Oct. 12, 2009
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Following a 12-day layoff, the Western Washington University men's soccer team returns to action Saturday (2:30 p.m.), traveling to Nampa, Id., to face Northwest Nazarene in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest.
The Vikings, 4-8-0 overall and 1-3-0 (fourth place) in GNAC play, then travel to southern California to meet Cal State Dominguez Hills on Wednesday, Oct. 21 (7 p.m.) and Cal State L.A. on Friday, Oct. 23 (1 p.m.).
In all, Western is playing eight straight road games. That stretch began with a 2-1 loss at Saint Martin's on Oct. 5. It was the second straight setback for the Vikings, who have dropped five of their last six games following a 3-3-0 start that included two overtime losses.
Northwest Nazarene is 5-7-1 overall and 0-3-1 in league action. The Crusaders, 1-2-0 at home, are coming off a 2-1 overtime loss to National Soccer Coaches Association of America/NCAA Division II nationally No.24-ranked Seattle Pacific.
CSUDH (Oct. 16 vs. UC San Diego and Oct. 18 vs. Cal State East Bay) is 8-5-1, and CSULA (Oct. 16 vs. Cal State East Bay, Oct. 18 vs. UC San Diego and Oct. 21 vs. Seattle Pacific) is 11-2-1, losing twice last week after being the nation's No.1-ranked team.
Midfielder Kellan Brown (So., Tacoma/Bellarmine) leads Western with 14 points, having five goals and four assists. Brown was credited with an assist on the Vikings' lone goal at Saint Martin's which was scored by Tyler Bjork (So., Kirkland/Juanita).
Western's Oscar Jimenez (So., Mount Vernon) has 10 points (four goals and two assists).
Travis Connell (11th year, 98-95-11) is two wins shy of becoming the Vikings' first coach in program history to reach 100 career victories.
Notes: Western has dropped three games to nationally Top 25-rated teams ... The Vikings are the defending league champions and were the unanimous choice in the preseason coaches poll to win this year's GNAC title
