BILLINGS, Mont. – An eventful Saturday afternoon at Yellowjacket Field will mark the close of the 2018 men's soccer season, as Montana State University Billings hosts No. 1 Simon Fraser University on Senior Day.
 
Kickoff against the 2018 Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Clan (16-1, 10-1 GNAC) is set for 3 p.m. Live video and live statistics will be available online through MSUB's Stretch Internet portal here.
 
The Yellowjackets are 7-9-2 overall, and are 4-6-1 in conference play entering their final match of the year. The team will honor its five graduating players prior to Saturday's match, in a ceremony beginning at approximately 2:40 p.m. Adam Hepburn, Guillaume Kremer, Dana Kowachek, Ludvig Rhodin, and Ricardo Palomino will be accompanied by family and friends on Senior Day prior to playing in their final career match as Yellowjackets.
 
"We are excited that playing the No. 1 team in the country coincides with Senior Day," said MSUB head coach Alex Balog. "It would have been nice for our guys to be playing for a winning season in their last game, but unfortunately we wasted our opportunity for that in our last two conference games."
 
MSUB is coming off a pair of losses on the road last week, as they fell 3-1 at Concordia University last Thursday before a 4-2 loss at Saint Martin's University last Saturday.

"We will be looking forward to a performance that can match the quality Simon Fraser will bring to our field, because we want to see this senior group go out with a bang," Balog said. "One last time, we are going to ask Guillaume, Ricardo, Adam, Dana, and Ludvig to lead this team. Some of these guys have put together illustrious careers, and we will ask the team to do whatever it can to make those careers end in a positive way."
 
HEPBURN'S HEFTY RESUME: A four-year player for the 'Jackets, Saturday will mark the 62nd match of Hepburn's career and he will be making his 31st career start. Assuming a progressively elevated role in each of his seasons at MSUB, Hepburn, has reached career highs in starts (15), minutes played (1,302), and points (3) in his final collegiate campaign. Hepburn had his first-career multi-assist game with a pair against Seattle Pacific two weeks ago, and added his third assist in the team's most recent game at Saint Martin's.
 

Season	Games	Starts	Assists	Points	Minutes
2015	9	0	1	1	193
2016	18	5	2	2	655
2017	17	10	0	0	1170
2018	17	15	3	3	1302
Totals	61	30	6	6	3320

   
CAPTAIN KREMER: A three-year captain for the 'Jackets, Kremer will be making his 54th consecutive start since the beginning of the 2016 season. Entering Saturday's game, he ranks seventh in MSUB history with 44 points, fifth in assists with 16, and 10th in goals with 14.
 

Rank	Player	Points	Seasons
1	Sam Charles	156	2006-09
2	Chris Andre	64	2007-10
3	Dave Austin	61	1997-01
4	Thomas Pertuit	60	2001-04
	Ricardo Palomino	60	2015-18
6	Jarred Weisen	45	2006-09
7	Garion Holian	44	2008-11
	Guillaume Kremer	44	2016-18
9	Mark Cipolla	41	2001-02
	Thomas Sheets	41	2010-12

 
DANA DELIVERS IN FINAL SEASON: Saving his best collegiate season for last, Kowachek is MSUB's leading scorer with 17 points on the year. He scored the most recent of his team-leading seven goals last week against Concordia, and has found the net eight times while adding four assists for 20 total points in two seasons with the 'Jackets. Kowachek will make his 17th start of the year, and he leads the squad with 23 shots on goal and two game-winning goals.
 

Rank	Player	School	Games	Goals	Assists	Points	Avg./Game
1	Matteo Polisi	SFU	17	18	10	46	2.71
2	Connor Glennon	SFU	17	16	6	38	2.24
3	Mamadi Camara	SFU	17	9	13	31	1.82
	Titus Grant	SPU	17	13	5	31	1.82
5	Brandon Madsen	SMU	17	11	3	25	1.47
6	Georg Cholewa	WWU	17	8	7	23	1.35
7	Sebastian Navarro	SMU	16	5	7	17	1.06
8	Dana Kowachek	MSUB	17	7	3	17	1.00
	Rafael Junqueira	NNU	16	7	2	16	1.00
	Jake Levine	NNU	15	5	5	15	1.00

 
PALOMINO BOWS OUT NEAR TOP: Though he will not play on Saturday due to a red card suspension, Palomino ends his career among the top offensive players in the history of MSUB men's soccer. His 27 goals are tied for second-most in MSUB history, and his 60 total points are tied for fourth most in school history. Limited to 14 games in his final collegiate season, Palomino is second on the team with five goals scored and has also turned in an assist for 11 points.
 

Rank	Player	Goals	Seasons
1	Sam Charles	69	2006-09
2	Dave Austin	27	1997-01
	Ricardo Palomino	27	2015-18
4	Thomas Pertuit	23	2001-04
5	Chris Andre	20	2007-10
6	Mark Cipolla	19	2001-02
	Garion Holian	19	2008-11
8	Jarred Weisen	17	2006-09
9	Thomas Sheets	16	2010-12
10	Chris Newton	14	1998-01
	Guillaume Kremer	14	2016-18

 
RHODIN RACKS UP SAVES: Entering Saturday's game, Rhodin has amassed 71 saves this year and needs nine more to tie his personal collegiate best of 80 saves in a season (2016). Overall he has made 274 saves in his four-year career, with 203 coming in his first three seasons at fellow NCAA Division II University of Mary.
 

Season	Saves	Games	School
2015	54	12	University of Mary
2016	80	16	University of Mary
2017	69	15	University of Mary
2018	71	17	MSU Billings
Totals	274	60	University of Mary (3); MSU Billings (1)

 
PEREZ FINISHING FRESHMAN YEAR STRONG: Showing up on the score sheet in three of the last four weeks of play, freshman forward Andres Perez is putting together a strong finish to his debut collegiate campaign. His best performance came in the Yellowjackets' last match, when he scored both goals in the game against Saint Martin's. It doubled his season total to four goals, and he also has an assist to rank fourth on the team with nine total points. Perez has seen action in 15 games and has earned eight starts, while playing 659 minutes overall.
 
No. 1 Simon Fraser University Clan
Saturday, November 3 – 3 PM – Yellowjacket Field
2018 Record: 16-1, 10-1 GNAC
Head Coach: Clint Schneider, 4th season
2017 Record: 11-3-4, 7-2-3 GNAC (1st place, NCAA D2 West Region Second Round)
First Meeting: SFU 4, MSUB 0 (September 20 at Burnaby, BC)
 
The NCAA's lone Canadian university has established a dynasty, as it has been two weeks since the Clan clinched their third straight GNAC title. SFU's bid for a perfect season came to an end on Thursday night, when it suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Western Washington University. The Vikings are one of few teams that have even come close to drawing SFU, as only four of its 16 victories this season were decided by a single goal.
 
SFU has won six total GNAC titles since joining the league in 2010, and the closest it came to a perfect record was a 9-0-1 mark in the 2011 season. That marked the last time a GNAC team finished its conference schedule without a loss.
 
Simon Fraser's high-octane offense, which ranks third in the NCAA with 59 total goals and an average of 3.47 per game, is led by the top three players in the GNAC. Matteo Polisi ranks fourth in the NCAA with 18 goals, and has added 10 assists for a conference-best 46 points. Depending on how far into the postseason SFU's season extends, Polisi could have a shot at MSUB legend Sam Charles' GNAC records of 24 goals and 55 points established in the 2009 season.
 
Connor Glennon is second in the league with 16 goals and 38 points, while Mamadi Camara is close behind with nine goals and a GNAC-best 13 assists for 31 points.
 
GNAC Defensive Player of the Year candidate Michael North has started all 17 matches on the back line, as has Quinn Dawson. In the midfield, Marcello Polisi is one of the conference's top players as well, with a pair of goals and four assists on the offensive end.
 
Luciano Trasolini has started all but one match for SFU in goal, and has recorded 10 shutouts on the season. He has made 34 saves and conceded just seven goals, for a goals-against average of 0.44.
 
The Series: SFU is 20-1-3 all-time against MSUB and has a record of 6-1-2 in games played in Billings. SFU suffered its first-ever loss to MSUB the last time it visited Billings, when the 'Jackets knocked off the then-No. 9 Clan 2-1 on October 26, 2017.
 
Last Time Out: The Clan made quick work of the 'Jackets in Burnaby, British Columbia, on September 20, scoring three times in the opening 20 minutes and cruising to a 4-0 shutout win. Four different players scored in the game for SFU.

Date	Location	H/A/N	Result	Score
9-12-98	Arcata, CA	N	L	4-0
9-18-99	Spokane, WA	N	L	5-1
10-16-99	Burnaby, BC	A	L	3-0
10-1-00	Salt Lake City, UT	N	L	7-0
9-29-02	Burnaby, BC	A	L	7-2
10-6-07	Burnaby, BC	A	L	2-0
9-12-08	Billings, MT	H	L	1-0
9-23-10	Burnaby, BC	A	L	3-1
10-30-10	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1
9-22-11	Billings, MT	H	L	4-1
10-22-11	Burnaby, BC	A	L	1-0
9-13-12	Burnaby, BC	A	L	2-0 (SFU #12)
10-20-12	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	0-0 (SFU #3)
9-19-13	Billings, MT	H	L	2-1 (SFU #1)
10-26-13	Burnaby, BC	A	L	7-0 (SFU #3)
9-25-14	Burnaby, BC	A	T (2 OT)	3-3
10-24-14	Billings, MT	H	L	3-1
9-26-15	Billings, MT	H	T (2 OT)	1-1
10-22-15	Burnaby, BC	A	L	1-0
10-8-16	Billings, MT	H	L	1-0 (SFU #2)
10-27-16	Burnaby, BC	A	L	4-0 (SFU #3)
10-7-17	Burnaby, BC	A	L	1-0 (SFU #22)
10-26-17	Billings, MT	H	W	2-1 (SFU #9)
9-20-18	Burnaby, BC	A	L	4-0 (SFU #3)