BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team looks to continue its late season push for the postseason with a pair of games in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week.

 

WWU carries a six-game winning streak into Thursday's home contest vs. Simon Fraser (5 pm) at Harrington Field and then travels to play Montana State Billings on Saturday (6 pm MT). The Vikings close out the 2024 regular season against first-place and nationally-ranked Western Oregon next Thursday for Senior Night.

 

The Vikings recent surge has lifted the team to an 8-4-3 overall record and into 2nd place in the conference standings at 6-2-1 (19 points).

 

WWU heads into the penultimate week of conference play tied for the lowest goals against average at 1.07 and is 4th averaging 1.67 goals per game. Senior forward Eric Bunnell leads the team and is tied for 3rd in the GNAC with seven goals. Senior midfielder Lucas Hakamada is the reigning GNAC Defensive Player of the Week after playing a key role in the Vikings wins over NNU and Saint Martin's last week.

 

 

WWU has a current six-game winning streak stretching back to the 7-2 win at Saint Martin's on October 12. During the winning streak the Vikings have out-scored opponents 18-7. The current winning streak is tied for 8th-longest in program history:

 

 

Senior forward Eric Bunnell leads the team and is tied for 3rd in the GNAC with seven goals. He has scored six of his seven goals in GNAC play to tie for 2nd in conference goals. Bunnell recorded back-to-back braces in recent games at Simon Fraser and Northwest Nazarene. His seven goals are the most by a Viking since current junior Albin Jonsson had nine goals during his freshman season in 2022 and Drew Farnsworth tallied seven in 2021.

 

The Vikings are making a late push for the postseason with a current six-game winning streak entering the penultimate week of the regular season. WWU is 8-4-3 overall and in 2nd place in the GNAC table with 19 points (6-2-1). Following this week's schedule the Vikings have only one game remaining hosting first-place Western Oregon on November 14 at Harrington Field.

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

 

 

Since moving home games to Harrington Field on the south edge of campus in 2014, the Vikings have combined to go 51-25-15 for a .643 winning percentage (5-2-1 in 2024, 4-2-2 in 2023, 7-1-3 in 2022). WWU is 34-13-8 at Harrington Field over the last six seasons (since 2018). Combining with the WWU women's team, both programs have combined to go 143-32-24 (.779) playing at Harrington Field.

 

Senior midfielder Lucas Hakamada was selected as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week following the Vikings pair of victories last week. Hakamada played a key role on defense and offense in the Vikings pair of GNAC victories last week, 3-2 at Northwest Nazarene and 1-0 vs. Saint Martin's. The midfielder played the full 90 in both matches, assisting on the game-tying goal vs. the Nighthawks and heading home the game-winner vs. the Saints.

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

 

·         Simon Fraser: Defeated SFU 3-1 on the road on October 26…WWU is 6-4-0 over the last 10 meetings vs. the Red Leafs…SFU leads the all-time series 42-22-8…the Vikings have won the last three games vs. SFU at Harrington Field.

·         Montana State Billings: WWU earned a 2-1 home victory over MSUB on October 19 at Harrington Field…the Vikings have a current 10-game unbeaten streak (7-0-3) vs. the Yellowjackets and are 25-11-4 all-time in the series vs. MSUB…Western has a five-game unbeaten streak in Billings dating back to the 2019 season (3-0-2).

 

Head coach Greg Brisbon recorded his 100th career victory with the 3-2 win at NNU last Thursday. Brisbon is 101-67-33 (.585) overall leading the Vikings in 12 seasons with a 69-42-22 (.602) mark in GNAC contests. He becomes the third GNAC men's soccer head coach to reach the 100-win mark joining Mark Collings of SPU (129-68-32, 13 seasons) and current WWU women's coach Travis Connell (106-108-16, 12 seasons) who led the men's program from 2001-12. Brisbon has been associated with WWU Soccer for 23 seasons.

WWU was one of the 12 teams listed in the first NCAA Division II Men's Soccer Regional Rankings last week, but dropped out this week. In the Super Region 4 rankings via InkBlotSports.com, WWU is listed as having the No. 13 RPI (.540) and No. 15 PI (16.600). The United Soccer Coaches national rankings show WWU ranked No. 9 in the West Region.

 

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

 

 

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.

 

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

 

 

Junior winger Albin Jonsson has made 51 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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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 76-45-26 (.605) with a 50-25-16 (.637) record in GNAC play. Brisbon owns an all-time head coaching record of 101-67-33 (.585). He is assisted in 2024 by Chuck Pitts, Matt Zigulis and Kyle Langowski. Brisbon recorded his 100th career head coaching victory with the 3-2 victory on October 31 at Northwest Nazarene.

 

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.