BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team heads into the final week of the 2022 regular season very much in the postseason hunt.

 

Heading into the final two games of the season, the Vikings are tied for second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 7-3-0 (21 points) league record and 11-3-3 overall. WWU will travel to play at first-place Northwest Nazarene in a key conference match on Thursday (12 pm MT/11 am PT) and return home for Senior Night on Saturday hosting Montana State Billings at Harrington Field (7 pm). The winner of the GNAC regular-season title receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Championships and a spot in the 10-team Super-Region 4 bracket.

 

The Vikings head into the final week of the season ranked second in the conference averaging 1.17 goals per game and feature the top defense in the GNAC with a 0.88 goals against average and nine shutouts to tie the single-season program record. 

 

Freshman forward Albin Jonsson has put his name in contention for GNAC Freshman and Player of the Year leading the league with 19 points and tied for the GNAC lead with seven goals. Jonsson and senior midfielder Dakota Stamnes are tied for third with five assists and sophomore forward Andrew Rotter is seventh with 12 points.

 

On defense senior goalkeeper Patrick Restum paces the GNAC with a league-best 0.94 goals against average and eight shutouts. Restum's season totals have him listed second in program history with the eight shutouts and currently eighth in goals against average. Senior midfielder Gus Diehl will likely set the program record for most starts as a position player (currently at 73) and senior defender Teagan Eldridge will move into a tie for second for career games played (currently at 74).

 

The complete 2022 schedule can be viewed online via wwuvikings.com/22_MSOC, with direct links to game coverage, season statistics and program history.

 

 

The Vikings will celebrate the eight-member senior class prior to Saturday's 7 pm home game vs. Montana State Billings. The senior class this year consists of the following players that will be competing in their final regular-season home game at Harrington Field:

 

• Johan Espinoza – East Wenatchee, WA
• Gus Diehl – Bellingham, WA
• Dakota Stamnes – Mount Vernon, WA
• Elliott Rains – Olympia, WA
• Alessandro Tomasi – Bellingham, WA
• Danny Fazio – Bellingham, WA
• Teagan Eldridge – Enumclaw, WA
• Patrick Restum – Okemos, MI

 

The Vikings are 11-3-3 on the season, marking the 17th time to record double-digits in wins in a season in 42 full seasons in program history, and the fifth in the last nine seasons. The 11 wins are currently tied for eighth-most in program history.

 

Here is a look at GNAC table heading into the final week of the GNAC season. WWU is tied for second place in the conference with 21 points and a 7-3-0 league mark:

 

 

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

 

• Northwest Nazarene: Second meeting between WWU and NNU this season…Nighthawks defeated the Vikings 2-0 at Harrington Field on Oct. 15…WWU leads the all-time series 20-8-3 with a 10-5-1 mark in games played in Nampa.
• MSU Billings: Playing MSUB for the second time in the final two weeks of the season…defeated the Yellowjackets 2-0 last week in Billings…WWU leads the all-time series 22-11-3 vs. MSUB with a current six-game undefeated streak (4-0-2)…12-6-0 all-time in games vs. MSUB in Bellingham with a 4-3-0 record at Harrington Field.

Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2022 season:

 

 

Freshman forward Albin Jonsson leads the GNAC in scoring, tallying a league-best seven goals and 19 points, also adding five assists (tied with Dakota Stamnes for GNAC/team lead) to his season total. Three of his seven goals have been of the game-winning variety this season to tie for the GNAC lead with Simon Fraser's Devin O'Hea and teammate Andrew Rotter.

 

The 2022 roster features a pair of brothers in sophomore forward Andrew Rotter (transfer from St. Mary's College) and freshman midfielder Ryan Rotter (true freshman out of Auburn Mountainview High School). The Rotter brothers join their older brother, Christian, who starred for the Vikings from 2016-19 appearing in 72 games while totaling 42 points with 13 goals and 16 assists. Andrew and Ryan combined to score both goals in the Vikings 2-0 home win vs. Simon Fraser.

 

Since moving home games to Harrington Field on the south edge of campus in 2014, the Vikings have combined to go 41-21-12 for a .635 winning percentage (6-1-3 in 2022). WWU is 24-9-5 at Harrington Field over the last five seasons (since 2018). Combining with the WWU women's team, both programs are 117-26-17 (.784) playing at Harrington Field.

 

WWU had an undefeated record through the first 10 games of the season (7-0-3) before droppings its first game 2-1 at Simon Fraser on October 6. Prior to the road loss at SFU the Vikings were one of just eight undefeated programs in NCAA II. It was the best undefeated start to a season in the 43-year history of the program. Here is a look at the best undefeated starts to a season by the WWU men's soccer program:

 

• 2022 (7-0-3) – 10 games
• 1997 (4-0-1) – 5 games
• 1983 (4-0-1) – 5 games
• 2018 (3-0-0) – 3 games
• 1991 (3-0-0) – 3 games
• 1984 (3-0-0) – 3 games
• 2015 (2-0-1) – 3 games
• 2000 (3-0-0) – 3 games

 

WWU has recorded nine shutouts in 17 games this season to lead the GNAC and rank tied for 13th in NCAA Division II. WWU has tied its all-time single-season program record with nine shutouts, matching 2001 team. The Vikings also lead the GNAC and rank 27th nationally with a 0.882 goals against average (currently No. 4 in program history).

 

Fifth-year seniors Teagan Eldridge and Gus Diehl will serve as the team captains for the Vikings during the 2022 season. The senior duo has combined to play in 147 matches (Eldridge – 74, Diehl – 73) since arriving in the program as freshman during the 2018 season.

 

Seniors Gus Diehl, Teagan Eldridge and Dakota Stamnes are among the program leaders in career games played. The current record is 79 games played by Chris Jepson (2004-09) and the record for career starts by a position player is 74 by Drew Farnsworth (2017-21). Diehl has started all 73 games of his career and is on pace to break Farnsworth's record. Here is a look at the current top 10 for career games played by position players in WWU history:

 

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2022 season schedule and results heading into the final week of the regular season. WWU is 11-3-3 on the season and 7-3-0 in GNAC play:

 

 

The WWU men's soccer team continued its academic success with 11 student-athletes earning a spot on the 2022 Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic Team. Seniors Teagan Eldridge and Gus Diehl headlined the 11 selections becoming the first four-time GNAC Academic All-Stars in program history. Eldridge carries a 3.72 GPA as a Physical Education/Health major and Diehl has maintained a 3.94 GPA as he nears completion of his Finance and Accounting degree. Western has now placed at least 10 players on the GNAC All-Academic team in each of the last six years, combining for 71 academic all-conference honors during this stretch beginning in 2017.

There are likely to be a lot of tie games this season with new NCAA soccer rules for 2022 which eliminates overtime during the regular season. Any match that is tied at the 90-minute mark will now end that way, which means no overtime or golden goal scenarios. In the postseason, there will be overtime but no more golden goal; teams will play two full 10-minute extra periods regardless of any goals and if it is still tied, the advancing team will be decided on penalty kicks. Just for kicks, the WWU single-season record for ties is five set in 2017.

 

In his 10th season as head coach and 22nd associated with WWU soccer, head coach Greg Brisbon returns 16 letterwinners, including seven starters, from the 2021 squad that went 7-8-2 overall and were in contention for the GNAC title until the final game of the season with a 5-3-2 mark in conference play. The Vikings are just one full season removed from playing in the 2019 NCAA Championships and are in the midst of a strong seven-season stretch (since 2016) combining to go 61-34-17 (.621) with a 40-18-10 (.662) record in GNAC play. Brisbon owns an all-time head coaching record of 86-56-24 (.590). He is assisted in 2022 by Matt Zigulis and Kyle Langowski.