BILLINGS, Mont. – The Montana State Billings men's soccer team opens the 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference slate Thursday at 7:30 p.m. PT at GNAC newcomer Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. The Yellowjackets then travel to Western Washington for a 7 p.m. PT kick on Saturday.
MSUB enters the week with a 4-1-1 record after posting a 2-0 victory over the University of Mary last Saturday. Yellowjacket senior captain, Chris Andre (Billings, MT, Senior HS), tallied two goals in the match, including his second converted penalty kick of the season. Andre was rewarded as GNAC Player of the Week for his efforts with three goals and one assist last week in three games.
Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is Andre who has four goals and one assist for nine points. His assist came last week in a 4-2 neutral site win versus Adams State in Pueblo, CO. It was his 19th of his career and broke the record for the most career assists in school history. He and former Yellowjacket, Sam Charles, were tied with 18 each.
Sophomore Thomas Sheets (Everett, WA, Edmonds Community College) and freshman Tyler Currence (Billings, MT, Creighton University) each have two goals on the year, while junior Peter Davies (London, England, Foothill College) leads the team with three assists. Andre leads the team in shots with 22 and in shots on goal with 11. He also has two game winners and is 2-2 in penalty kicks.
In goal, senior Matt Mitchell (Thornton, CO, Northglenn HS) has logged all 560 minutes allowing six goals for an 0.96 goals against average. He has 26 saves for a .812 average. Mitchell has a 4-1-1 record with two shutouts.
Simon Fraser enters the week as the top-ranked team in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as it continues its transition to NCAA Division II. The Clan are the newest member to the GNAC as it is their first season in the league and they are not eligible for NCAA postseason play, thus competing in both NAIA and GNAC this year.
SFU is 5-0 on the year and have scored 19 goals and allowed just one on the year. However, the match on Thursday against the Yellowjackets is SFU's first against an NCAA Division II school this season.
The Clan is led by Lucas Ferritto and Roman Doutkevitch who lead the team with eight points each. Ferritto and Carlo Basso each have three goals on the year, while Doutkevitch leads with four assists.
On paper, SFU is a very balanced team offensively as 13 different players have scored goal and 11 have recorded at least one assist. The team has 107 shots (.178) for the year with 53 on goal for a .495 average. Conversely, the opponents have just 28 shots (.036) and just nine on goal for a .321 average.
Between the posts, SFU has been equally as tough as Hide Ozawa leads the team with logging 428:54 minutes with eight saves and a 5-0 record to go along with four shutouts. Ozawa has not allowed a goal thus far. JD Blakley also has seen action in 21:06 minutes and allowed the lone goal.
The Clan has recorded 64 shots in the first half which almost is six times their opponents' shots (64-11). SFU also has tallied 33 corner kicks and allowed just 11 in five matches.
Simon Fraser leads the all-time series 7-0, including 3-0 in Burnaby, BC, 2-0 in Billings and 2-0 in neutral site matches. The Clan won the last meeting, Oct. 12, 2008, in Billings 1-0. SFU scored a late goal in the 86th minute. The game was tight throughout SFU held a 12-9 lead in shots and a 7-3 lead in shots on goal.
Western Washington stands at 3-1-2 overall and 0-0-1 in conference play after surrendering a 2-1 lead in the second half Monday at Seattle Pacific and settled for the 2-2 tie. WWU travels to Northwest Nazarene before returning to Bellingham to host the Yellowjackets.
Leading the way for the Vikings this season is Gibson Bardsley who leads the team with six goals scored, including a hat trick versus Colorado Christian last week. Oscar Jimenez and Andrew Weishaar each have two goals, while Jimenez and Darragh Simm lead the team with three assists each.
As a team, the Vikings have scored 16 goals with 11 assists. They have tallied 102 shots (.157) with 48 on goal for a .471 average.
In goal, Christian Warman has played in all six games with four starts and has logged 549:53 minutes. He has allowed nine goals and carries a 1.47 goals against average. Warman has 34 assists and a 3-1-2 record with one shutout. Leo Cohen has played in one game for 30 minutes and has four saves.
The Yellowjackets had some success the last time they visited Bellingham as they won a 2-1 decision in double overtime for the first win at WWU in school history. Andre scored the game winner on a breakthrough on the right side with an assist from former Yellowjacket Zach Yeager. MSUB scored just 2:53 in from former Yellowjackets Jeremy DeHerrera and the assist from Sam Charles. WWU tied it in the 89th minute.
WWU leads the all-time series 11-2 and 7-1 in Bellingham.
Live stats and live streaming of the Simon Fraser match can be accessed by logging on to http://cgi.sfu.ca/~athlwww/livestats/msoccer/xlive.htm for live stats and http://www.educationcdn.com/schools/clan/ for live streaming. Please log on to http://wwuvikings.cstv.com/sports/m-soccer/sched/wwu-m-soccer-sched.html for access to live stats for the Western Washington match.
The Yellowjackets then return home to host conference rival Seattle Pacific, Thurs., Sept. 30, at 4:30 p.m., at Yellowjacket Field and then hosts Saint Martin's University, Sat., Oct. 2, for the Ninth Annual Futbol Frenzy at 1 p.m., to conclude the first conference home weekend. Fans can access live streaming of both games by logging on to www.msubsports.com.
