Men's Soccer | 9/18/2018 4:47:00 PM

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ABOUT THE VIKINGS…the WWU men's soccer team (4-2-0) opens the GNAC schedule this week playing at Saint Martin's (2-4-0) before hosting Montana State Billings (3-3-1)…Thursday's game at Saint Martin's starts at 1 pm while Saturday's GNAC home opener vs. MSU Billings begins at 7 pm.
 
LAST WEEK…the Vikings fell 1-0 to Hawai'i Hilo in their home opener as the Vulcans scored the lone goal in the 63rd minute…WWU held a 29-3 advantage in total shots (6-3 in shots on goal) but was held scoreless for the second time this season…WWU earned a 1-0 win over Hawai'i Pacific last Saturday as Jeremiah Lee scored with a header in the 85th minute off a corner kick from Georg Cholewa…WWU played down a player for 78 minutes after a red card in the 12th minute.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW… all GNAC matches will stream live and feature live stats at GNAC.tv, with home games also streamed live on YouTube…in addition to being available online, all conference matches are available via the GNAC channel on Roku, Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV…live links can be accessed through WWUVikings.com/Live.
 
SATURDAY SOCCER DOUBLEHEADER…the WWU women's soccer team hosts Simon Fraser at 4 pm on Saturday before the WWU men face MSU Billings at 7 pm…Saturday will be Youth Teams Night with free admission for all youth ages 13 and under…there will also be a Move-in Weekend special offer with free admission for all WWU students.  
REGIONALLY RANKED...WWU is ranked No. 8 in the latest United Soccer Coaches West Region poll…unranked nationally in the most recent national poll…debuted in the national rankings at No. 13 in the first regular season poll and was ranked No. 24 nationally the following week…highest regional ranking during season was No. 2 after first week of regular season…the No. 13 national ranking was the first NCAA Division II national ranking for WWU in program history.

2018 Record Breakdown
Overall Record	4-2-0
Streak	W1
Home	1-1-0
Away	3-1-0
Neutral	0-0-0
GNAC Record	0-0-0
Ranked Opponents	0-0-0
By Kit
White	2-0-0
Navy	2-1-0
Light Blue	0-0-0
Black	0-1-0

GNAC HONORS...WWU men's soccer has had conference weekly honor in each of the last two weeks…Jeremiah Lee was named GNAC Defensive Player of the Week after playing all 180 minutes last week and scoring the game-winning goal vs. Hawai'i Pacific… Georg Cholewa was named the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week for Sept. 3-9 after recording a brace in a win at Point Loma.  
 
HOME SWEET HOME...the Vikings are in the middle of a stretch playing four of five games at home after four consecutive road games to start the year…after first home games last week, Vikings host MSU Billings on Saturday and Concordia on Sept. 29 before hitting the road for the next four games.
 
STATISTICAL LEADERS...Georg Cholewa has 9 points (3 goals, 3 assists) while Stephen Jinneman has 5 points (2 goals, 1 assist) through six games…Cholewa has a goal or assist in each WWU win of the season…both players were All-GNAC Honorable Mention selections last year.
 
SOLID START...WWU opened the season 3-0-0 and is 4-2-0 through the non-conference schedule (most regular season non-conference wins since five victories in 2010)…tied for best winning streak start to a season since Vikings were 3-0-0 to start 2000 season…WWU had a strong start to the GNAC schedule in 2017, beginning conference play 5-0-1.
 
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW…

• GNAC Openers – WWU begins the 12-game GNAC schedule this week at Saint Martin's and vs. MSU Billings.
• Balanced Attack – Five players have scored for WWU and six have recorded a point through six games.
• Not in the Net – WWU has 2 shutouts and ranks 2nd in the GNAC with a 1.16 goals-against average.
• Road Wins – Vikings are 3-1-0 on the road and have already equaled their road wins total from 2017.
• Rankings – In the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll, WWU is No. 8 in the West Region.
• Close Contests – Five of six games for WWU this season have been decided by a difference of one goal.
• Captains – Stephen Jinneman, Garrett Strawn and Jeremiah Lee are team co-captains for 2018.
• Coach Brisbon – WWU head coach Greg Brisbon is in his sixth season leading the program (18th overall with WWU soccer)…directed Vikings to 45-35-16 record as head coach (.552) and first NCAA II tournament appearance in 2016…2016 GNAC co-Coach of the Year.

SERIES HISTORY…here is a look at the all-time series history between WWU its opponents:

• Saint Martin's → Vikings are 15-6-1 all-time against the Saints…teams split the season series each of last two seasons...the home team won 3-2 in both of the two meetings last season.
• MSU Billings → WWU holds an 18-10-1 advantage in the all-time series vs. Yellowjackets…the season series has been split each of the last two years…home team won 2-0 in each meeting last season.

NOT OVER UNTIL OVERTIME...WWU's overtime win in the season opener at Sonoma State followed a 2017 season during which WWU played into overtime in 9 of 17 games…Vikings have been to overtime in 11 of last 25 games dating back to the 2016 season…WWU went 1-3-5 in overtime during 2017…five ties set the school record for ties in a season.
 
CLOSE CONTESTS...WWU has lost by a deficit of greater than one goal just four times since the beginning of the 2016 season and only twice since the beginning of the 2017 season…five of six games during 2018 have been decided by a difference of one goal.
 
DOWN BUT NOT OUT...Vikings won 4-3 in overtime at Sonoma State in the season opener after trailing 3-1 when Seawolves scored a goal to take a 3-1 lead in the 51st minute…marked the third time since start of 2017 WWU has overcome a two-goal deficit to tie and second time to win…came from down 2-0 to defeat Seattle Pacific 3-2 in overtime on Sept. 23, 2017 and was also down a pair of goals before tying Colorado Christian 2-2 after two overtimes on Sept. 7, 2017.
 
IN THE CLUTCH…Stephen Jinneman has one game-tying and one game-winning goal in 2018…has 6 career goals from his defensive position with 4 of those goals either game-winning or game-tying…first career goal was a golden goal header in the 98th minute against Dixie State in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Division II Tournament to give WWU its first-ever tournament win, 3-2.
 
ON THE ROAD…the Vikings played their first four games away from home and open the GNAC slate on the road…most consecutive road games to start regular season since 2003 season…after playing two of first three conferences games at home WWU will be on the road for four straight GNAC contests before playing four consecutive home games during the latter half of the schedule.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS…
1.16
Goals-against average through six games for WWU, ranking 2nd in the GNAC.
2
GNAC weekly honors for WWU student-athletes through three weeks of the season.
3
WWU wins on the road in 2018 to match the road wins total from last season.
4
Regular season non-conference wins for WWU in 2018, the most in a season since Vikings won 5 non-conference games in 2010.
#8
Regional ranking for the Vikings in the latest United Soccer Coaches West Region poll.
9
Points for Georg Cholewa to rank tied for 4th among conference leaders.
13
Shots per game average for the Vikings, tied for 2nd-highest average in the GNAC.
45
Career wins for head coach Greg Brisbon in his sixth year leading WWU.
 
WHAT RETURNS...the Vikings return five players who made at least 10 or more starts last season as well as a 2017 redshirt who made 14 starts in 2016…Georg Cholewa and 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…replacing 5 starters from last season…2018 team features six seniors, eight juniors, four sophomores and 11 freshmen.
 
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.
 
TALENTED TRANSFERS…in addition to an incoming class of prep standouts, the Vikings welcome three transfers for 2018…junior Ryan Schaefer joined 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 transferred to WWU from INP-ENSIACET in France where he started 25 of 26 games over three seasons…junior Blake McMillian joined WWU from Tacoma CC where he a was an NWAC All-Region honoree.
 
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 is in his sixth season as head coach of the WWU men's soccer program and 18th overall associated with WWU soccer…directed Vikings to 45-35-16 record as head coach (.552)…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.