Tuesday, September 23, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – The first week of conference play was an exciting one for GNAC teams and fans.

There were three conference ties last week and four top teams battled on Thursday and Saturday showing that the conference race could be wide open as the season progresses. 

Western Oregon, Northwest Nazarene, Western Washington and Seattle Pacific all beat their opponents by two goals or more on Thursday.

Western Oregon controlled Montana State Billings in a 2-0 win while Northwest Nazarene used two first half goals to defeat Saint Martin’s 3-1.

These two teams battled on Saturday to a 1-1 draw.

Seattle Pacific took an early lead for a 4-1 victory over Simon Fraser and Western Washington tied the most goals it’s scored in a game this season in a 3-0 defeat of Central Washington.

These two teams battled on Saturday in a rematch of the 2013 GNAC title game. This ended in a 1-1 draw as well.

Including Central Washington which won 4-0 on Saturday, five teams have at least three points in the conference standings heading into week two.

Headlining the week’s performances was Lexi Fesenbek of Northwest Nazarene who totaled seven points in three matches. Her efforts led to GNAC Red Lion Player of the Week honors.

Fesenbek is tied with Seattle Pacific’s Laura Moore for the conference lead in assists. Moore is also tied for 15^th in the nation in assists per game.

These two teams will face off on Thursday while Western Oregon and Western Washington face each other on Saturday, highlighting this week’s matches.

Western Washington dropped to No. 15 in the NSCAA polls after tying SPU, which also received votes in the poll this week.