Aug. 25, 2006
Complete Weekly Release
BELLINGHAM, WA - The Vikings play their home opener on Sunday, Aug. 27, versus Cal State Dominguez Hills at the Whatcom Community College Soccer Complex. Western's homestand continues on Wednesday, Aug. 30, with a contest against visiting Cal State Stanislaus slated for noon. Following Wednesday's contest the Vikings play three straight road contests before returning home to host The Evergreen State College on Sept. 11.
Week In Review
Freshman Nick Saletto scored his fi rst collegiate goal in the 66th minute of a 2-1 Western loss at Humboldt State, Thursday. The Vikings carried the play throughout, outshooting HSU by a 12-8 margin and earning nine corner kicks, while surrendering just one. Freshman Christian Warman got the nod in goal for WWU and made three stops in his fi rst collegiate appearance.
Scouting Cal State Dominguez Hills
Sunday's contest marks the season opener for the visiting Toros of Cal State Dominguez Hills, who fi nished the 2005 season with an overall record of 17-5-2 and a trip to the NCAA Division II quarterfi nals. The defending West Region champion return a wealth of talent, despite the loss of their two top scorers from a season ago, including MLS draft pick Kei Kamara (Columbus, 9th overall), and are once again favored to challenge for the California Collegiate Athletic Association title.
Senior midfielders Jesse Graham and Sammy Rivas lead the CSUDH offense. Both players notched 16-point seasons during the 2005 campaign.
Scouting Cal State Stanislaus
The Warriors fell to 0-1-0 on the young season, dropping their opener vs. Fresno Pacific by a 1-0 margin. Stanislaus visits Seattle University on Monday, Aug. 28, before arriving in Bellingham for their Aug. 30, showdown with the Vikings.
The improved Warriors posted an 8-10-2 record in 2005, while netting a CCAA mark of 6-6-2. Junior Dennis Wolfe returns to spark the Cal State Stanislaus offense; Wolfe, who also plays baseball for the Warriors, led the team in goals (7) and points (15) last season.
Viking News and Notes
* Western returns four of its top fi ve point producers from last season. Junior forward Zach Bauling is the top returning scorer for the Vikings, boasting four goals and an assist for nine points in 2005. Bauling appeared in 19 of 20 games a season ago, starting 18, and launched a team-high 28 shots. Sophomore Matt Zigulis (2-4-8), senior Jacob Haddock (3-0-6) and senior Gus Zadra (1-4-6) also return to the Western lineup this season.
* The WWU men's soccer team features athletes from six states and one foreign country. Michael Lockwood (Canby, OR), Paul Kimbrough (Salt Lake City, UT), Zach Bauling (Albuquerque, NM), Matt Zigulis (Sebastopol, CA) and Brian Emory (Boise, ID) all hail from neighboring states, while midfielder Shogo Kurihara is a native of Tsukuba, Japan.
* Head coach Travis Connell, who is in his eighth-season at Western, enters the 2006 campaign just two victories shy of career win number 70. With a career mark of 68-59-6, Connell ranks fi rst in all-time coaching wins at Western.
* Zadra was the team's lone All-GNAC selection in 2005, earning honorable mention honors despite missing three games due to injury. Zadra's sister, Rosie, a junior midfi elder on the Viking women's soccer team, was a GNAC first-team all-star selection last year.
* Dating back to 2003, Western is 0-6-0 against GNAC rivals Seattle University and Seattle Pacifi c. In 2002, however, the Vikings notched a 3-0-1 mark against those two opponents. WWU swept the season series with SU, posting a pair of 2-1 victories, and drew with SPU, 1-1, at home before knocking off the Falcons, 2-1, on the road.
