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Western Washington and Seattle Pacific are both battling for key points this week as the Vikings hit the road for one match and the Falcons split time between home and the road. Related Links
Thursday, October 12, 2023 PORTLAND, Ore. – A full week of conference games sees key battles for points at the top of the standings and a unique schedule that features a Sunday matinee. Western Oregon and Simon Fraser both come into the week undefeated in conference play and riding five-game unbeaten steaks. The two sides will face off for the second time this season on Sunday in Burnaby after a 2-2 draw the last time the teams met in Monmouth. Montana State Billings will be the only team at home for two matches this week as it hosts Northwest Nazarene on Thursday and Seattle Pacific on Saturday. The Falcons will host Simon Fraser on Thursday before hitting the road to Billings. Saint Martin’s will host its only match of the week against NNU on Saturday. Meanwhile, Western Oregon will host Western Washington on Thursday before traveling to Burnaby for a rare Sunday matinee.
Western Oregon is led by a pair of 13-point scorers in junior forward/midfielder Alejandro Velasco and junior forward Gabriel Silva. The pair have formed a dynamic duo this season with Velasco netting six goals and one assist while Silva has notched five goals to go with three assists of his own. The Red Leafs come into the week led by their own 13-point scorer in freshman phenom Koji Poon. The forward from Vancouver, B.C. leads Simon Fraser and is tied for second in the conference with an impressive six goals in his debut campaign. HUNTING FOR POINTS: Seattle Pacific (3-4-2, 1-1-1) will split time between home and the road this week as it looks for valuable points to keep pace in the conference title hunt. The Falcons will host Simon Fraser (5-2-2, 2-0-1) on Thursday before traveling to face Montana State Billings (4-4-1, 1-2-0) for second the time in seven days on Saturday. The Falcons’ offense is led by a pair of double-digit points scorers in junior midfielder Raymundo Mendez and sophomore forward Orlando Erazo. Mendez has not gone more than two matches without a point and ranks fifth in the GNAC with 12 points on the season. Erazo comes into the week on the heels of scoring a brace in SPU’s 3-0 win over Montana State Billings last Saturday. Montana State Billings enters the week one point behind SPU and WWU. The Yellowjackets will host Northwest Nazarene (2-4-3, 0-1-2) on Thursday before Saturday’s rematch with the Falcons. Sophomore forward Ty Vohland continues to lead the way for the MSUB offense with 11 points on five goals and one assist. ONE ON THE DOCKET: Western Washington (4-4-2, 1-2-1) will look to maximize its points haul in the team’s one match this week as it travels to face Western Orgon on Thursday. The Vikings come into the week after splitting last week with a 2-0 win over Seattle Pacific and a 3-1 loss to Simon Fraser. The Vikings’ offense has been led by sophomore forward Albin Jonsson with 11 points on five goals and one assist. The Rotter brothers have also been a big factor in WWU’s offensive presence with nine points between the two. Older brother and junior forward Andrew Rotter leads the pair with five points, including two goals and one assist. Sophomore midfielder Ryan Rotter is right behind his brother with four points courtesy of one goal and two assists. POINTS ON THE TABLE: Northwest Nazarene (2-4-3, 0-1-2) and Saint Martin’s (3-5-1, 1-3-0) will meet in Lacey on Saturday as both teams look to make up valuable points in the conference standings. The Nighthawks’ offensive efforts have been led by freshman forward Jim Wagenaar with 15 points on seven goals and one assist. Wagenaar scored three of those goals last week as he netted the first hat trick of his collegiate career in NNU’s narrow 4-3 loss to Western Oregon last Thursday. The second-half hat trick earned Wagenaar his first GNAC Offensive Player of the Week award. Saint Martin’s comes into the week looking to stay ahead of the defending conference champions as it hosts Northwest Nazarene on Thursday for its only match of the week. The Saints offense has been led by junior midfielder Diego Andrade and freshman midfielder Xander Koenig with four points apiece. In net, junior goalkeeper Nick Mueller has been one of the busiest netminders in Division II, ranking second in the conference and 19th in the division with 5.22 saves per game. His efforts have been rewarded with three shutouts this season.
Michael Hennessy, Simon Fraser A true freshman from Vancouver, B.C., Michael Hennessy has required no time at all to get up to speed and make an impact in the GNAC. Hennessey has started every single match for Simon Fraser this season, logging 725 minutes as a key fixture in the Red Leafs’ attack. The Whitecaps FC MLS Academy product ranks second on his team and is ninth in the conference with 10 points on four goals and two assists. Hennessy didn’t waste much time in getting himself on the scoresheet, notching the first goal of his collegiate career in SFU’s 2-0 win over Westmont on Sept. 2. His last eight points have come through Simon Fraser’s last three matches. Hennessy scored the team’s second goal in the Red Leafs’ 2-2 draw with Western Oregon on Sept. 28 and followed it up with a goal and assist in each of SFU’s wins over Saint Martin’s and Western Washington. Hennessy and the Red Leafs will hope that his hot streak continues this week as they travel to face Seattle Pacific on Thursday and host Western Oregon on Sunday.
The sixth United Soccer Coaches Division II rankings of the season came out on Oct. 10 with no GNAC teams featuring in the top 25.
Team Rankings (Top-30)
Assists Per Game: 15. WOU, 2.22 Goals Against Average: 29. Justyn Sandhu, SFU, 0.778
Oct. 9 GNAC Men's Soccer Players of the Week Offensive: Jim Wagenaar, Northwest Nazarene The conference’s first hat trick of the season belonged to Wagenaar, who continued his stellar debut collegiate campaign with three goals in the Nighthawks’ wild 4-3 defeat against Western Oregon. With his team trailing 2-0 early, Wagenaar pulled the Nighthawks level at 2-2 with goals in the 49th and 61st minutes. When the Wolves scored in the 69th minute, Wagenaar found yet another equalizer 10 minutes later to complete the hat trick. The big performance lifted him to the top of the GNAC leaderboard with seven goals scored this season. “It’s tough for a freshman to come in and do well right away, but he has come in and has really worked at assimilating to the culture we have,” NNU head coach James Williamson said. “He has started to thrive in the last few weeks. He has been a really good team first guy, he is consistently putting in quality reps in front of goal, and he helps us get better every day. The biggest thing that stands out is his unwavering confidence in himself, which is vital for a striker. He has been wonderful to have and is a great piece to the team culture.” Also Nominated: Callum Bryan, MSUB; Diego Andrade, SMU; Orlando Erazo, SPU; Michael Hennessy, SFU; Gabriel Silva, WOU; Ryan Rotter, WWU. Defensive: Cam Welty, Seattle Pacific Seattle Pacific’s first shutout of the 2023 campaign came with Welty in net, as the graduate student from Issaquah piloted his team to a 3-0 result over Montana State Billings. While just two saves were required of the fifth-year program veteran, one of them came in a breakaway one-on-one situation that prevented the Yellowjackets from taking an early lead. Welty’s first-career shutout helped the Falcons grab three points to move into a tie for third in the conference standings. “I’m excited for him,” said SPU head coach Kevin Sakuda. “He was great off his line, managed his box well and came up with a couple big saves when we needed them. We ask a lot from our goalkeepers as far as building out of the back and initiating our attack, and he was very solid with that. It was a really good team performance Saturday and he was a big reason why. It’s great to get shutouts and we know if we are going to be successful moving forward that we have to keep the ball out of the net.” Also Nominated: Kolja Thomas, MSUB; Brian Licona, SMU; Justyn Sandhu, SFU |
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