BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men's soccer team closes the books on the 2010 regular season this week with a pair of home matches. The Yellowjackets host cross-town rival Rocky Mountain College at 3 p.m. Wednesday, and then host Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Northwest Nazarene Saturday at 3 p.m. on Senior Day.
Prior to the game Saturday, the Yellowjackets will honor five seniors playing in their last game as a Yellowjacket. The 2010 senior class includes; Chris Andre, Ryan Covey, James Henry, Matt Mitchell and Kyle Moriarty.
These five seniors have helped shape MSUB men's soccer on a regional and national level. The class has gone 41-25-3 with three consecutive 10-plus win seasons in school history. MSUB enters the week with a 7-8-1 record overall and a 2-7 mark in the GNAC. If the Yellowjackets defeat both Rocky and NNU, they would have their fourth consecutive winning season, which would be a school record.
Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is Andre who leads the team with eight goals, six assists and 22 points. He also leads the team in shots with 44 for a .182 average, and leads the team in shots on goal with 23 for a .523 average. He has two game winners, and is a perfect 3 for 3 in penalty kicks. Andre lead the school's annals in career assists with 24, which also ties him for the conference lead with Pat Doran of Seattle University (2002-2005).
Earlier this week, Andre earned CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Second Team All-District VII honors with a 3.36 grade point average in business administration.
Second on the team in scoring is sophomore Thomas Sheets who has three goals, three assists and nine points. Sheets is tied with junior Peter Davies and Covey for second on the squad in assists. Junior Garion Holian is second on the team in goals with four and third in points with eight. Davies has two goals and three assists for seven points.
As a team, the Yellowjackets have scored 24 goals with 19 assists and 67 points. They have fired 204 shots with a shot percentage of .118. MSUB has 106 shots on goal for a .520 average. Conversely, the opponents also have scored 24 goals with 18 assists for 66 points. The opposition has attempted 202 shots for a .119 average and 92 on goal for a .455 clip. The Jackets are 3 for 3 in penalty kicks, while the opponents are 2 for 3.
In goal, the Yellowjackets are led by Matt Mitchell who has logged every minute this season. He has played 1464:19 minutes surrendering 24 goals for a 1.48 goals against average. He has 66 assists for a .733 average and is 7-8-1 on the year with three shutouts.
Andre ranks second in the league in points (22), third in goals (8) and tied for fifth in assists with six. He is fourth in shots with 44. Mitchell leads the league in saves with 66, is third in the league in goals against average (1.48), fourth in save percentage (.733) and third in shutouts with three.
Rocky enters the match with a 9-5 record in its second year of men's soccer. The Battlin' Bears have not played since a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Westminster College Oct. 22. Rocky has won three straight entering the match, and five of seven.
The Battlin' Bears are led by Oliver Gore who leads the team with 16 goals and one assist for 33 points. He also leads the team in shots on goal with 36 for a .679 average. Second on the team in scoring is Nick Heffernan with nine goals and two assists for 20 points. Heffernan has 16 shots on goal for a .571 clip. Chris Jermy leads the team with six assists on the year.
In goal, Chris Perez and Joachim Soderstrom have shared duties between the posts. Soderstrom leads the team with a 1.36 goals against average as he has allowed nine goals with 27 saves for a .750 average. Perez has a 1.57 goals against average with 10 goals against and 30 saves.
MSUB leads the all-time series with Rocky 2-0 as they won both meetings last season. The Jackets downed Rocky 4-0 at Yellowjacket Field Oct. 24, 2009, followed by a 5-0 win at Rocky a week later. MSUB won a 3-0 exhibition contest at Yellowjacket Field in August before the 2009 season, and won a 1-0 exhibition match Aug. 21, 2010 at Yellowjacket Field before this season began.
Northwest Nazarene enters the week with a 7-8 record overall and a 3-6 mark in conference play. The Crusaders have lost the past two matches and four of five. NNU has been shutout 12-0 in the last two matches versus Simon Fraser (5-0) and Western Washington (7-0).
The Crusaders are led by Alex Mangeac who leads the team with 16 points. He has four goals and eight assists on the year. Mangeac also leads the team with 54 shots (.074). He has one game winner. Salvador Sanchez leads the team with five goals and one assist for 11 points. John DiLulo and John Stump each have four goals, too.
As a team the Crusaders have scored 28 goals with 23 assists for 79 points. They have attempted 184 shots for a .152 average. NNU is 1 for 1 in penalty kicks. The opposition has scored 40 goals with 30 assists for 110 points. The opponents have fired 220 shots for a .182 average. NNU has given up five penalty kick attempts and four were converted.
In goal, Mitch Rice leads the way with a 1.80 goals against average. He has logged 997:40 minutes with 20 goals against. Rice has stopped 59 shots for a .747 average. He is 6-3 on the year with a shutout. Zander Engeman also has seen action in 375:13 minutes. He has allowed 20 goals in six games. Engeman has 24 saves and is 1-5 on the year.
MSUB leads the all-time series with NNU 6-5-1. The Crusaders won the earlier matchup this season 2-1 in Nampa. The series is all-square in Billings 1-1-1, and in Nampa 4-4. The Jackets lead in neutral site matchups 1-0.
Fans can watch both games live on the internet at the new home of all MSUB Yellowjacket webstreaming at http://msub.nmtvsports.com/.
