BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team head into the penultimate week of the regular season tied for the lead in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings.

 

WWU is riding a hot streak that has resulted in the Vikings winning five of their last six games, including a current three-game winning streak. The Vikings will play the remainder of the regular season on the road, beginning Thursday at Montana State Billings (2 pm MT/1 pm PT) and Saturday night against rival No. 18 Seattle Pacific (7 pm) at Interbay Stadium.

 

The three-game winning streak has leveled the season record at 7-7-0 and moved the Vikings to the top of the GNAC table at 5-2-0 in conference play (15 points). WWU is tied with Simon Fraser for the top spot in the league standings, with Seattle Pacific close behind with 13 points. SPU has played one less game than WWU and SFU.

 

The defending GNAC champion Vikings control their own fate as the program looks to make a return trip to the NCAA Championships. The winner of the GNAC title receives an automatic berth to the NCAA II Championships.

 

WWU has out-scored opponents 12-7 during the six-game stretch that began with a 4-3 come-from-behind victory at Saint Martin's on October 2. The Vikings lone loss over the last month was a 2-0 setback to SPU on October 14 at Harrington Field. 

 

Senior midfielder Drew Farnsworth leads the Vikings and tied for 3rd in the GNAC with six goals. Junior forward Gilbert De La Luz is tied for 5th in the conference with five goals and senior forward Alex Whiting is tied for 9th with three goals. Sophomore goalkeeper Brandon Locke has started the last five games after being sidelined with an injury during the early part of the season and has allowed just four goals in 454 minutes for a GNAC-leading 0.79 goals against average.

 

Following the current two-game trip to Montana and Seattle, WWU will conclude the 2021 regular season crossing the border to play Simon Fraser on Saturday, November 13 at SFU Stadium at Terry Fox Field (7 pm).

 

The Vikings are coming off a five-game homestand, going 4-1 during that stretch of contests played at Harrington Field. In a scheduling oddity, those five games included all WWU's home conference games. Western opened the season with consecutive road games at NNU and Saint Martin's and completes the season with three straight road games (MSUB, Seattle Pacific, Simon Fraser).

 

Senior midfielder Drew Farnsworth, a native of Auckland, New Zealand, is listed among GNAC leaders with six goals (T-3rd) and 15 points (T-3rd). Farnsworth is also tied for 7th in the GNAC with three assists and tied for 3rd with a pair of game-winning goals. In five seasons with the Vikings, Farnsworth has appeared in 71 games (all starts), ranking 15th in program history in points (41), tied for 14th in goals (15) and tied for 17th in assists (11). His 71 games started are tied for the most in program history by a position player, equaling Christian Rotter (2016-19).

 

Here is a look at the top goal scorers in the GNAC this season, with Drew Farnsworth (tied for 3rd) and Gilbert De La Luz (tied for 5th) ranking in the top five in the conference:

 

 

Prior to Saturday's match vs. Northwest Nazarene, WWU's four seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony. Alex Whiting, Iakov Shmelev, Drew Farnsworth and Brandon Wolter were recognized for their accomplishments and all they have done for the program in their final game at Harrington Field and helped the Vikings to a 1-0 win over NNU.

 

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

 

• Montana State Billings: Defeated MSUB 3-1 on Oct. 16 at Harrington Field…WWU has a three-game winning streak and four-game unbeaten stretch (3-0-1) against the Yellowjackets…Vikings lead the all-time series 21-11-2 with an 6-5-2 record in matches played in Billings.
• Seattle Pacific: Defeated by SPU 2-0 on Oct. 14 in in Bellingham, a setback that snapped WWU's five-game unbeaten streak vs. the Falcons…WWU is 6-2-3 vs. SPU over the last 11 meetings dating back to the start of the 2016 season…SPU leads the all-time series 38-17-9 according to WWU records.

 

Here is a look at the GNAC standings heading into the penultimate week of conference play, with the Vikings tied for first place in the table with 15 points (5-2-0):

 

 

All WWU home games (and most road games) will stream live online with the direct links available at WWUVikings.com/Live. Games at Harrington Field will feature an HD webcast on WWU's YouTube channel. For easy access, each WWU Men's Soccer game will feature a URL redirect that will send you right to the current game, so bookmark the following links:

 

• Webcast – wwuvikings.com/MS_Watch
• Live Stats – wwuvikings.com/MS_Stats

 

Junior forward Gilbert De La Luz recorded a hat trick in the 4-3 win over Saint Martin's on October 2. It marked the first hat trick by a Viking since Adam Talley on October 22, 2015 vs. University of Mary. Here is a list of WWU players scoring 3-or-more goals in a game dating back to the 1998 season and the start of the NCAA era:

 

 

News and notes on the 2021 WWU Men's Soccer team:

 

• The Record – 7-7-0 on the season, going 5-2-0 at home and 2-5-0 on the road.
• GNAC – Currently tied for 1st place in the GNAC with 15 points at 5-2-0.
• Drew and Gil – Drew Farnsworth (6 goals) and Gilbert De La Luz (5 goals) have combined to score 11 of the Vikings 23 goals (47.8%).
• Hat Trick – Gilbert De La Luz recorded a hat trick at Saint Martin's (10/2), the first 3-goal game by a Viking since Adam Talley in 2015.
• The Kiwi – New Zealand native Drew Farnsworth is tied for 3rd in the GNAC with 6 goals and tied for 3rd with a pair of game-winning goals…appeared in 71 career games (all starts) and is 15th in program history with 41 points (15 goals, 11 assists)…tied for the most starts by a position player in program history and tied for 11th overall in career games played.
• Welcome Back Locke – Sophomore goalkeeper Brandon Locke missed the first nine games of the season…returned for a 4-save shutout vs. Simon Fraser and is 4-1 since returning to the starting lineup with a GNAC-best 0.79 goals against average.
• Dependable Diehl – Gus Diehl leads the team with 1263 minutes played, starting all 14 matches…started 55 of 56 possible matches during his four-year WWU career.
• Goalkeeping Trio – WWU has played three goalkeepers this season – Brandon Wolter, Brandon Locke, Patrick Restum – marking first time during a fall season to play three goalkeepers since the 2006 season. 
• Where's Cam? – Senior center defender Camron Miller is out for the season with a foot injury. 
• Student Athletes – 60 GNAC All-Academic selections over the last four years, including program-record 17 award winners in 2021.
• Harrington Field – Owns an all-time 35-20-9 (.617) record at Harrington Field since the on-campus facility debuted during the 2014 season.
• GNAC Champions – Defending GNAC champions winning the title in 2019 with a 10-1-1 league record.
• The Gaffer – Greg Brisbon is in his 9th season leading the WWU Men's Soccer program (21st overall at WWU)…owns an all-time 75-52-19 (.579) record as the Vikings head coach.
• Roster Breakdown – The 2021 roster features 25 players, with 20 from Washington, one from California, one from Alaska, one from Michigan and two international players (New Zealand, Russia).

 

The WWU men's soccer team placed a program-record 17 players on the 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic Team. WWU's 17 selections narrowly trailed the 19 by Northwest Nazarene for the conference lead, and was one better than Seattle Pacific with 16. Western has now placed at least 10 players on the GNAC All-Academic team in each of the last five years, combining for 60 academic all-conference honors during this stretch beginning in 2017. The lengthy 17-player list of WWU student-athletes is highlighted by three-time selections Gus Diehl, Teagan Eldridge and Brandon Wolter. The trio are now part of an exclusive club that features only 16 players in program history to record three GNAC All-Academic awards in a career.

 

The Vikings recent offensive surge landed consecutive GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, with senior midfielder Drew Farnsworth (Sept. 20-26) and Gilbert De La Luz (Sept. 27-Oct. 3) taking home the weekly hardware. 

 

WWU has recorded a record of .500 or better in eight of the last nine seasons, and boasts a 50-30-12 (.609) record over the last six seasons (2016-21). WWU has qualified for the NCAA Division II Championships in two of the last four seasons (2016 & 2019) and won the 2019 GNAC title with a 13-5-1 overall record and 10-1-1 mark in GNAC play. Dating back to the 2019 season, WWU has won 15 of its last 18 GNAC contests.

 

The Vikings are the defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions, taking home the last conference trophy from the 2019 season. WWU finished with a 13-5-1 overall record, tying for the 4th-most wins in program history and the 4th-best winning percentage (.711) in the 40-year history of varsity status of the program. The season marked the third GNAC title in program history, recording a 10-1-1 league record, setting a program record for most conference wins in a season. Advanced to the NCAA II Championships for the second time in program history earning the No. 6 seed in Super Region 4 and topped out at No. 19 in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25, marking the second season to appear in the national top 25 in program history (also 2018).

 

Greg Brisbon is in his ninth season as the head coach of the men's soccer program and his 21st overall associated with WWU soccer. Brisbon has directed the Vikings to a 75-52-19 (.579) record, securing his spot as the program's all-time winningest coach by percentage. 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 and the outright 2019 GNAC Coach of the Year. He has guided the Vikings to the only two NCAA Tournament appearances in program history (2016, 2019) and his program has excelled in the classroom with 43 GNAC All-Academic selections over the last four seasons. He is assisted by fifth-year coach Kyle Segebart, as well as Matt Zigulis and Kyle Langowski.