BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team carries a two-game winning streak into a pair of rivalry games this week in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.

 

The Vikings (4-4-3, 2-2-1 GNAC) host Seattle Pacific in a 7 pm game on Thursday under the lights at Harrington Field and cross the border Saturday for an afternoon game at 2 pm vs. Simon Fraser at Terry Fox Field at SFU Stadium. WWU is tied for 4th in the GNAC table with seven points heading into the full week of action.

 

WWU is coming off a 2-1 rain-soaked victory last Saturday over Montana State Billings, which followed a 7-2 road win over Saint Martin's.

 

Senior forward Eric Bunnell leads the team with three goals and has a pair of assists for eight points. Senior forward Andrew Rotter has also scored a trio of goals and junior winger Albin Jonsson and sophomore midfielder Edgar Serrano have also found the back of the net twice this season.

 

Western's defense ranks second in the GNAC with a 1.09 goals against average, with sophomore goalkeeper Charlie Dyer logging all 990 minutes between the posts. Junior defender Joar Tidblom has logged the most minutes of any position player with 925 followed by senior midfielders Lucas Hakamada (884) and Kaydin Wall (877).

 

 

The Vikings lead the GNAC by taking 62 corner kicks this season, four more than second-place Simon Fraser with 58.

 

Beginning with this week's two-match schedule, the Vikings have seven remaining regular-season games. WWU will play four of those seven games at Harrington Field in Bellingham, where the team has built a 3-2-1 record this season.

 

Tickets can be purchased at the Harrington Field Office beginning one hour prior to kickoff. Current WWU students gain free admission to all home events in 2024-25 by showing their active W card at the entrance. Free fan parking is available in C lots adjacent to Harrington Field and the 12G diagonal parking on College Way. Advanced ticket sales and season ticket packages are also available online at wwuvikings.com/Tickets.

 

The Vikings scored a season-high seven goals in the 7-2 win over Saint Martin's on October 12, marking the most goals scored since a 7-0 win vs. Northwest Nazarene on October 30, 2010. The seven goals are tied for 3rd-most in a game in program history, with the 10 assists tied for 2nd-most in a game in program history trailing only the 11 in the win over NNU in 2010. Senior winger Andrew Rotter scored a late brace as six players combined to score goals and eight tallied an assist.

 

Here is a statistical comparison through the first week of the season for the Vikings and opponents this week:

 

 

Junior winger Albin Jonsson has made 47 career appearances in three seasons with the Vikings, combining to score 16 goals and contributing 10 assists for 42 total points. Jonsson is tied for 15th in program history in points, tied for 13th in goals scored and tied for 4th with seven game-winning goals.

 

Here is a look at the overall records for the seven GNAC programs heading into Thursday's games to open the fourth week of conference. Updated conference standings, schedules, results and statistics can be found online at GNACsports.com.

 

 

WWU defeated Montana State Billings 2-1 last Saturday on a rainy and windy day at Harrington Field. The game featured both teams scoring on a penalty kick in the first three minutes of the contest. Senior Eric Bunnell scored the eventual game-winning goal in the 21st minute off an assist from senior defender Jacob Sundberg. WWU's defense held in the second half for the 2-1 win over the Yellowjackets.

 

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

 

·         Seattle Pacific: Vikings and Falcons played to a 2-2 tie on October 5 at Interbay Stadium in Seattle…over the last 17 meetings since 2016 the Vikings are 8-3-6 vs. SPU…Falcons lead the all-time series 39-15-12…Western has won the last two meetings at Harrington Field, 3-1 in 2022 and 2-0 last season.

·         Simon Fraser: First meeting between WWU and SFU this season…two teams also meet at Harrington Field on November 7…SFU leads the all-time series 42-21-8 with a 25-8-3 mark vs. the Vikings in home games…over last nine games in the series since 2018 the Vikings are 5-4-0 vs. the Red Leafs.

 

All games during Great Northwest Athletic Conference play – home or away – will feature a live webcast via YouTube. Home games will stream through Vikings TV, with fans able to access the games online by searching for WWU Athletics on YouTube. Here are links to follow games this week with the Vikings on the road.

 

·         Webcast – Live Coverage

·         Live Stats – wwuvikings.com/MS_Stats

 

Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2024 season:

 

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2024 regular-season schedule:

 

 

Since moving home games to Harrington Field on the south edge of campus in 2014, the Vikings have combined to go 49-25-15 for a .635 winning percentage (3-2-1 in 2024, 4-2-2 in 2023, 7-1-3 in 2022). WWU is 32-13-8 at Harrington Field over the last six seasons (since 2018). Combining with the WWU women's team, both programs have combined to go 139-32-24 (.774) playing at Harrington Field.

 

The Vikings are led by four co-captains in 2024 with seniors Lucas Hakamada and Jacob Sundberg, junior Joar Tidblom and sophomore Edgar Serrano forming the team leadership group.

 

For the fourth time in the last seven years, the WWU men's soccer team has earned the prestigious United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award. The Vikings maintained a team GPA of 3.48 during the 2023-24 academic year to lead all teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Western also landed a Starting XI on the GNAC All-Academic team in 2024, extending an impressive stretch placing at least 10 student-athletes on the GNAC All-Academic team in each of the last eight years, combining for 93 academic all-conference honors during this stretch beginning in 2017.

 

In his 12th season as head coach and 23rd associated with WWU soccer, head coach Greg Brisbon has led the Vikings to a pair of NCAA Tournament appearances since 2016. The Vikings played in the 2019 NCAA Championships and in the midst of a strong eight-season stretch (since 2016) combining to go 72-45-26 (.594) with a 46-25-16 (.621) record in GNAC play. Brisbon owns an all-time head coaching record of 97-67-33 (.576). He is assisted in 2024 by Chuck Pitts, Matt Zigulis and Kyle Langowski. Brisbon is three wins short of reaching 100 career head coaching wins.

 

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 led by head coach Greg Brisbon, who has spent over 20 seasons affiliated with WWU Soccer. The Vikings won the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, the third league trophy in program history, and advanced to the NCAA II Championships for the second time. The program completed its 44th varsity season in 2023 and has recorded a season record at or above the .500 mark in 11 of the last 12 seasons. 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. Overall, the program has produced 63 GNAC Players of the Week selections, 30 First Team All-GNAC players and four GNAC Players of the Year since joining the conference in 2001. Off the field, WWU has built a strong academic reputation with 93 GNAC All-Academic selections over the last eight years.