Yellowjackets Open Conference Season at Home

Complete Release in PDF Format

BRIEFLY
The MSUB men’s soccer team opens the 2008 Great Northwest Athletic Conference slate Saturday at 5 p.m. against Northwest Nazarene at the MSUB Soccer Field.  Following that, the Yellowjackets head to Fort Lewis Tuesday for a game with the nationally ranked Skyhawks. 

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets enter the week with a 4-2 record after going 2-1 this past week.  MSUB defeated Mary 3-1, dropped a heartbreaking 1-0 decision to No. 5 Simon Fraser (NAIA) and defeated Great Falls 1-0 in the last minute of regulation.  Leading the way for the Jackets is Sam Charles who earned his second consecutive GNAC Player of the Week honors as he scored four goals this past week, including two game winners.  Charles leads the team with seven goals and has two assists on the year.  Also, Chris Andre leads the team with three assists and is one of four Yellowjackets with a goal this season.

In goal, the Jackets are led by Matt Mitchell and Sander Tollefson.  Mitchell leads the team with a 3-1 record and an impressive 0.44 goals against average in 405 minutes of action.  Mitchell has 16 saves on the year and two shutouts.  Tollefson is 1-1 on the year with a 3.03 gaa.  He has 11 saves in 148:40 minutes.

Head coach Dan McNally is in his fourth year at the helm of the Yellowjacket program.  McNally has a 28-30-3 record.  Adam Spinellli is in his second year as assistant coach.  McNally returns 18 letterwinners and seven starters from last year’s 13-4-1 team that narrowly missed the NCAA Tournament.  Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year, Charles, also returns. 
 
THE LAST TIME OUT
The Yellowjackets went 2-1 this past week with a 3-1 victory and two dramatic games.  First, MSUB defeated Mary 3-1 as Sam Charles recorded his GNAC record tying third hat trick of his career.  Simon Fraser, ranked fifth nationally in NAIA, scored a late goal giving the Clan a 1-0 victory over the upset-minded Jackets.  Sunday, Charles cemented his Player of the Week honors with a goal in the 89th minute to give the Yellowjackets a 1-0 victory over Great Falls.
  
SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The Crusaders enter the week with a 6-0-1 record in their first year of intercollegiate men’s soccer.  NNU is led by Alex Mangeac who leads the team with four goals, two assists and 10 points.  Chris Voth also has four goals and one assist for nine points.  Jesse Oregon is third in goals with three.  Mangeac leads the team with 28 shots and has one game winner.  Voth and Benjamin Mangeac lead the team with two game winners each.

In goal, Alexander Engemann has played in six games and started four with a 0.87 goals against average.  He has 21 saves and a 4-0-1 record and three shutouts.  Mitchell Rice also has seen action this season in goal.  He has played and started in two games and has a 2-0 record and five saves. 

The Crusaders are the highest scoring team in the conference with 16 goals and only have allowed five thus far.  NNU has played two teams that MSUB has played.  The Crusaders defeated Great Falls 2-1 (MSUB 1-0) and Mary, 1-0 (MSUB 3-1).  Mary was the Crusaders’ first D-II opponent this season and their most recent victory.  NNU is 5-0-1 against non-Division II schools.

SCOUTING FORT LEWIS COLLEGE
The Skyhawks enter the week with a 3-1 record and ranked seventh nationally in the latest NSCAA/adidas Top 25.  Fort Lewis will have two games prior to playing MSUB Tuesday.  At this point, five different Skyhawk players have two goals a piece.  Tom Settle leads the team with seven points and three assists.  Ruan Purcell leads the team with 16 shots with eight on goal and one  game winner. 

In goal, the Skyhawks are led by Zane Wells who has played all 370:34 minutes this season.  He has a 3-1 record with two shutouts and a 0.97 goals against average.  Wells has 17 saves on the year and four goals against. 

As a team, the Skyhawks have scored seven goals in their past two games and will host Colorado School of Mines and travel to Mesa State before hosting the Yellowjackets.

FIRST MEETING WITH THE SKYHAWKS
This will be the first meeting between MSUB and Fort Lewis.  Though the women’s teams have played a number of times.  MSUB already has a 1-1 record against teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference this season.  MSUB dropped a 2-1 decision to then-No. 7 Metro State (9/1) and defeated then-No. 25 Mesa State, 3-0 (9/5).

LUCKY NUMBER SEVEN
The Yellowjackets are facing the No. 7 ranked Fort Lewis Skyhawks this week, marking the second time this season that MSUB has faced a No. 7 team.  The Jackets dropped a 2-1 decision to then-No. 7 Metro State (9/1) 2-1 in Salt Lake City, Utah.  Fort Lewis is the third NCAA ranked team MSUB has played this season.  The Jackets are 1-1 against NCAA ranked teams.  The Yellowjackets also played No. 5 Simon Fraser of the NAIA.

CHARLES NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK AGAIN
Junior forward, Sam Charles, earned Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week as he scored four goals helping the Jackets to a 2-1 record.  He had his third career hat trick against the University of Mary, tying the career best for hat tricks in the GNAC.  He also had the game winner in the 89th minute against Great Falls.  The week before, Charles earned co-weekly honor as he broke the school record for goals in a career and points in a career against nationally ranked opponents.
 
JACKETS RANKED EIGHTH IN LATEST WEST REGION POLL
The Yellowjackets are eighth in the latest NSCAA/adidas West Region poll.  Cal State Dominguez is first followed by Sonoma State, Chico State, UC San Diego, Notre Dame de Namur, Hawaii-Hilo, Cal State LA and MSUB.  Northwest Nazarene is ninth as the only other GNAC school in the poll.

SAM’S TRICK
Sam Charles recorded his third career hat trick in the GNAC last Monday in 3-1 victory over Mary.  The hat trick ties him for the most all-time.  In addition, it was the 20th three goal (or more) game in the history of the GNAC.

OWN GOALS, COMING FROM BEHIND AND OVERTIME
Both the men’s and women’s soccer teams at MSUB won games in back-to-back days on own goals in overtime.  First, the men came from behind and won its season opener 4-3 in double overtime on an own goal versus Dixie State.  The women came back from a 1-0 deficit to defeat Fort Lewis 2-1 in overtime on an own goal as well.  As of this printing, MSUB is the first school to have won games in men’s and women’s soccer on own goals in overtime on back-to-back days this season.

DIXON MOVING UP
Sophomore Scott Dixon is moving up the assist charts.  He set the school record for assists in a season with 10 dishes in just 12 games last season.  Dixon already has one for the 2008 season.  Career-wise, his 11 assists rank him second all-time behind Thomas Pertuit who has 14. 

BREAKOUT IN ‘07
The Yellowjacket men’s soccer team had a breakout season in 2007.  MSUB won 13 games which is the most in school history.  The Jackets went 13-4-1 in Dan McNally’s third year at the helm of the program.  MSUB was second in the GNAC with a 5-2-1 record and just missed out on its first NCAA Tournament appearance.  Not only did individual players break school records, the team did as well.  MSUB tallied a school record 46 goals in 2007 and was just as stout defensively.  MSUB allowed a school record low 13 goals in 2007 and had a 0.71 goals against average along with a school best nine shutouts.

MSUB SOCCER FIELD WINS AWARD
The newly renovated MSUB Soccer Field won a NCAA Community Engagement Award as the top community relations effort submitted from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  MSUB was one of 22 schools to receive the award and also received a $500 grant from the NCAA to be used in future community-engagement efforts.

JACKETS TABBED LEAGUE FAVORITE
The MSUB men’s soccer team has been selected as preseason conference favorite by the league coaches.  The Jackets received 23 points and three first place votes, edging out Western Washington by two points overall and one first place vote for the top spot.  Following the Vikings is Seattle Pacific who received 15 points after a 7-6-3 record and a 2-3-3 record in conference play.  Saint Martin’s was tabbed fourth with 10 points after going 3-16 last season and Northwest Nazarene was picked fifth as a first year men’s soccer program with six points.  Points are awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis.

GOALS FOR CHARLES
Sam Charles has scored in every game to begin the 2008 season.  He scored one goal in each of the first three games and then exploded for a hat trick against Mary last Monday with three goals.  Through six games, he has seven goals.

LISTEN TO COACH MCNALLY
Head coach Dan McNally’s weekly coaches show will be uploaded to the website every Wednesday.  Click on audio library from the front page and select men’s soccer to hear the weekly show. 

GOING THE DISTANCE
Six Yellowjackets have played all 554 minutes this season.  Sam Charles, Justin Hoskins, Kyle Moriarty, Brian Huskey, Zach Yeager and Tom Milroy all have not come out of the games thus far.

TEAM NATIONAL RANKINGS
The Yellowjackets are ranked nationally in a number of areas.  The Jackets are 59th in scoring offense at 2.0 per game, 57th in team goals against average (1.14), 54th in shutout percentage (0.33) and 48th in save percentage (0.806).

INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL RANKINGS
A number of MSUB players are ranked in the top 100 in the nation in a number of areas.  Sam Charles is 18th in points per game (2.67) and goals per game he is 16th (1.17).  Chris Andre is 69th in assists per game at a 0.5 clip.  Defensively, Matt Mitchell is 14th in goals against average at 0.44 and 13th in save percentage at 0.889.