Tuesday, September 27, 2022

THIS WEEK'S GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE
Albin Jonsson, Western Washington
F • 6-0 • Freshman • Skellefteå, Sweden

Jonsson was a dominant force for the Vikings last week scoring three goals in the first week of conference play. He netted two goals and recorded an assist on Thursday against Saint Martin’s before scoring the game-winner on Saturday against Western Oregon

Also Nominated: Jake Levine (NNU), Alex Brown (SPU), Devin O’Hea (SFU)

DEFENSIVE
Sawyer Price, Northwest Nazarene
GK • 6-3 • Junior • Olympia, Wash.
Price recorded a three-save shutout in net in a 3-0 win over Saint Martin’s on Saturday for the first conference win of NNU’s season. With his shutout last week, he now ranks second in the GNAC in shuotuts with four and is fourth in conference with a .704 save percentage.

AROUND THE GNAC
MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
• Montana State Billings opened its conference schedule with two home matches, falling on Thursday to Simon Fraser 2-1 before earning its first point of the GNAC season in a 1-1 draw with Seattle Pacific on Saturday.

• On Thursday, the Yellowjackets held the Red Leafs to just two shots, but SFU capitalized on both of their opportunities, scoring twice in the first half. Callum Bryan put MSUB within one when he scored in the 60th minute off an assist from Jeremie Briquet.

• Montana State Billings out-chanced its opponents again on Saturday, outshooting Seattle Pacific 10-8, but came away with a 1-1 draw after both teams scored late in the match. Kolja Thomas tallied his first goal of the season for the Yellowjackets in the 73rd minute and Seattle Pacific responded in the 87th minute to force the draw.

• Montana State Billings will wrap up its homestand when it plays its only match of the week against Saint Martin’s on Thursday.

NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene opened conference play with a dominant 3-0 win over Saint Martin’s at home on Saturday in its only match of the week.

• The Nighthawks outshot the Saints 17-4, limiting Saint Martin’s to just one shot in the second half.

• Lukas Juodkunaitis scored the game-winning goal just before halftime in the 45th minute while Jake Levine and Sullivan Smith both tallied their third goals of the season in the 80th minute 27 seconds apart from each other to give NNU some insurance.

• Nighthawks goalkeeper Sawyer Price made three saves in the shutout, moving his season total up to four, which ranks second in the GNAC. He earned GNAC Defensive Player of the Week recognition.

• Northwest Nazarene will be on the road for a pair of matches this week, starting with Western Oregon on Thursday before making the trip across the border to face Simon Fraser on Saturday.

SAINT MARTIN’S
• Saint Martin’s dropped both of its matches to open the conference slate, losing 5-2 to No. 20 Western Washington at on Thursday and 3-0 against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday in Nampa.

• The Saints are still searching for their first win of the season in the midst of a six-match slide.

• A bright spot for SMU came on Thursday against the Vikings when they became just the second team this season to score more than one goal on WWU. Arjun Gill netted his second goal of the year to tie the match in the 22nd minute and Ethan Jud got himself on the board with a goal to cut the lead in half at the time.

• Saint Martin’s will face Montana State Billings on Thursday on the road before returning home to play Western Oregon on Saturday.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific opened its GNAC schedule with a 2-0 win over Western Oregon at home on Thursday before battling to a 1-1 draw on the road at Montana State Billings on Saturday.

• The Falcons controlled the pace of play on Thursday against Western Oregon, firing off 14 shots while holding the visiting Wolves to just four. Alex Brown scored what would be the game-winning goal in the 29th minute with a header into the top of the net off a corner kick. Donovahn Allen secured the insurance goal for SPU just before the second half in the 44th minute.

• On Saturday, Seattle Pacific played a close match with Montana State Billings where neither team could find a way to score in the first frame. After going down a goal in the second half, Tyler Speer leveled the score in the 87th minute to help the Falcons come away from the road match with the draw.

• With four points through the first week of conference play the Falcons are second in the conference standings.

• Seattle Pacific’s road matches continue this week with a trip up north to face Simon Fraser before taking on No. 19 Western Washington in Bellingham on Saturday.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser picked up its first win of the conference season on Thursday, a 2-1 victory over Montana State Billings.

• The Red Leafs were held to only two shots by the Yellowjackets’ defense, but made the best of those chances, putting both shots in the back of the net. Sebastian Sjo scored the game-winner in the 13th minute and Devin O’Hea followed it up with his third tally of the season for some insurance in the 20th minute.

• Justyn Sandhu made two saves against six shots in net and ranks first in GNAC and 12th in Division II with a .857 save percentage. Simon Fraser is tied with Western Washington for the least goals allowed in the conference, only surrendering five to opponents.

• Simon Fraser will begin a three-game homestand on Thursday when Seattle Pacific comes to town and Northwest Nazarene makes the trip to Burnaby on Saturday.

WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon opened the first week of conference play in program history with pair of 2-0 losses at Seattle Pacific on Thursday at No. 20 Western Washington on Saturday.

• The Wolves were heavily outshot on Thursday against the Falcons, only managing four shots with none on goal while SPU fired 14 of their own with Western Oregon goalkeeper Juan Saurez making eight saves in net.

• On Saturday, Suarez made another seven saves on 20 shots, only giving up one goal to Albin Jonsson during the run of play with Western Washington’s second goal coming via a penalty kick.

• Suarez leads the GNAC and ranks 16th in Division II with 43 saves. He also leads the conference and is ranked ninth in Division II with an average of 6.14 saves per match.

• Western Oregon will have two more chances to take its first conference win this week when it faces Northwest Nazarene at home on Thursday before traveling to Saint Martin’s on Saturday.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington extended its undefeated run of play to nine matches with two wins to open the conference schedule and take the early lead at the top of the standings. The Vikings took a 5-2 win over Saint Martin’s on Thursday before shutting out Western Oregon 2-0 on Saturday.

• Western Washington scored a bevy of goals on the road at Saint Martin’s, led by freshman forward Albin Jonsson who put the final two goals of the day in the back of the net to go along with his assist on the first goal of the match by Kaydin Wall.

• Goalkeeper Patrick Restum made three saves in net for the Vikings on Thursday in his lone start of the week.

• Jonsson added another goal to his season tally on Saturday with the game-winner against Western Oregon, capping off a seven-point week and earning him the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week award.

• Brandon Locke made his first appearance in net for the Vikings, making one save against seven shots for the shutout.

• With two more wins, WWU moved up the United Soccer Coaches poll to No. 19

• Western Washington will have the benefit of an extra day off this week, playing one match against Seattle Pacific at home in Bellingham on Saturday.