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BRIEFLY
The MSUB men’s soccer team returns home looking to get back on the right track as it dropped its past two decisions and three of four.  The Jackets, who are 4-4 and 0-1 in conference play, host Jamestown College Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m., at the College of Technology Field. 

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets return home after a heartbreaking 2-1 loss at No. 6 Fort Lewis Tuesday.  All four losses for the Yellowjackets this season have came by one score.  MSUB has dropped its past two decisions and three of four.  Leading the way for the Yellowjackets this season is Sam Charles, who has scored at least one goal in seven of the eight games thus far.  Charles leads the team with nine goals on the year.  He also has two assists for 20 points.  No other Jacket has more than one goal.  Charles also leads the team with 39 shots and 22 on goal with three game winners.  Chris Andre, Jarred Weisen, Garion Holian and Justin Hoskins each have a goal, while Andre and Scott Dixon lead the team with three assists each.

In goal, the Jackets are led by Matt Mitchell and Sander Tollefson.  Mitchell leads the team with a 3-3 record and an impressive 0.92 goals against average in 585 minutes of action.  Mitchell has 21 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 27-32-3 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 dropped a hard-fought 2-1 decision to No. 6 Fort Lewis on  Tuesday.  The Skyhawks scored just 1:40 into the match. but the Yellowjackets responded as Charles scored his ninth goal of the season under a minute later to even the score.  The game remained tied at halftime and in the 64th minute, FLC’s Evan Purcell scored the game winner for a 2-1 victory.

SCOUTING JAMESTOWN
The Jimmies enter the week with a 1-7-1 record and have not won since a 2-1 victory over Midland Lutheran, Aug. 30.  The Jimmies have dropped four straight and are 0-6-1 in September.  Gerrit Haerter and Bradley Wolbert lead the team with three goals each.  Ross Perleberg leads the team with two assists. 

In goal, the Jimmies have split time between Jordan Gengler and Stephen Shoemaker.  Gengler has played in three games and allowed six goals, while Shoemaker has played in four games and allowed five goals.  Shoemaker leads the team with 20 saves, while Gengler has 15. 

LAST MEETING WITH THE JIMMIES
MSUB leads the all-time series 1-0 with a 7-1 victory in Billings last season.  Jarred Weisen recorded a hat trick against the Jimmies and scored the quickest goal in school history, just 0:19 seconds into the match.  The Jackets posted four, first half goals en route to the victory and out-shot Jamestown, 28-8. including 16-6 in shots on goal.  Five different Yellowjackets scored a goal in the game.  Jamestown is just the second school in North Dakota that the Yellowjackets have played this season.  MSUB also played Mary earlier in the year and will play both Jamestown and Mary again in Bismarck, ND, Oct. 10 and 12.

TOUGH IN THE CLOSE ONES
MSUB is 2-4 in one goal games this season.  In fact, all four losses have come by one goal.  The Jackets began the season with a 4-3 double overtime victory over Dixie State, then lost to No. 7 Metro State, 2-1, lost to NAIA No. 6 Simon Fraser, 1-0, beat Great Falls, 1-0, lost to Northwest Nazarene, 2-1 and lost at Fort Lewis, 2-1. 

DIXON DISHES
Scott Dixon had his team-leading third assist of the season Tuesday at Fort Lewis as he and Sam Charles hooked up for the second time this season.  Dixon is now within one assist of tying Thomas Pertuit for the all-time assist record in school history at 14.

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. 

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 eight games, he has nine 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
Five Yellowjackets have played all 733 minutes this season.  Sam Charles, Justin Hoskins, Kyle Moriarty, 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.

WWW.MSUBILLINGS.EDU/ATHLETICS
Montana State Billings launched a newly redesigned website in August.  The new website features improved navigation, improved layout and a crisper look.  Log on and checkout the new www.msubillings.edu/athletics for all MSUB athletic information.