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Simon Fraser and Western Oregon are locked in battle at the top of the GNAC standings as the Red Leafs seek their eighth GNAC title and the Wolves hunt their first.
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 PORTLAND, Ore. – With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the battle for the GNAC title and the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Championships is still very much alive. Simon Fraser holds a narrow advantage over second-place Western Oregon and comes into the week on a nine-match unbeaten streak as both sides look set to fight for the title all the way to the finish. The two teams will have only one opponent in common during the final stretch with WOU hosting Montana State Billings this Thursday and SFU in Billings on Nov. 9. Last week saw weather officially cancel a pair of games, resulting in the conference standings being organized based on points earned divided by conference games played. Simon Fraser remains on top of the table with 2.71 points per game through seven GNAC games followed by Western Oregon in second with 2.22 points per game through nine conference contests. Northwest Nazarene is third with 1.25 points per game with Seattle Pacific fourth heading into the penultimate week of the regular season with 1.00 points per game.
THOSE BURNABY BOYS: Simon Fraser (9-2-2, 6-0-1 GNAC) comes into the week after notching a 2-1 victory over Seattle Pacific last Thursday to extend its win streak to six. The Red Leafs will hit the road this week to face Northwest Nazarene (4-5-5, 2-2-4) on Thursday and Western Washington (4-6-5, 1-4-4) on Saturday. Statistically, the Red Leafs have been one of the most impressive teams in the GNAC this season, leading the conference in both goals per game (2.31) and goals against average (0.77). The offensive production has been driven by senior forward Devin O’Hea, who has scored a goal in each of his last seven games, alongside freshman forward Michael Hennessy who is tied for the GNAC lead with 25 points courtesy of 11 goals and three assists.
The defense has been led by senior goalkeeper Justyn Sandhu who leads the GNAC and ranks 12th in Division II with a .831 save percentage. Sandhu also leads the conference and ranks 19th in the division with a 0.77 goals against average. Junior defender Nicolai Placzek has also been a key factor in SFU’s defensive success, playing 1,134 minutes for the most time of any non-goalkeeper on the team. PACK ON THE ATTACK: Western Oregon (9-3-2, 6-1-2) will be back at home this week after earning points in both of its matches last week in a 2-2 draw at Western Washington and a 4-0 victory at Saint Martin’s. The Wolves will host Montana State Billings (4-6-3, 1-4-2) on Thursday before facing Seattle Pacific (4-7-3, 2-4-2) on Saturday for the first time this season. Western Oregon will then only play one game in the final week of the regular season, a rematch against SPU on Nov. 11 in Seattle.
The Wolves swept this week’s Player of the Week awards with Silva being named the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three goals in two games while senior defender Enrique Gomez was named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week for his role on the backline where he played all but 10 minutes last week.
TWO TO GO: Seattle Pacific (4-7-3, 2-4-2) will be one of just two teams to play a pair of matches on the road this week as it travels to face Saint Martin’s (4-7-2, 2-5-1) on Thursday and Western Oregon (9-3-2, 6-1-2) on Saturday. The Falcons picked up one point last week in a 1-1 draw at home against Western Washington last Saturday. Sophomore midfielder Connor Tollan helped SPU secure its draw last week with his first goal of the season in the 79th minute to tie the match. On the season, junior Raymundo Mendez leads the team and ranks fifth in the GNAC with 18 points on eight goals and two assists. Mendez scored his most recent goal against Simon Fraser last Thursday.
Saint Martin’s will host SPU on Thursday and sits one place behind the Falcons in the conference standings with 0.88 points per game. The Saints played just one game last week, a 4-0 loss to Western Oregon on Saturday, after their Thursday match at Montana State Billings was canceled due to severe cold and snow. Heading into the penultimate week of the regular season, junior midfielder Diego Andrade continues to lead SMU with six points on three goals. Andrade has started every match for the Saints this season and is one of eight players on the team to play over 1,000 minutes this year. Junior goalkeeper Nick Mueller has made the most saves of any netminder in the conference and ranks 14th in Division II with 5.46 saves per game. ONE MORE IN FRONT OF THE TRUE BLUE: Western Washington (4-6-5, 1-4-4) will play its final home game of the season this week as it hosts Simon Fraser (9-2-2, 6-0-1) on Saturday. The Vikings have gone 3-2-2 at home season in front of the Bellingham faithful and will aim to play spoiler to their border rivals who have not won at Harrington Field since Nov. 14, 2019. The Vikings offense has been led by sophomore forward Albin Jonsson with 12 points courtesy of five goals and two assists. Jonsson is followed by brothers Ryan and Andrew Rotter with six and five points, respectively. In net, senior goalkeeper Brandon Locke has been among the GNAC’s best and is tied for the conference lead with five shutouts. Locke also ranks second in the GNAC with a 1.00 goals against average. NIGHTHAWKS RETURN TO NAMPA: Northwest Nazarene (4-5-5, 2-2-4) sits third in the GNAC standings heading into the week, a little less than a point per game behind Western Oregon and just 0.25 points per game ahead of Seattle Pacific. The Nighthawks will be looking to cement their place in the top three as they face Simon Fraser (9-2-2, 6-0-1) on Thursday and Saint Martin’s (4-7-2, 2-5-1) on Saturday. Northwest Nazarene’s offense has been led by prolific freshman forward Jim Wagenaar who also leads the GNAC with 12 goals on the season. In last week’s 2-2 draw with Montana State Billings, it was junior forward Jonathan Cardona driving the offense, however, as he picked up a pair of assists. On the season, Cardona ranks second for NNU with four points. In net, Sawyer Price has risen to second in the GNAC and 29th in Division II with a .789 save percentage.
TOP COMPETITION ON DECK: Montana State Billings (4-6-3, 1-4-2) is set to have an interesting end to the regular season. After one game was canceled last week, the Yellowjackets played just one game, a 2-2 draw with Northwest Nazarene, last Saturday. This week, MSUB travels to face second-place Western Oregon (9-3-2, 6-1-2) on Thursday before taking another week off to face first-place Simon Fraser (9-2-2, 6-0-1) on Nov. 9. The Yellowjackets were led by senior forward Ryushiro Morita in last week’s draw with NNU. After the Nighthawks took an early advantage, Morita leveled the score at 1-1 in the 59th minute with his second goal of the season. He followed that up by assisting on senior midfielder Callum Bryan’s go-ahead goal in the 77th minute. Morita’s efforts last week lifted him into a tie for second on the team alongside Bryan with six points. On the season, sophomore forward Ty Vohland continues to lead the Yellowjackets with 11 points on five goals and one assist.
Ocampo has been a driving force in the midfield for a surging Western Oregon team that has some serious postseason aspirations. The freshman midfielder from Aloha, Ore., leads the Wolves and ranks third in the GNAC with six assists in his freshman campaign and has started all but one of WOU’s 14 games this season. Ocampo picked up the first points of his collegiate career against Hawaii Pacific on Sept. 3 with a goal in WOU’s 3-1 win over the Sharks. He earned his first assist just five days later against Cal State Dominguez Hills. After adding one more assist in a non-conference 2-0 win over Colorado Christian on Sept. 16, Ocampo has added one more goal and four assists through the conference slate thus far. Western Oregon will hope that Ocampo’s sharp passing continues to pay off as the Wolves face Montana State Billings on Thursday and Seattle Pacific on Saturday.
NCAA Super Region Rankings 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 next regional rankings will be released on Wednesday, Nov. 1.
The ninth United Soccer Coaches Division II rankings of the season came out on Oct. 31 with Simon Fraser (9-2-2, 6-0-1) moving into the top 25 for the first time this season at No. 20. The Red Leafs made the leap into the top 25 after extending their unbeaten streak to nine matches with their sixth consecutive win, 2-1 over Seattle Pacific, last week. The ranking marks the first time a GNAC team has featured in the top 25 since the first week of the regular season and the first time SFU has been ranked since Nov. 1, 2022.
Team Rankings (Top-30)
Assists Per Game: 13. WOU, 2.29; 17. SFU, 2.15 Assists Per Game: 14. Devin O’Hea, SFU, 0.54; 29. Niko Papakyriakopoulos, SFU, 0.46
Oct. 30 GNAC Men's Soccer Players of the Week Offensive: Gabriel Silva, Western Oregon Helping keep the Wolves alive in the GNAC men’s soccer title chase, Silva led all GNAC players with three goals scored to help his team go 1-0-1. Silva was paramount in WOU’s gritty 2-2 draw against Western Washington last Thursday, notching his second brace of the season including a crucial game-tying goal in the final minute to salvage a point. Silva followed that by scoring 1 of 4 WOU goals in a 4-0 rout of Saint Martin’s last Saturday. The WOU newcomer upped his season goal count to nine, which ranks him third in the conference. Also Nominated: Ryushiro Morita, MSUB; Jonathan Cardona, NNU; Connor Tollan, SPU; Devin O’Hea, SFU; Edgar Serrano, WWU. Defensive: Enrique Gomez, Western Oregon Anchoring the WOU defense last week was senior captain Enrique Gomez, who was instrumental in the team earning four points. Gomez helped the Wolves claim the conference’s lone shutout of the week with their 4-0 win over Saint Martin’s, and in total played 170 of 180 minutes across the back line. A mainstay in the WOU lineup, Gomez has started all 14 matches this year and has played all but 20 minutes for the title-hunting Wolves. Also Nominated: Cam Welty, SPU; Justyn Sandhu, SFU; Mitchell Hutter, WWU. |
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