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ABOUT THE VIKINGS…the WWU men's soccer team begins the 2018 regular season this week with a trip to California to face Sonoma State and Chico State…the games are two of six non-conference contests on the schedule prior to the start of Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW…Thursday's game at Sonoma State can be followed via live stats and video ($) while Saturday's game at Chico State will feature both live stats and video as well…links can be accessed through WWUVikings.com/Live…all GNAC games will feature live video and stats at GNAC.tv.
 
WHAT RETURNS...the Vikings return 5 players who made at least 10 or more starts last season as well as a 2017 redshirt who made 14 starts in 2016…sophomore Georg Cholewa and senior Stephen Jinneman were both Honorable Mention All-GNAC selections last year.
 
QUICK FACTS…WWU went 6-6-5 overall and tied for 3rd in the GNAC with a 5-4-3 record last year…15 letterwinners return overall…will be replacing 5 starters from last season…2018 team features six seniors, eight juniors, four sophomores and 11 freshmen.
 
2018 AT A GLANCE…the 2018 season features a total of 18 regular-season games, including six non-conference matches...after opening the season against Sonoma State and Chico State, WWU will play at No. 23 Point Loma (Sept. 6) and at Azusa Pacific (Sept. 8)…Vikings close out non-conference play at home against Hawaii Hilo (Sept. 11) and Hawaii Pacific (Sept. 15)…GNAC schedule begins at Saint Martin's on Sept. 20.
 
FAMILIAR FOES…the Vikings open the regular season against Sonoma State and Chico State for the third consecutive season in 2018…WWU is 1-1-0 against Chico State and 0-1-1 against Sonoma State over the last two seasons...Vikings lost at home in overtime to both schools last season.
 
PRESEASON SCHEDULE…WWU traveled to the University of British Columbia and hosted the University of Puget Sound during the exhibition preseason...fell 3-2 at UBC with a pair of second-half goals from junior Taylor Allen...defeated UPS 5-0, scoring once in the first half with four second-half goals, including two goals 21 seconds apart from senior Drew Barker (both assisted by Allen).
 
ON THE ROAD…the Vikings play their first four games away from home and open the GNAC slate on the road…after playing two of first three conferences games at home will be on the road for four straight GNAC contests before playing four consecutive home games during the latter half of the conference schedule.
 
HOME OPENER…following four road contests to start the season the Vikings will be at home to host Hawaii Hilo at 7 pm on Tuesday, Sept. 11…also welcome Hawaii Pacific on Saturday, Sept. 15 at 7 pm during the homestand…Vikings have eight home games (six GNAC, two non-conference) in Bellingham at Harrington Field during 2018 regular season.

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PRESEASON COACHES POLL…the Vikings were picked to place 4th in the conference by the annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Coaches Poll…two-time defending champion Simon Fraser (49 points) received all seven 1st-place votes while SPU (35 points), MSU Billings (32 points) and WWU (30 points) complete the top four teams in the poll…Vikings placed in a tie for 3rd in the GNAC last year after tying for 2nd in the conference during the 2016 season.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW…

• Off to California – The Vikings open the 2018 season with four consecutive games in the state of California.
• Balanced Attacked – Eight players scored (six multi-goal scorers) in 2017, with five of those back in 2018.
• All-GNAC Honorees – Stephen Jinneman and Georg Cholewa were Honorable Mention All-GNAC last year.
• Offense Opportunities – The Vikings were 2nd in the GNAC with 14.76 shots per game last season.
• Not in the Net – WWU was 2nd in GNAC with goals-against average of 1.29 and 5 shutouts during 2017.
• Incoming Class – WWU welcomes an incoming class of 8 freshmen and 3 transfers for the upcoming season.
• Homestretch at Home – The Vikings will play four of final five conference games at Harrington Field.
• Ranked Opponents – Two teams on the 2018 schedule for WWU are currently ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll with Point Loma ranked No. 23 and Simon Fraser ranked No. 20.

SERIES HISTORY…here is a look at the all-time series history between WWU its opponents:
Sonoma State → Vikings are 1-11-2 all-time against Sonoma State…WWU will face Seawolves for the third consecutive season…last three meetings have gone to overtime with WWU going 0-2-1 in those games.
Chico State → WWU is 8-10-0 all-time against Chico State…will be facing Wildcats for third consecutive season…Vikings won last meeting in California between the teams in 2016 with a 1-0 victory to snap a six-game losing streak vs. Chico State…WWU had won previous five meetings before losing streak that began in 2006.
 
RETURNING OFFENSE…senior Stephen Jinneman (3 goals, 1 assist), sophomore Drew Farnsworth (3 goals, 1 assist) and junior Christian Rotter (2 goals, 3 assists) all tied for 2nd on the team with 7 points apiece last year…sophomore Georg Chowela (2 goals, 1 assist) and senior Garrett Strawn (1 goal, 3 assists) had 5 points apiece.
 
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING…among GNAC leaders last season, WWU ranked 2nd in shots per game (14.76) and also 2nd in goals allowed per game (1.41) as well as goals-against average (1.29)…totaled 5 shutouts to rank 2nd in the conference…have ranked 2nd in each of the aforementioned defensive statistics for past two seasons.
 
NOT OVER UNTIL OVERTIME…WWU played into overtime during 9 of 17 games last season with 7 of those contests reaching double overtime (1-3-5 overtime record)…five ties set the school record for ties in a season…Vikings lost by a deficit of greater than one goal just once during the season and were not shut out through the first nine games of the 2017 campaign.
 
TALENTED TRANSFERS…in addition to an incoming class of prep standouts, the Vikings welcome three transfers for the 2018 season…junior Ryan Schaefer joins WWU after transferring from the University of Denver where he appeared in 29 games over two years after redshirting his first season…senior Louis Genty has transferred to WWU from INP-ENSIACET in France where he started 25 of 26 games over three seasons…junior Blake McMillian joins WWU from Tacoma CC where he a was an NWAC All-Region honoree.
 
STRONG START…WWU will be looking to replicate the strong start it had to the 2017 conference schedule in the upcoming season…Vikings opened the conference schedule 5-0-1 and had a nine-game unbeaten streak ended Oct. 14, 2017 against Simon Fraser...the start was part of a larger 10-0-2 record in GNAC games spanning the end of the 2016 regular season and start of 2017…the six-game unbeaten start to the conference schedule was tied with a 3-0-3 start to the GNAC schedule in 2013 for longest unbeaten streak to start conference play by WWU since at least 2000…WWU also won its first four conference games in 2017, the best winning streak start to a conference schedule since WWU went 4-0-0 in conference play during a four-game conference schedule in 2002.
 
SENIOR SIX…WWU graduated six seniors from the 2017 season…among the 2017 seniors was leading goal scorer and two-time United Soccer Coaches Third Team All-Region selection Anthony Dean, who accounted for 25 of 70 points for the Vikings last year with 11 goals and 3 assists…also gone is four-time All-GNAC honoree Luke Olney, who finished career 10th among WWU career leaders in games played (71) and tied for 10th in career assists (12)…2017 First Team All-GNAC goalkeeper Tyler Visten is gone as well, concluding his career 2nd-best in WWU history with a 1.24 goals-against average and 15 shutouts (3rd-most in WWU history).
 
ALL-ACADEMIC…the Vikings set a program record with 11 student-athletes named to the GNAC All-Academic Team during 2017…senior Garrett Strawn was also selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team last year as a junior.
 
TO THE TOURNAMENT…WWU is a year removed from advancing to the first NCAA II Tournament appearance in program history…Vikings reached the NCAA II Tournament in 2016 and advanced to the second round of the tournament…defeated Dixie State 3-2 in overtime before falling 2-0 to UC San Diego in the second round.
 
COACH BRISBON…Greg Brisbon enters his sixth season as head coach of the WWU men's soccer program and 18th overall associated with WWU soccer…directed Vikings to 41-33-16 record as head coach (.544)…spent previous 12 years as Vikings assistant coach, eight as the associate head coach…coached Vikings to their first NCAA II Tournament appearance and first postseason victory in 2016 with a 10-5-4 record…named GNAC co-Coach of the Year in 2016…WWU finished the season 5-0-1 over the final 6 games, with a win and tie vs. No. 3 Simon Fraser, to secure the bid to the NCAA II Tournament…season record tied for 10th-most wins in program history.
 
2017 SEASON IN REVIEW… Vikings finished tied for 3rd in the GNAC with a 6-6-5 overall record and 5-4-3 mark in conference play…began conference schedule 5-0-1, including a four-game win streak to begin GNAC play…best winning streak start to GNAC play since 2002 and six-game unbeaten start to conference schedule was tied with 3-0-3 start to conference schedule in 2013 for longest unbeaten streak to start conference play by WWU since at least 2000…5-0-1 start was part of a larger nine-game unbeaten streak…Vikings finished season 3-4-2 at home and 3-2-3 on the road…WWU went to overtime in 9 of 17 games during the season, with 7 of those contests reaching double overtime (1-3-5 overtime record)…Five ties set the school record for ties in a season…WWU was named the GNAC/Red Lion Team of the Week following the opening week of conference play on Sept. 25.