Tuesday, October 8, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. – With nearly half the conference schedule completed, five GNAC teams have double-digit points and are within five points of each other in the conference standings.

Most notably, Seattle Pacific took down Simon Fraser, which had been ranked No. 1 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll for three consecutive weeks. The feat earned SPU GNAC Team of the Week honors, and pushed the Falcons’ unbeaten streak to eight games, as they have not lost since their first contest of 2013.

The Clan, which fell to No. 9 in this week’s NSCAA top-25, maintained their top spot in the GNAC standings, edging Saint Martin’s 2-1 on Saturday to hold a one-point advantage over SPU (15-14).

As a team, SFU is still the top scoring team in the land, leading the NCAA in goals with 35, coming in second in total points with 95, and landing third in points per game with 9.5.

Defensively, SPU is the top GNAC team in terms of goals-against average, as its mark of .740 is 19th-best in the NCAA.

Fredy Razo (F, 5-10, Jr., Irvine, CA – Irvine Valley) of Northwest Nazarene kept pace with the NCAA’s scoring leaders, as his two goals pushed him to No. 8 in the NCAA in goals per game (1.0) and No. 11 in total goals (8). Cody Lang (GK, 6-4, Fr., Spokane, WA – Lewis & Clark) of SPU ranks No. 20 in the NCAA with a goals-against average of .741.

GAINING GROUND

While the focus of last week’s matches was SPU downing the No. 1 team in the NCAA, Northwest Nazarene (3-3-3, 3-2-1 GNAC) quietly made a significant move up to fourth place in the standings with a pair of victories.

Razo continued his pace of one goal per game, scoring in each contest and adding a pair of assists to help him attain Red Lion Offensive Player of the Week honors.

The victory for the Falcons was undoubtedly their biggest of the season, but a 1-1 draw against Western Washington two days later prevented SPU from moving past SFU into first place.

Instead, the tie put SPU (6-1-2, 4-0-2) in second with 14 points, and WWU (5-2-3, 3-0-3) in third with 12 after the Vikings tied Saint Martin’s 0-0 on Thursday.

With a full six points, NNU is now tied with SMU (3-6-1, 3-2-1) for fourth, each with 10 points, and the momentum of the Crusaders’ current three-game winning streak could lead to a significant shuffling of the top four teams in the standings this week.

Simon Fraser (9-1-0, 5-1-0) recovered from its first loss of 2013 with a 2-1 victory over SMU on Saturday and maintained a slim lead at the top of the GNAC standings.

Montana State Billings (2-6-2, 2-3-1) enjoyed its first success of the season last week, as Haley Klarich (D, 5-11, So., Helena, MT – Helena) scored three goals in the Yellowjackets’ victories over South Dakota Mines on Thursday and the University of Mary on Saturday.

Michael Aringer (D, 6-2, Jr., Passau, Germany – Passau) drove home the game-winner on Thursday, and played all 180 minutes on defense en route to earning Red Lion Defensive Player of the Week honors.

The University of Mary (0-8-0, 0-6-0) fell victim to its lack of offense once again, falling 4-0 to NNU on Thursday and failing to respond to Klarich’s goal on Saturday that gave MSU Billings the 1-0 victory. 

South Dakota Mines (0-9-0, 0-6-0) showed signs of offensive life Thursday, but its two goals weren’t enough to fend off a hungry Yellowjacket offense as the Hardrockers fell 4-2. A 3-0 defeat at NNU Saturday prevented SD Mines from its first win of the season. 

HALF WEEK

GNAC teams will only play one game each this week, as the typical match day of Thursday is an off-day for all eight schools. Action resumes Saturday with four contests in four different states.

NNU will look to continue its four-game unbeaten streak against MSU Billings, while SPU welcomes SMU and SFU plays host to WWU.

SD Mines travels to Bismarck, N.D. where either the Hardrockers or the Marauders will earn their first win of 2013, save an overtime draw.