Aug. 6, 2009

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Western Washington University men's soccer team, which won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship last season, will open the 2009 season by playing nine of its first 11 matches at home.

In all, the Vikings will play 10 regular-season contests at Whatcom Community College's Orca Field in a schedule announced by Viking head coach Travis Connell, who was the 2008 GNAC Coach of the Year.

Western begins its season with five home matches, beginning on Aug. 29 (7 p.m.) against Sonoma State. The home stand continues with Evergreen State on Sept. 1 (7 p.m.), Humboldt State on Sept. 5 (7 p.m.), Chico State on Sept. 7 (2 p.m.) and Metro State on Sept. 10 (7 p.m.).

Following road games at Mesa State on Sept. 13 (8 p.m.) and at Grand Canyon on Sept. 15 (1 p.m.), the Vikings return home for contests against Simon Fraser on Sept. 19 (7 p.m.), Montana State Billings on Sept. 24 (7 p.m.), Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 26 (7 p.m.) and Seattle Pacific on Oct. 3 (7:30 p.m.).

The Vikings then go on the road for eight games before completing their regular season at home on Nov. 5 (7 p.m.) against Saint Martin's.

On the extended road swing, Western travels to Saint Martin's on Oct. 5 (3 p.m.), Northwest Nazarene on Oct. 17 (2:30 p.m.), Cal State Dominguez Hills on Oct. 21 (7 p.m.), Cal State L.A. on Oct. 23 (1 p.m.), Simon Fraser on Oct. 26 (7 p.m.), Seattle Pacific on Oct. 29 (7 p.m.), Montana State Billings on Oct. 31 (3 p.m.) and Mary ND on Nov. 2 (Mon.), also at Billings.

Last year, Western finished 11-5-3 and took the league title with a 7-1-0 record. Four all-league players are among six returning starters. They include two first-team picks, junior forward Gibson Bardsley (Fall City/Mount Si) and senior goalkeeper Cameron Copps-Tilley (Vancouver/Fort Vancouver), and a pair of second-team selections, senior defender Chris Jepson (Bellingham/Sehome) and senior midfielder Michael Ricci (Bellevue/Newport).