings.

GAME-WINNERS: Blaine Carver scored in the 61st minute earning Seattle Pacific a 1-0 road win Saturday at Western Washington ... Landon Horst and Joshua Marocchi had game-winning goals as Montana State Billings picked up two road wins with late goals. Horst's header in the 95th minute earned the Yellowjackets a 1-0 overtime win at Mary on Saturday after Marocchi had given MSUB a 1-0 win converting a cross from Kyle Emerick in the 87th minute at Sioux Falls on Thursday ... Chris Voth's goal in the 62nd minute snapped a 1-1 tie in Northwest Nazarene's 2-1 win at Mary on Thursday.

PROVIDING ASSISTANCE: Leonard Kusina had two assists in Western Washington's 4-1 home win over Saint Martin's Thursday ... John DiLulo had two assists as Northwest Nazarene earned a road sweep. The first assist came on Voth's game-winner against the Marauders.

STREAKS: Simon Fraser extended its streak of games played with a goal to 29 breaking the GNAC record of 27 set by Seattle University between Aug. 26, 2004 and Sept. 1, 2005. The last time the Clan was shutout was in a 1-0 NAIA playoff loss to Great Falls on Nov. 21, 2010. The last time it was shutout in the regular-season was on Nov. 4, 2010 when Seattle Pacific blanked SFU 4-0.

PREVIOUS RED LION PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

Week of Aug. 27-Sept. 2: Offense - Danny Olivas, Seattle Pacific (F, 6-1, Fr., Phoenix, AZ - O'Connor) scored the game-winning goal on a 20-yard free kick in the Falcons' 3-1 win over 23rd ranked Chico State and also earned an assist on Blaine Carver's game-winner Thursday in a 4-2 victory at Notre Dame de Namur as the Falcons opened their season with two wins for the first time since 2002. Defense - Michael Winter, Simon Fraser (D, 5-11, Sr., Vancouver, BC - Capilano) led the Clan defense that posted two shutouts and held Thompson Rivers and Vancouver Island to a total of 11 shots in two victories. Winter also scored a goal as SFU outscored its two opponents by a 9-0 count.

Week of Sept. 3-9: Offense - Lucas Ferritto, Simon Fraser (F, 5-5, Jr., Hamilton, ON - St. Jean De Brebeuf) scored a pair of game-winning goals including one at 75:01 to snap a 2-2 tie in the Clan's 3-2 win over Hawaii Pacific Sunday as the Clan extended their two-season unbeaten streak to 23 games. Ferritto also had the game-winner in Friday's 6-1 home win against Azusa Pacific. Defense - Kurtis Pederson, Western Washington (D, 6-1, 180, Fr., Puyallup, WA) keyed the Viking defense that helped produce 1-0 shutout victories over Hawaii Pacific and Dixie State forcing goalkeeper Keegan Rogers to make just five saves. "Kurtis played two complete games," WWU coach Travis Connell said. "He defended well, was dominant in the air and consistently put our attack on the right foot with his distribution out of the back."

Week of Sept. 10-16: Offense - Christopher Morris, Seattle Pacific (M, 6-0, Sr., Mercer Island, WA) is the Red Lion Offensive Player of the Week. Morris contributed two goals and an assist as the Falcons equaled their best start (6-0) in school history with three victories, including 2-0 and 3-1 conference wins against Sioux Falls and the University of Mary. He had the game-winning goal against USF, then scored the first goal and had an assist on the third goal against the Marauders. Defense - Stephan Marshall, Northwest Nazarene (D, 5-10, 5-10, Sr., Palm Springs, CA - Cal Poly SLO) keyed the Crusader defense as NNU earned four road points by playing Western Washington to a scoreless tie, then beating 12th ranked Simon Fraser 2-1 snapping the Clan's GNAC-record tying 24-game unbeaten streak. That performance earned Marshall Red Lion Defensive Player of the Week accolades. It also helped secure the Crusaders the GNAC Team of the Week award. "Marshall showed this weekend why he is one of the best defenders in our region," NNU coach Coe Michaelson said. "His leadership and ability to read the game are second to none."

Week of Sept. 17-23: Offense - Brice Holliday, Sioux Falls (F, 5-11, Sr., Colorado Springs, CO - Coronado) scored all three of his team's goals as the Cougars defeated Western Washington to snap a six-game losing streak and earn their first victory as a NCAA Division II member school. Defense - Conner Moe, Montana State Billings (D, 6-1, 185, Sr., Snohomish, WA - Bellevue CC) led the Yellowjacket defense to a 3-0 shutout of Saint Martin's and a 1-1 draw with Seattle Pacific. Moe was especially instrumental in leading MSUB in the late minutes of the second half and both overtime periods against the Falcons.

GNAC TEAMS OF THE WEEK: Aug. 27-Sept. 2 - Montana State Billings (Women's Soccer). Sept. 3-9 - Western Washington (Volleyball). Sept. 10-16 - Northwest Nazarene (Men's Soccer). Sept. 17-23 - Central Washington (Volleyball). Sept. 24-30 - Central Washington (Football).