Wednesday, October 19, 2016

With just three weeks left in the 2016 season, Simon Fraser and Northwest Nazarene are the only two teams that control their destiny in the battle for first place in the GNAC standings.

While no team has been elimiated in the race for the conference crown, the other five teams would all need help in some form or another to take first place even if they win all remaining matches. Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser will meet once more next week after tying in their first encounter. The Crusaders have to get through a couple tough tests at home this week before they get to that point though.

Northwest Nazarene will host Seattle Pacific on Thursday in a crucial matchup. Both teams have two-match winning streaks and are separated by just one point in the conference standings. On Saturday, the Crusaders will welcome Concordia to Nampa, Idaho for the first of two meetings between the two teams.

Simon Fraser will get its first chance to rest in a while after spending a big chunk of the first part of the season in the United States, hitting six different states so far in 2016. On Saturday, SFU will play just its fourth home match this year, hosting Saint Martin’s.

Montana State Billings is still very much a part of the title chase despite a 4-3 overtime loss to NNU last week. The Yellowjackets will host Concordia and Seattle Pacific this week, looking to close the gap with the three teams above them in the standings.

Western Washington had the most notable result of last week, managing a draw against Simon Fraser. The Vikings scored on a penalty kick by Brady Ulen to give the unbeaten Clan just its second tie this year. This week, the Vikings will get a chance to enact some revenge against Saint Martin’s, which defeated WWU in the conference opener.

The first set of NCAA regional rankings was released on Wednesday and the Clan was ranked No. 1 in the West Region. Montana State Billings also represented the GNAC as the No. 8 team. The NCAA regional rankings help determine which six teams from the West Region, which includes PacWest, CCAA and GNAC schools, will advance to the NCAA tournament.

GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OFFENSE
Michael Mollay, Northwest Nazarene
F • 5-9 • Senior • Boise, Idaho
Mollay scored two goals and had two assists in the Crusaders’ 4-3 win at Montana State Billings on Saturday. He scored the game-winner on a penalty kick in the 95th minute.

Also Nominated: Thiago Novis (Montana State Billings), Jordan Kollars (Seattle Pacific), Freddie Gard (Simon Fraser).

DEFENSE
Jeffrey Collings, Seattle Pacific
D • 5-9 • Senior • Seattle, Wash.
Pushing up on set pieces, Collings scored the game-winning goal and had two assists to lead the Falcons to a 4-2 win over Saint Martin’s on Thursday.

Also Nominated: Ryan Foo (Northwest Nazarene), Brady Ulen (Western Washington).

GNAC MILESTONE TRACKER

Brandon Watson (SFU) - Watson recorded his 27th career shutout against Concordia, moving within one of the all-time GNAC record held by Cody Lang. Watson already holds the record for shutouts in conference matches, at 21. Watson’s goals against average this season is 0.64, which leads the conference and ranks 15th in Division II. His career goals against average is 0.78, which ranks fourth all-time, just two-hundredths behind third place.

Ryan Dhillon (SFU) - Dhillon has assisted five goals this season, which is one shy of the conference best. Dhillon now has 19 career assists, needing just one more to crack the top 10 all-time in the GNAC for career assists. He also has 23 goals and 65 points in his career which rank 18th and 14th all-time in the GNAC, respectively. Dhillon has taken 135 career shots, needing just one more to break into the top 20 in that statistical category.

Matt Paine (CU) - After missing the first two games, Paine has had a fantastic season, scoring a goal in seven of the nine games he has played. He now has 10 career multi-point matches becoming the 10th player to have double-digit multi-point matches. He has 19 career goals and 47 career points, which rank 34th and 29th respectively, in the GNAC all-time leaders.

Cody Lang (SPU) - Earlier this year, Lang broke the all-time GNAC record for career shutouts with his 28th career shutout in a 0-0 draw with Northwest Nazarene.This week, Lang tallied three saves in a 4-2 win against Saint Martin’s. He now has 213 career saves, which ranks 11th all-time. He currently has one more career save than Watson. The two active goalkeepers are ranked first and second in that category.

Ricardo Palomino (MSUB) - The 2015 Newcomer of the Year ranks 27th all-time in goals scored with 20. He also ranks 38th in total points scored with 44. Palomino has one game-winning goal this year, making him the 38th player in conference history to score six game-winners in their career.

Ryan Foo (NNU) - Foo has recorded 80 saves already this season for 220 career saves, which leads active players and places Foo in the top 10 in GNAC history for career saves. He also ranks sixth in saves per match this year in all of NCAA Division II. Foo was the 11th goalkeeper in GNAC history to reach 200 career saves.

Simon Fraser - The Clan tied Western Washington at home to extend the team’s home unbeaten streak to 15 matches, which is just two shy of the conference record. Overall, SFU is unbeaten in its last 18 matches and has the fourth best winning percentage in Division II. Simon Fraser will play at home against Saint Martin’s this week.

AROUND THE GNAC

CONCORDIA
• Concordia lost 2-0 to Simon Fraser at home. The Cavaliers couldn’t avoid the rain and wind gusts on Saturday, so their match against Saint Martin’s was canceled.
• Matt Paine has scored eight goals in nine games this year. Thursday was just the second match in which he didn’t score a goal this year.
• Paine leads the conference in goals and averages a conference-best two points per match.
• Concordia is one five teams in the conference that is averaging at least two goals per match and has scored as many as six goals in a single match this year.
• The Cavaliers will play at Montana State Billings on Thursday and then at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. Concordia tied Montana State Billings 3-3 earlier in the year and has not yet played against Northwest Nazarene.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings split its matches with a 3-1 win over Western Washington on Thursday, but three goals weren’t enough on Saturday, taking a 4-3 overtime loss against Northwest Nazarene.
• The Yellowjackets also scored three goals against NNU in the first meeting, getting a 3-0 win on the road, before falling in the high-scoring battle on Saturday.
• The ‘Jackets are ranked eighth in the first NCAA West Region Rankings.
• The Yellowjackets boast the best offense in the West Region with 28 goals this year and a second-best 17.31 shots per match behind Western Washington’s 18.42.
• Montana State Billings will host Seattle Pacific and Concordia this week. Those are the only two GNAC schools that the Yellowjackets have not yet faced in 2016. The Yellowjackets tied both teams earlier in the season.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene beat Montana State Billings 4-3 in overtime on Saturday. to remain unbeaten in its last five matches.
• NNU has gone to overtime in their last five matches.
•The Crusaders lead the conference in points per match with 6.25. Michael Mollay had six points against Montana State Billings to earn GNAC Offensive Player of the Week.
• Northwest Nazarene will host Seattle Pacific and Concordia this week.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s lost to Seattle Pacific 4-2 on Thursday.
• Kyle Witzel scored a goal in the loss to SPU. He has six goals and his 35 shots this season is tied for third in the GNAC.
• Griffin Small averages 4.73 saves per match, which ranks 44th in Division II and second in the GNAC.
• Saint Martin’s will travel to Western Washington and Simon Fraser this week.
• The Saints are still looking for their first road victory of 2016.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• The Falcons doubled their total of conference wins, beating Saint Martin’s 4-2 on Thursday.
• Jeffrey Collings scored one goal and assisted on two others for four points in the victory. Jordan Kollars also had both an assist and a goal in the victory.
• The Falcons improved their home unbeaten streak in conference matches to 27 with the win against SMU.
• Cody Lang broke the all-time conference record for career shutouts with 28 and ranks 11th in the all-time saves list with 213, which is the second most among active players.
• Seattle Pacific will travel to Northwest Nazarene and Montana State Billings for two crucial matches for getting back into the title chase.

SIMON FRASER
• The Clan defated Concordia 2-0 in Portland on Thursday before returning home for just the third time this season. Western Washington tied SFU in Burnaby, 1-1 on Saturday.
• Brandon Watson recorded his 27th career shutout against Concordia and became the first goalkeeper in GNAC history with 21 shutouts in GNAC matches.
• Simon Fraser is ranked No. 1 in the first set of West Region Rankings, which help determine which six teams will advance to the West Region Tournament.
• Simon Fraser has an 18-match unbeaten streak going back to last year and hasn’t lost at home in 15 matches, which is just two away from the GNAC record that SFU set two years ago.
• The Clan has scored a goal in each of the last 19 matches, while producing 10 shutouts during that streak.
• Mamadi Camara has scored seven of the team’s 27 goals this season, while Adam Jones has scored four and assisted six. Ryan Dhillon has recorded five assists of his own.
• The Clan has taken nearly twice as many shots as its opponents, 187-94.
• This week, the Clan goes to Concordia on Thursday before returning to Burmaby to host Western Washington on Saturday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington tied Simon Fraser, which was just the second time this year that SFU hasn’t won a match. It was the second time this year that Western Washington has beaten or tied a natioanally-ranked team.
• The Vikings have been to overtime in five of their last six matches and have gone 1-1-4 in those matches.
• The Vikings lead the West Region in shots taken per match with 18.42, but have the least goals per match of any team in the conference at 1.33.
• Eleazar Galvan leads the team in shots with 34 this season and seven different players have taken at least 15 shots.
• Western Washington will host Saint Martin’s this week in its only match. It is a rematch of the conference opener for the 2016 GNAC men’s soccer season which Saint Martin’s won 2-1. Brady Ulen scored the only goal in that game for the Vikings. He also scored the Vikings’ most recent goal, which came off a penalty kick to force a tie with Simon Fraser.