Oct. 15, 2005

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

JOE SUNNEN, THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

When Western Washington University senior Andy Olson's college career is over, there's little doubt thinking about Monmouth, Ore., will always turn his stomach a little bit.

"I can't really pinpoint a certain thing, but for some reason we've fallen apart when we play down there," Olson said. "We just haven't played well there. I don't know if it's our focus or preparation or what."

The Vikings travel to their Great Northwest Athletic Conference version of Waterloo today to meet Western Oregon University.

WWU (2-4, 1-1 GNAC) has lost three of its last four meetings against the Wolves (2-4, 0-2) at McArthur Field, including a 52-49 loss in four overtimes last season, the longest game in Northwest small college history.

"For whatever reason we haven't played well there," WWU coach Rob Smith said. "But this is a different group of guys and this is a different team. And really, I don't care who we play we just want to get some of this sour taste out of our mouths from last week."

The Vikings committed seven turnovers in a 37-17 loss to Central Washington University last week. That same kind of carelessness has hurt WWU in the past against the Wolves. In the last two meetings at Monmouth, the Vikings have 12 turnovers.

"I don't think it's a curse, I just think we need to get our act together." Olson said. "We're not superstitious about it. We just need to play. We just haven't been all there."

WWU won't be all there again this time either. Starting right tackle Will Freitag won't make the trip because of a dislocated toe and starting defensive end Geoff Hise will miss the game with a calf injury. Dale Moore will play in place of Freitag and Matt Overton will start on the defensive line.

The Vikings will also be without slot back Chris Robinson, who re-aggravated a hamstring injury on Tuesday. Defensive lineman Noel Tafoya also did not make the trip with a foot injury.

"When you're wounded like we are all you can do is get back on the field," Smith said. "We have some injuries that we're dealing with, but we also have some committed guys that want to get this thing turned around, starting now."

On defense the Vikings will have to stop running back Eliot Vinzant, who has run for more than 100 yards in each of the last three games. On offense they will have to protect the ball.

"They look the same on defense as last year, they seem to run a lot of the same coverages," Olson said. "I think if we play our game we should be able to pick them apart like we have many times in the past."

But this time the Vikings would like to leave with a win.