Oct. 27, 2009
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Looking to end a string of eight road games on a high note, the Western Washington University men's soccer team travels to Seattle Pacific on Thursday for a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest at Interbay Stadium.
The Vikings, 5-11-0 overall and 2-3-0 in GNAC play, then go to Billings, Mont., for a league counter with Montana State Billings on Saturday (3 p.m.) and a non-conference contest against Mary ND on Monday (1 p.m.).
Western has lost its last three games, 3-0 to NCAA Division II national champion Cal State Dominguez Hills, 6-1 to No.10-ranked Cal State L.A., and 2-0 to NAIA No.5-rated Simon Fraser.
The Vikings are 1-4-0 overall during the road stretch, the win, 4-3 in overtime, coming at Northwest Nazarene following a 2-1 loss at Saint Martin's.
Kellan Brown (So., Tacoma/Bellarmine) paces the Vikings in scoring with 18 points on seven goals and four assists. Oscar Jimenez (So., Mount Vernon) is second with 14 points on five goals and four assists.
Seattle Pacific, which won 1-0 at Bellingham on Oct. 3, is 10-4-3 overall and 3-2-1 in conference play. The Falcons, who have lost their last two games, are 5-1-2 at home.
Montana State Billings (Oct. 28 vs. Saint Martin's) is 10-3-2 overall and 3-1-2 in league action, one point behind GNAC leader Saint Martin's. The Yellowjackets are led by Sam Charles, who leads the league with 19 goals and has 64 during his four-year career.
Mary (Nov. 1 host Upper Iowa) has won its last two games and is 8-9-1 overall.
Travis Connell (11th year, 99-98-11) is one win shy of becoming the first Vikings' coach in program history to reach 100 career victories.
Notes: The Vikings are 5-27-4 in their series with Seattle Pacific, 10-2-0 against Montana State Billings and 1-0-0 versus Mary ... Western has lost all five of its games this season against teams ranked among the Top 25 nationally ... The Vikings are the defending GNAC champions and were the unanimous choice in the preseason coaches poll to win this year's GNAC title ... Western has lost eight of its last 10 games following a 3-3 start ... The Vikings are 1-3 in overtime games this fall.
