HISTORY FOR HENNESSY: For the second week in a row, a player wrote himself into the Great Northwest Athletic Conference record book. Simon Fraser’s Michael Hennessy did what only two other players have done in conference history last Thursday as he scored five goals in SFU’s consummate 7-1 victory over Saint Martin’s. Hennessy is the first GNAC player to score five times in a single game since Simon Fraser’s Carlo Basso did so on Aug. 31, 2012, against Thompson Rivers. Basso is currently the interim head coach for the SFU women’s soccer team.

What a day for the local lad! Freshman Michael Hennessy tied Carlo Basso's NCAA era record with FIVE goals in a game as @SFUMSOC cruised to a 7-1 win at Saint Martin's!

The @gnac leading Red Leafs return home this Saturday to take on MSUB. Kickoff at 6pm. #RepTheLeaf pic.twitter.com/SUj4UTvB5M

— SFU Athletics (@sfu_athletics) October 20, 2023

Hennessy’s offensive outpouring also set GNAC records for the most goals in a conference game and the most points in a conference contest with 10. The only player to ever score six goals in GNAC history was Western Washington’s Samir Vejo against Colorado Christian on Oct. 1, 2008. The five goals moved Hennessy into second in the GNAC and 16th in Division II with 10 on the year.

CHANCE TO ADVANCE: Western Oregon (9-3-1, 5-1-1 GNAC) will have the opportunity to make some ground on the first-place Red Leafs (8-2-2, 5-0-1) as the Wolves play two matches while SFU has a bye. Western Oregon hit the road this week as it faces Western Washington (4-6-3, 1-4-2) on Thursday and Saint Martin’s (4-6-2, 2-4-1) on Saturday.

The Wolves have picked up points in all but one of their seven GNAC matches this season, including wins in five of their last six contests. Last week’s 1-0 win over Northwest Nazarene last Thursday was the second late-game shocker for WOU against the Nighthawks as sophomore midfielder Marco Millan scored the game-winner in the 90th minute. The last-minute victory came after WOU scored an 89th-minute game-winner in a 4-3 decision at Northwest Nazarene on Oct. 5.

Three more points in dramatic fashion for the first-place Wolves ... pic.twitter.com/u0ChyXlQ8w

— Western Oregon Wolves Athletics (@WOU_Wolves) October 20, 2023

Junior forward Gabriel Silva leads the way for the Western Oregon offense with 15 points on six goals and three assists. Silva has not gone more than two matches this season without recording at least one point since opening his account with a goal and an assist at Hawaii Pacific on Sept. 3. His more recent points came on the opening goal of WOU’s 2-1 win over Western Washington on Oct. 12.

In net, senior goalkeeper Juan Suarez earned his first-career GNAC Defensive Player of the Week award after making six saves to shutout the Nighthawks. Suarez leads the GNAC and ranks 16th in Division II with 66 saves. He is also third in the conference and 30th in the division with a .795 save percentage.

TOP COMPETITION: Western Washington (4-6-3, 1-4-2) will face two teams in the upper half of the GNAC standings this week as it hosts Western Oregon (9-3-1, 5-1-1) on Thursday before it travels to Seattle Pacific (4-6-2, 2-3-1) on Saturday. The Vikings come into the week after earning one point last week in a 0-0 draw with Montana State Billings.

The Western Washington offense has been led by sophomore forward Albin Jonsson with five goals and one assist. Jonsson’s 11 points are tied for ninth in the conference while his three game-winning goals are tied for third. In net Brandon Locke has done his best to keep WWU in games, ranking second in the GNAC with a 0.92 goals against average and fifth with a .707 save percentage.

The Vikings defeated Seattle Pacific 2-0 last time the teams met in Bellingham on Oct. 5 but will have to battle if they want to secure another three points against a Falcons team that has had an up-and-down year. Seattle Pacific has won two of its last four games with three-goal performances and ranks third in the GNAC with 21 goals and 56 points on the year. The offense has been led by junior midfielder Raymundo Mendez with seven goals and two assists. Mendez leads the Falcons and ranks fifth in the conference with 16 points. 

Read More: Men’s Soccer Plays Red Leafs and Vikings This Weekend (SPU Preview)

MIDFIELD MADNESS: Montana State Billings (4-6-2, 1-4-1) put an end to a three-game skid last Thursday as it drew 0-0 with Western Washington on the road. The Yellowjackets’ second game of the week against SFU was postponed due to heavy fog on Burnaby Mountain. This week, MSUB will have the opportunity to cause some chaos in the conference standings which see the third through seventh-place teams covered by just five points.

The Yellowjackets will host fifth-place Saint Martin’s (4-6-2, 2-4-1) on Thursday before heading to Nampa to face third-place Northwest Nazarene (4-5-4, 2-2-3) on Saturday. Heading into the week, MSUB is just three points behind the Saints and is five points behind the Nighthawks.

Senior goalkeeper Jeremi Campagnolo equaled his second-highest save total of the season last week to record his third shutout of the season and secure the draw with Western Washington. On the year, Campagnolo owns a .652 save percentage and averages 3.75 saves per match.

POINT POTENTIAL: Saint Martin’s (4-6-2, 2-4-1) sits level with Seattle Pacific on seven points after defeating the Falcons, 3-2, in Lacey last week. The Saints will look to overhaul SPU this week as they travel to Montana State Billings (4-6-2, 1-4-1) on Thursday and hosts second-place Western Oregon (9-3-1, 5-1-1) on Saturday.

The Saints’ offense has been led by junior midfielder Diego Andrade who scored his team-leading third goal of the season last week against the Falcons. Andrade has six points on the season, all from goals, and is 2-for-2 from the penalty spot. In net Nick Mueller has remained busy, ranking second in the conference and 17th in Division II with 5.33 saves per game.

ONE ON THE DOCKET: Northwest Nazarene (4-5-4, 2-2-3) will play just one game at home this week as it hosts Montana State Billings (4-6-2) on Saturday after taking a 1-0 win over Western Washington last Saturday. The Nighthawks sit third in the GNAC standings with nine points coming into the week.

Leading the way for NNU has been freshman phenom Jim Wagenaar. The forward from Den Bosch, Netherlands has been almost impossible to keep off the scoresheet, scoring eight goals in his last five matches, including back-to-back hat tricks and the game-winner against WWU last week. On the season, Wagenaar leads the conference and ranks seventh in Division II with 12 points. He also leads the GNAC and ranks 14th in the division with 25 points.  

In net, senior goalkeeper Sawyer Price has also put together some sterling performances to rank second in the conference and 26th in the division with a .803 save percentage. On the season, Price has also compiled a 1.08 goals against average and recorded four shutouts to tie for third in the GNAC.

Devin O'Hea, Simon Fraser

Leaders bring consistency to a program. Consistency brings success. There has been no bigger constant for Simon Fraser this season than Devin O’Hea. The senior forward from North Vancouver, B.C., has started every match of the season for the Red Leafs and has scored in every single GNAC match he’s played in this year.

In six conference competitions, O’Hea has notched six goals and five assists for 17 of his 18 points. During that run of play, Simon Fraser has risen to the top of the standings as the only undefeated team in the conference and outscored opponents by a margin of 23-5. O’Hea himself has scored two goals against Western Oregon and Saint Martin’s each, with one against Seattle Pacific and Western Washington.

If O’Hea scores in his next two games, he will tie the all-time GNAC record of eight straight games with a goal set by Montana State Billings’ Sam Charles in 2007 and 2009.  Those two matches will be against Seattle Pacific on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Nov. 2.

The first NCAA Regional Rankings were released on Oct. 25 with the top 10 teams under consideration for each region listed in alphabetical order. Both Simon Fraser (8-2-2, 5-0-1) and Western Oregon (9-3-1, 5-1-1) were named in the top 10 of Super-Region 4 and sit atop the GNAC standings. The Red Leafs took a 7-1 win over Saint Martin’s last week while Wolves notched a 1-0 victory over Northwest Nazarene. This week’s release marks the first time in program history that Western Oregon has been in consideration.

The eighth United Soccer Coaches Division II rankings of the season came out on Oct. 24 with Simon Fraser (8-2-2, 5-0-1) among the team receiving votes for the first time since early September. The Red Leafs sit atop the conference standings with 16 points as the only remaining undefeated team in conference play after beating Saint Martin’s 7-1 in their only match last week.