BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week with a pair of matches.

 

The Vikings finished a tough non-conference schedule with a 3-3-0 record and head into the GNAC season after being projected to finish 2^nd in a vote of GNAC coaches in the preseason poll. 

 

WWU begins the 12-game conference slate with a road match Thursday at Seattle Pacific (1-3-1, 0-0-0 GNAC) with kickoff scheduled for 7 pm at Interbay Stadium in Seattle.

 

The Vikings then return home to host Saint Martin's (5-1-1, 0-0-0 GNAC) on Saturday night at 7 pm at Harrington Field in Bellingham.

 

Western is coming off a 1-1-0 week, dropping a hard-fought 2-1 double-overtime contest against No. 3 nationally-ranked Azusa Pacific (now No. 2) and defeating Point Loma 2-1. The Vikings have followed each of their three losses this season with a victory. 

 

Both matches this week will stream live on GNAC.tv with direct links available below:

 

 

Here are some quick notes on the Vikings heading this week's action in the opening week of conference play:

 

»     Close Contests – All three of WWU's losses have been by a one-goal margin, falling to Chico State 2-1, No. 6 West Texas A&M 1-0 and No. 3 Azusa Pacific 2-1 in double overtime.

»     By Georg – Junior Georg Cholewa has scored 12 career goals (2 this season), tied for 19^th in program history.

»     Rotter's Points – Senior Christian Rotter has 32 career points, just outside the top 20 in WWU history.

»     Player of the Week – Junior defender Camron Miller was selected as the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week for games played Sept. 23-29. Miller scored a goal in each game last week.

»     Goal Scorers – WWU has scored 10 goals in 6 games this year, with Georg Cholewa, Drew Farnsworth, Camron Miller and Ryan Schaefer accounting for 8 of the 10 goals. 

 

Here is a look at the series history between the Vikings and opponents this week:

 

»     Seattle Pacific – The Vikings trail in the all-time series vs. the Falcons 17-48-9, but have won three of the last four in the series. The two teams split the season series last year, with each team winning at home. SPU won 2-1 in Seattle and the Vikings won 5-1 in Bellingham. WWU head coach Greg Brisbon was a two-year letterwinner for Seattle Pacific in the late 90s.

»     Saint Martin's – WWU leads the series vs. the Saints 16-7-1, but Saint Martin's has had the upper hand in recent years winning five of the last eight matches dating back to 2015. WWU and SMU split the season series last season, with the Saints winning 3-1 in Lacey and WWU 2-0 in Bellingham.

 

Both home matches this week will feature a live via webcast (pay per view) and live stats, with links available at  WWUVikings.com/Live. All WWU home games at Harrington Field will feature an HD webcast that will simulcast on GNAC.tv and WWU's YouTube channel. 

 

Fans can watch all WWU home games, most GNAC road games, and a handful of non-conference road games not only on their phone, computer or tablet, but also on a big-screen television. All games that stream on GNAC.tv are also easily viewed on Roku players, AppleTV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV (just search for GNAC). WWU's home games also stream on YouTube for a great viewing experience with rewind capability. 

 

Head coach Greg Brisbon announced that seniors Christian Rotter, Ryan Schaefer and Jeremiah Lee will serve as team co-captains for the 2019 season.

 

The Vikings will play five of their first seven conference matches on the road, beginning with Thursday's contest at Seattle Pacific. After back-to-back home contests vs. Saint Martin's (10/5) and Concordia (10/12), WWU will play four consecutive road games at Saint Martin's (10/17), Northwest Nazarene (10/19), Montana State Billings (10/24) and Simon Fraser (10/26).

 

Here is a look at the updated records of all seven teams that compete in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference:

 

 

Tickets for all of WWU's home matches can be purchased online in advance by visitingWWUVikings.com/MS_Tickets. The box office at Harrington Field will also open one hour prior to kickoff for each home game. All seats are general admission at Harrington Field ($5 – WWU student/faculty/staff/senior 60+, $8 – Adult).

 

WWU is scheduled to play 10 of its 18 matches this season at home on the friendly confines of Robert S. Harrington Field (2-2-0 record this season). Since debuting in 2014 at the on-campus facility, the Vikings are 25-16-7 (.594), including a 6-2-0 record last season.

 

The Vikings feature a tough schedule in 2019, with five matches against teams that were ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Division II Top 25, including No. 9 West Texas A&M (No. 6 when played), No. 11 Azusa Pacific (No. 3 when played), No. 13 Simon Fraser (2 matches) and No. 16 Colorado School of Mines. Additionally, WWU's 18-match schedule features six matches against teams that advanced to the NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Championships last season.

 

Here is a look at the complete 2019 GNAC Men's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll, with the Vikings listed No. 2 in a vote of the conference's seven head coaches:

 

 

Highlighting the returning players from a squad that ranked second in the conference in goals scored and had the second-lowest goals against average is junior midfielder Georg Cholewa (8 goals, 7 assists in 18 games in 2018) and sophomore goalkeeper Brandon Wolter (1.08 GAA, 7 shutouts in 2018). Cholewa was a First Team All-GNAC selection and a second-team pick to the United Soccer Coaches All-West Region Team. The Vikings also return five of their top seven goals scorers from a year ago, with senior forwards Christian Rotter (5 goals, 3 assists in 2018) and Ryan Schaefer (5 goals, 2 assists) and junior midfielders Cholewa and Drew Farnsworth (2 goals, 5 assists) combining for 23 of the team's 33 goals last season. Senior defenders Jeremiah Lee (43 G/38 GS in his career) and Nick Morgan (50 G/41 GS) are three-year starters that will play a key factor on the back line. WWU ranked second in the GNAC with a 1.20 goals against average last season and recorded seven shutouts.

 

Greg Brisbon is in his seventh season as the head coach of the men's soccer program and his 19^thoverall associated with WWU soccer. Brisbon has directed the Vikings to a 55-42-17 (.557) record. Prior to taking over as the head coach of the men's program, Brisbon spent the previous 12 seasons as an assistant coach with the Vikings, including eight as the associate head coach. He was the 2016 GNAC co-Coach of the Year, helping lead the Vikings to its first NCAA Championships appearance and in 2018 guided Western to its first national ranking in program history.

 

Fans can follow WWU men's soccer online at WWUVikings.com/MSoc, and via social media on Twitter (@SoccerWWU), Instagram (@wwu_msoccer) and Facebook (@WWUsoccermens).

 

The Western Washington University men's soccer program is in its 40^th season at the varsity level with head coach Greg Brisbon leading the program in his seventh season as the head coach. The program has recorded an overall record at or above the .500 mark in six of the last seven seasons, including a 11-6-1 mark overall in 2018 and a 7-4-1 mark in the GNAC to finish second in the conference. In 2016 the Vikings advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the first time in program history, using a late-season surge that saw the Vikings 5-0-1 over the last six matches to advance to the postseason. WWU beat 19^th-ranked Dixie State in the first round of the NCAA Championships 3-2 in overtime on a golden goal header. Overall the program has produced 43 GNAC Players of the Week selections, 27 First Team All-GNAC players and 3 GNAC Players of the Year since joining the conference in 2001.