Wednesday, September 21, 2016

PORTLAND -- On the first full day of conference play, Western Washington will play the only non-conference game, hosting Bridgeport in a match that will be broadcasted live through ESPN3. The match features two of the top teams in the nation in 2015.

Both squads reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Vikings enter the contest on a five-match winning streak, including a 3-2 win over No. 6 UC San Diego. Bridgeport is 4-1 this year and ranked No. 10. The Purple Knights lone loss came against No. 7 Adelphi two weeks ago.

GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OFFENSE
Gabrielle Ewing, Concordia
M • 5-7 • Sophomore • Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Ewing led Concordia to a three-win week with two goals and an assist. She scored the game-winner in the Cavaliers’ 4-0 GNAC-opening win over Saint Martin’s on Tuesday and assisted on the game-winner in the Cavaliers’ 5-3 win over Hawaii Pacific on Friday. She also scored in a 3-1 win over NAIA Southern Oregon on Saturday.
Also Nominated: Peyton Chick (Western Washington), Taylor Higa (Western Oregon), Sarah Jenkins (Northwest Nazarene), Keilin Farrand (Central Washington), Kasey Reeve (Seattle Pacific), Hannah Frakes (Saint Martin’s).

DEFENSE
Emily Webster, Western Washington
M • 5-6 • Junior • Bellingham, Wash.
Webster anchored a Western Washington defense that succeeded in beating No. 6 UC San Diego at home, 3-2, on Wednesday and then scored a 2-0 shutout in the Vikings’ GNAC-opener over Western Oregon on Saturday. In six matches, the Vikings have allowed just two goals and 38 shots.
Also Nominated: Shannon McMahon (Concordia), Sarah Jenkins (Northwest Nazarene), Emily Holt (Central Washington), Sara Massee (Saint Martin’s).

GNAC MILESTONE TRACKER

Hannah Huesers (SPU) - The Falcon scored the game-winning goal in SPU’s 3-0 win against Northwest Nazarene. It was her 38th career goal, giving her 84 career points. The 2015 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year now needs 11 more goals to break the all-time conference record. She also has 12 game-winning goals in her career, which ranks eighth in GNAC history. In Seattle Pacific’s GNAC-opening win against NNU, Huesers scored and assisted on two goals. It was her 13th career multi-point game, putting the senior just five away from tying the all-time record.

Olivia Brock (CU) - Olivia Brock has played 257 minutes, saved eight shots, hasn’t allowed any goals and helped Concordia record shutouts in each of the first four matches. Brock now has a .913 save percentage, improving on what was already a conference record. Her goals against average also dropped down to .482, placing Brock at second in conference history in the category.

Daniele Ortiz (NNU) - Through five games, Ortiz has recorded 33 saves to reach 266 career saves, recording the most saves in a three-year career, previously set at 263 set by Humboldt State’s Stacy Self. On the all-time saves list, Ortiz now ranks 13th.

Seattle Pacific - The Falcons will host Saint Martin’s in their second conference match this season. Seattle Pacific recorded a 3-0 win against Northwest Nazarene in its GNAC opener. Seattle Pacific has scored a goal in 13 consecutive conference matches, which is the second longest active streak. The all-time record is 36 GNAC matches without being shutout.

Western Washington - The Vikings opened their home schedule with five consecutive victories, pushing the team’s total to 17 consecutive home victories, which is just five shy of the all-time record set by Seattle Pacific in 2004. After keeping the streak alive against No. 6 UC San Diego last week, Western Washington will have to try to do the same against No. 10 Bridgeport this week. The Vikings also have an unbeaten streak at home of 34 matches, which is just six shy of the record set by Seattle Pacific in 2010. The Vikings also carry a 22-match unbeaten streak against regional opponents.

Concordia - The Cavaliers have won 11 out of 12 home matches since joining the GNAC and are unbeaten in all 12. Counting a 24-match unbeaten streak as an NAIA member, Concordia’s streak is now at 36 matches. The GNAC record for home unbeaten streak is 44.

Central Washington - The Wildcats won their first five matches to start the season, which is the best start in program history. Among those five wins was a 1-0 win over No. 24 Sonoma State. Central Washington is receiving votes NSCAA Coaches Poll. The Wildcats will play their conference opener against Simon Fraser on Thursday.

AROUND THE GNAC

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington started the season 5-0, playing its first four matches on the road. It was the best start in program history.
• The winning streak came to an end with a 2-1 overtime loss to No. 6 UC San Diego.
• The Wildcats led UCSD 1-0 on a goal by Keilin Farrand, but the Tritons tied the score on a penalty kick.  Emily Holt saved the second penalty kick, sending the match into overtime, where UCSD got a golden goal to avoid the upset.
• The Wildcats remained ranked fourth in the NSCAA West Region Rankings and are receiving votes in the nationall top 25 poll.
• Central Washington has the 17th best winning percentage in the nation.at .833.

CONCORDIA
• The Cavaliers have started the season 6-0-0, which is the best start since doing the same in 2012. The team’s longest winning streak to start a season is seven matches, which the Cavaliers did in 2009 and 2010.
• Concordia will get a chance to tie that record when it hosts Northwest Nazarene on Thursday. If the Cavaliers get passed NNU, they will have a chance to break the program record at Montana State Billings on Saturday.
• Concordia leads the conference in offense with 16 goals and 14 assists this year for 46 points. Seven different players have scored exactly two goals this season.
• The Cavaliers are unbeaten in all 12 matches played at Tuominen Yard since joining the conference. Including NAIA competition, that streak is now at 36         matches.
• This year, Concordia has outscored opponents 16-4 with all four goals coming when the Cavaliers already had a lead of at least three goals.
• Olivia Brock leads the conference in goals against average with 257 shutout minutes this year.
• Concordia is ranked No. 7 in the NSCAA West Region rankings.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• The Yellowjackets have had an uncharacteristically slow start with an 0-4-1 record through three weeks.
• In their previous nine seasons as members of the GNAC, the Yellowjackets have gone 29-12-3 in non-conference play with a winning record all nine years.
• Montana State Billings plays at Northwest Nazarene on Thursday in its first conference match of the 2016 season. The Yellowjackets will then host Concordia on Saturday.
• Dana Lubieniecki has scored two of the team’s four goals this year, including an unassisted goal in the Yellowjackets’ 2-2 tie with Mary.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene dropped its lone match last week, which was its conference opener against Seattle Pacific, 3-0.
• Northwest Nazarene has scored eight goals this season, which fifth most in the conference.
• NNU won five matches last year, three of which were in non-conference play. This year, the team finished conference play 2-3-0.
• Daniele Ortiz has 33 saves this season, which is one shy of the conference leader. Her 263 career saves ranks 13th all-time.
• The Crusaders will look to end an eight-match losing streak in road conference matches this week when they take on Concordia on Thursday and Western Oregon on Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s won its first match of the season, beating Hawaii Pacific 2-1 on Sunday.
• It was head coach Rob Smith’s 50th career victory. He became the sixth GNAC coach ever to reach the milestone.
• Lauren Allison ended a nearly 500-minute scoring drought for Saint Martin’s with a first-half unassisted goal in the 2-1 win against Hawaii Pacific. It was Allison’s first career goal.
• Hannah Frakes scored the game-winning goal in the 57th minute off a pass from Camryn Althauser.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific scored six goals in two matches this week to defeat Cal State East Bay and Northwest Nazarene.
• The Falcons are one of three teams to claim a conference win already this season.They have now won three consecutive conference games.
• The Falcons have scored a goal in 13 consecutive GNAC matches, which is the second longest active streak in the conference.
• Hannah Huesers scored her third goal of the season against Northwest Nazarene and also assisted a goal for her 13th career multi-point game. The conference record is 18 multi-goal games.
• Simone Herzberg has three assists in six matches this year, which is tied for the most in the conference and ranks 44th in the nation.
• The Falcons 4-1-1 record ranks as the 42nd best in the nation among 264 teams in NCAA Division II.
• Seattle Pacific will host Saint Martin’s on Thursday before hosting a crucial duel with Central Washington on Friday.

SIMON FRASER
• The Clan’s defense, which was impenatrable through the first four matches of the year allowed four goals against Concordia-Irvine.
• The loss to CUI was Simon Fraser’s first loss of the 2016 season.
• Emma Pringle has scored all three Simon Fraser goals in her freshman season. She is one of three players in the conference with three goals. She ranks in the top 100 in the nation in both points per match (1.50) and goals per match (0.75).
• After having never beaten a California school this decade, the Clan went 2-1-1 against California schools to start the season.
• Simon Fraser plays its conference opener at Terry Fox Field at 7 p.m. Pacific against Seattle Pacific, which already won its conference opener.
• Simon Fraser will also host Western Washington on Saturday. Western Washington leads that overall series 22-17-3 and the Clan hasn’t beaten WWU since October 5, 2011.

WESTERN OREGON
• The Wolves dropped their season-opener to Western Washington on Saturday after defeating Oregon Tech earlier in the week, putting the WOU record this year at 3-3 through three weeks.
• Each of the three matches in which Western Oregon has scored a goal, the final result as been a victory.
• Taylor Higa became the second GNAC player this season to score three goals when she scored the opening goal against Oregon Tech in the eventual 3-1 victory. Higa also assisted on an insurance goal scored by Meli Cortez in the 88th minute.
• WOU will travel to Montana State Billings on Thursday, looking for its first conference victory against a team that’s looking for its first win all season. Then on Saturday, the Wolves will host Northwest Nazarene.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Since tying Sonoma State in the season-opener, Western Washington has won five straight contests, which have all been played at Harrington Field.
• Western Washington defeated No. 6 UC San Diego 3-2 this week. It was the team’s 21st consecutive time tying or beating a West Region opponent.
• Western Washington opened its GNAC championship defense with a 2-0 win over Western Oregon. The Vikings are looking for their fifth consecutive conference title, which would be the first time in GNAC women’s soccer history that one program has won the title five times in a row.
• WWU’s win over Western Oregon was the team’s 17th consecutive win at home and improves the Vikings regular season unbeaten streak at home to 34 going back to 2012. The conference record for an unbeaten streak at home during the regular season is 40 by Seattle Pacific in 2010.
• No team puts pressure on opposing goalkeepers like Western Washington. The Vikings have taken 26.2 shots per match this season, which is nearly nine more than any other team in the conference has. They have outshot their oppponents 157-38 this year.
• Western Washington has moved back into the top 10 of the national rankings at No. 7 and is also No. 1 in the NSCAA West Region rankings.
• On Thursday, Western Washington will host Bridgeport on a game to be aired on ESPN3. Both the Vikings winning and regular season unbeaten streaks at home will be on the line against the No. 10 team in the nation.
• Ashley Homer has produced five shutouts in six matches, which is the third best shutout percentage in the nation. Meanwhile, her 0.32 goals against average is 12th in the country.
• The Vikings are 5-0-1 so far this year with the lone tie coming to No. 22 Sonoma State. That is the ninth best winning percentage in all of NCAA Division II.
• Since the start of the 2012 season, Western Washington has been the toughest team to beat in the GNAC putting together a record of 81-9-7 (.871). The Vikings are also 48-3-4 (.909) during that span in conference play.