Tuesday, September 13, 2016

PORTLAND - Central Washington women's soccer has won all of its first four matches in the 2016 season, marking the first time in program history that the Wildcats have won four matches to start a season. As a result, the Wildcats are ranked fourth in the West Region and are among four teams receiving votes in the NSCAA Coaches Poll.

Western Washington is ranked No. 19 in the NSCAA Coaches Poll and comes in at No. 3 in the West Region. UC San Diego is No. 1 in the West Region, and both Western Washington and Central Washington will get a shot at the Tritons this week. The Vikings have the advantage of playing the Tritons at home, where they have won 15 consecutive matches and have a 32-match unbeaten streak in the regular season. The Vikings will have to win or tie against UC San Diego to have a chance to break Seattle Pacific's record of 40 consecutive regular season wins or ties at home, set in 2010.

GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSE
Kaysha Darcy, Central Washington
M • 5-6 • Senior • Maple Valley, Wash.

Darcy scored the Wildcats’ game-winner in the 15th minute as Central Washington scored a 3-0 shutout of Dominican (Calif.) on Saturday. Darcy had three shots in the match.

Also Nominated: Emily Wilkins (Northwest Nazarene), Dana Lubieniecki (Montana State Billings), Gabriela Pelogi (Western Washington), Alaina Edgerly (Concordia).

DEFENSE
Priya Sandhu, Simon Fraser
GK • 5-7 • Junior • Surrey, B.C.

Sandhu recorded two shutouts in two road matches and her third in three matches this season. She made three saves on 12 shots a 0-0 tie with Cal State LA on Thursday and made four saves on six shots in the Clan’s 1-0 overtime win over Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday.

Also Nominated: Emily Holt (Central Washington), Kayla Williams (Northwest Nazarene), Lili Delgadillo (Montana State Billings), Sierra Shugarts (Western Washington).

GNAC MILESTONE TRACKER
Hannah Huesers (SPU) - The Falcon scored the game-tying goal in SPU’s 1-1 tie against Metro State. It was her 37th career goal. The 2015 GNAC Offensive Player of the Year now needs 12 more goals to break the all-time conference record. Huessers now has 81 career points, moving up to 15th most in GNAC history, surpassing Montana State Billings alum Jaucelyn Richter. Among Falcons in the GNAC top 20 for points, Huessers now ranks seventh. She also has 11 game-winning goals in her career, which ranks 10th in GNAC history.

Olivia Brock (CU) - Olivia Brock played 135 minutes, saved six shots and didn’t allow any goals in Concordia’s first three victories. 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 29 saves to reach 262 career saves. The Crusader become the 14th player in conference history to reach 250 saves. She now ranks 12th in conference history in saves.

Emma Pringle (SFU) - Pringle has had an impressive start to her collegiate career. After scoring two goals in her collegiate debut to earn GNAC Player of the Week honors, the freshman scored a golden goal this week against Cal State Dominguez Hills. She is the only player this year to score twice in a game and the only player with three goals on the season.

Central Washington - The Wildcats have won all four matches to start the season, which is the best start to a season in program history. Among that four-match winning streak is a 1-0 win over No. 24 Sonoma State. Central Washington is now one of four teams that is receiving votes in the NSCAA Coaches Poll. The Wildcats will play their home opener this week against Northwest. Central Washington won both of their last two home games last year.

Western Washington - The Vikings opened their seaon at home with three consecutive victories, pushing the team’s total to 15 consecutive home victories. The Vikings also have an unbeaten streak at home of 32 matches, which is just eight shy of the record set by Seattle Pacific in 2010. The Vikings have also won or tied all of its last 20 contests against teams within the West Region, including a 0-0 tie against No. 24 Sonoma State in the season opener.

Concordia - The Cavaliers have won nine out of 10 home matches since joining the GNAC and are unbeaten in all 10. Before joining the GNAC, Concordia was already on a 24-match unbeaten streak at home, meaning the streak is now at a total of 34, including the NAIA matches.

AROUND THE GNAC
CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington has started the season 4-0, playing all four matches on the road.
• It’s the first time in program history that the Wildcats won all of their first four games.
• The Wildcats return home where they won their last two games of the 2015 season.
• Central Washington leads the conference in goals with two per game.
• Emily Holt has only allowed two goals this season, while also producing two shutouts with 23 saves in 360 minutes. Among players with at least 10 saves this year, Holt has the best save percentage at .920.
• The Wildcats remained ranked fourth in the NSCAA West Region Rankings.

CONCORDIA
• For the fifth year in a row, the Cavaliers start the season 2-0 and for the third time in the last five years, Concordia started 3-0. This is the first time in that span that all three wins were shutout victories.
• Concordia is now 6-1-1 in non-conference play since joining the GNAC for the start of the 2015 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 34 matches.
• Taylor Cook got her first start at goalkeeper in the 1-0 win over Cal State East Bay. She made two saves and didn’t allow a goal in 45 minutes. Along with Olivia Brock and Anna Miller, the three keepers have not allowed a goal in 270 minutes of play.
• Concordia will debut the GNAC season with Saint Martin’s on Tues. at 3 p.m.

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• The Yellowjackets have had an uncharacteristically slow start with an 0-3-1 record through two 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 College of Idaho this week in search of its first victory this season.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• For the second time this year, the Crusaders ended the week with a win, this time beating Dominican 4-1. It was the first time in nearly a year that NNU had scored four times in one game. The last time was a 5-0 win over Rocky Mountain on Sept. 17, 2015.
• Northwest Nazarene has scored eight goals this season, which is tied for most in the GNAC.
• NNU won five matches last year and three of them were in non-conference play. So far this year, the team is 2-3 in non-conference play.
• Daniele Ortiz has 29 saves this season, which is the second most in the GNAC.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• The Saints dropped both of its matches this week, losing 5-0 to Notre Dame de Namur and 1-0 to Westminster.
• Since Kelly Bannerman’s goal six minutes into the season, the Saints haven’t scored again.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific had all the possible results this week, registering a loss, win, and tie against non-conference opponents.
• Seattle Pacific’s home opener ended in a 1-1 tie to Metro State. Two days later, the Falcons claimed a 3-2 victory on Interbay Stadium against Cal State East Bay.
• Hannah Huesers and Maddie Krauss each have two goals this season. Seattle Pacific is the only team with two players with multiple goals.
• Seattle Pacific’s only match this week is it’s GNAC opener at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday at noon Mountain time.

SIMON FRASER
• The Clan has allowed only three shots on goal this year, which leads the conference. In 292 minute, 54 seconds, Priya Sandhu has not allowed a single goal this season.
• Emma Pringle has scored all three Simon Fraser goals in her freshman season. She is the only player in the conference with three goals this year.
• Pringle scored the golden goal in the 1-0 victory over CSU Dominguez Hills.
• Jenna Baxter leads the conference in assists per game with two in the first three contests.
• After having never beaten a California school this decade, the Clan has gone 2-0-1 against California schools to start the season. Simon Fraser will wrap up its journey to California on Tuesday against Concordia-Irvine, which is its last match for nine days.

WESTERN OREGON
• The Wolves fast start hit a speed bump this week. After winning their first two matches this season, the Wolves dropped a pair in Staislaus, Calif.
• Western Oregon dropped to sixth in the conference standings, but no team has begun conference play yet.
• WOU will host Oregon Tech on Wednesday before going to Bellingham, Wash., to play Western Washington in the GNAC opener.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Since tying Sonoma State in the season-opener, Western Washington has won three straight contests.
• Western Washington, the No. 3 team in the NSCAA West Region rankings, will play the No. 1 team UC San Diego on Wednesday.
• WWU defeated Notre Dame de Namur 1-0 in overtime, which was the team’s 15th consecutive win at home and improves the Vikings unbeaten streak at home to 32 going back to 2012. The conference record for an unbeaten streak at home is 40 by Seattle Pacific in 2010.
• No team puts pressure on opposing goalkeepers like Western Washington. The Vikings have taken 28.5 shots per match this season, which is nearly double what any other team in the conference has.
• Ashley Homer leads the conference in shutouts with four and has the most shutout minutes of at 382:58. Homer saved all eight shots on goal so far this season.