Yellowjackets Open GNAC Play at Home Saturday with Seattle Pacific

Game Notes in PDF Format

BRIEFLY
The MSUB men’s soccer team concludes a four-game home stand this weekend as it opens the 2009 Great Northwest Athletic Conference slate versus Seattle Pacific and a non-conference matchup with Jamestown College.  The Yellowjackets stand at 4-2 overall, while Seattle Pacific enters with a 5-0-2 record and Jamestown is 1-4.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets enter the week with a 4-2 record after splitting two games last week.  MSUB dropped a double- overtime heartbreaking, 2-1, decision to a tough Colorado State Pueblo squad and defeated the University of Mary 2-1. 

The Yellowjackets, currently ranked 10th in the West Region in the latest NSCAA/adidas poll, are led by senior forward Sam Charles who leads the team and the league with eight goals on the year.  He broke both the GNAC all-time scoring record and GNAC career goals scored record earlier this season.    Second on the team in scoring are Garion Holian and Jarred Weisen who each have six points.  Holian is second on the team with three goals, while Weisen has two goals and two assists.  Chris Andre leads the team with four assists and is tied for the lead in the league with four assists. 

In goal, the Yellowjackets are led by Matt Mitchell who has played 540:33 minutes and has an 0.83 goals against average.  He is 4-2 on the year with 29 saves and two shutouts and he combined with Sander Tollefson and Daneson Gray for a third shutout.  Mitchell leads the league in saves, save percentage and saves per game.  He and his SPU opponent this weekend, Kaleb Kuehn, are 1-2 in goals against average in the league.  Kuehn has a 0.47 gaa, while Mitchell’s is 0.83.  

The Yellowjackets have blistered their opponents thus far as they have scored 16 goals in four games and allowed just five.  The team has 18 assists already as well for 50 total points.  MSUB is shooting .193 on the year, while its opponents are just .063.  In addition, the ‘Jackets have 47 shots on goal for a .566 percentage and their opponents are at a .430 clip.  The Yellowjackets lead the league in goals (16), assists (18), points (50).

RECAPPING LAST WEEK
The Yellowjackets went 1-1 this past week with a double overtime loss to Colorado State Pueblo and rebounded with a 2-1 win over the University of Mary.  Sam Charles scored the lone goal against Pueblo to tie the game in the first half and scored the game winner against Mary.  The Yellowjackets outshot both teams, but had trouble putting the ball in the net.  Charles kept his streak of consecutive games with goals alive as he now stands at six for the season and seven straight games dating back to last season.

SCOUTING SEATTLE PACIFIC
The Falcons enter as the lone unbeaten team in the league.  SPU is 5-0-2 on the year and currently is fourth in the latest NSCAA/adidas West Region poll.  Leading the way offensively for the Falcons this season is Alec Nelson and Tyler Schultz who lead the team with three goals and one assist each.  Nelson leads the team with 26 shots and has one game winner and one converted penalty kick.  Drew Williams leads the team with three assists.  As a team, the Falcons have 12 goals with nine assists for 33 points.  SPU has 114 shots for a .105 average. 

In goal, the Falcons are led by Kaleb Kuehn who has an 0.47 goals against average with 15 saves and a 4-0-2 record.  He has played 568:48 minutes and has three shutouts.  Zach Johnson is 1-0 with a shutout in 97 minute of action with three saves.  As a team, SPU only has allowed three goals in seven games. 

INSIDE THE SERIES...
Seattle Pacific owns a 5-3-1 record in the series.  SPU went 5-0-1 in the first six matches, but has lost three straight, including both last season.  MSUB won 1-0 in Billings and won for the first time in school history with a 4-2 win in Seattle the last week of the regular season.  MSUB is 2-0 against SPU in Billings.

SCOUTING JAMESTOWN COLLEGE
The Jimmies enter the week with a 1-4 record and will play both University of Great Falls and Rocky Mountain College prior to playing MSUB on Sunday.  Brandon Quinn leads the team with three goals, while Joseph Lauzon has two assists.  Roland Makoge and Tanner Thorfinnson each have a goal. 

Three different players have seen action in goal.  Jordan Gengler has 21 saves and a 3.7 goals against average in four games to lead the team.  Juan Valdez and Sawley Wilde each have seen action, too. 

INSIDE THE SERIES...
The Yellowjackets own a 3-0 record in the series and have outscored Jamestown 19-1.  MSUB won both meetings last year, an 8-0 win in Billings and a 4-0 win in a neutral site game at the University of Mary. 

TENTH IN THE REGION
For the second straight week, the MSUB men’s soccer team has been ranked in the West Region poll.  This week, the Yellowjackets currently are 10th in the region.  Seattle Pacific is fourth to round out the GNAC teams ranked.  Cal State LA is first, followed by Sonoma State, Grand Canyon and the Falcons to round out the top four. 

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Montana State Billings men’s soccer team is ranked nationally in a number of areas.  The Yellowjackets are 24th nationally in scoring offense (2.67), 39th in team goals against average (0.8), 24th in shutout percentage (0.5) and 26th in save percentage (0.853).  Individually, Sam Charles is fifth nationally in points per game (3.0) and fifth in goals per game (1.33).  Chris Andre is 28th in assists per game (0.67), while Matt Mitchell is 43rd in goals against average (0.833) and is 33rd in save percentage at a 0.848 clip. 

MILROY ON THE ASSIST
For the second time in as many seasons, senior defender, Tom Milroy, hooked up with Sam Charles for the game winning goal in a 2-1 come-from-behind win over Mary on Sunday.  Milroy fired a long throughball to a streaking Charles down the center of the field who chipped it in past the Marauder goalkeeper for the game winner in the second half.  Milroy tallied his first assist last season in a 2-1 win over Saint Martin’s.

MITCHELL COMES UP BIG; EARNS POW HONORS
Junior goalkeeper, Matt Mitchell, recorded 17 saves as MSUB split two games earning him GNAC Player of the Week honors (Sept. 7).  In a heartbreaking 2-1 overtime loss to sixth-ranked Cal State-LA, Mitchell had six saves and then tallied a career-best 11 saves in a 2-0 blanking of previously unbeaten Cal Poly Pomona.  Mitchell becomes just the second GNAC goalkeeper to record 10 or more saves in a shutout since Ben Dragavon of Western Washington in 2005.  Dragavon had 15 saves in a 1-0 overtime win over Chico State that year.  This is Mitchell’s first POW honors.  He has a 3-1 record with 19 saves, a 0.52 goals against average and two shutouts.

JACKETS THIRD IN PRESEASON POLL
Montana State Billings was picked third in the annual GNAC Coaches Poll.  Western Washington was the unanimous favorite, followed by Seattle Pacific, MSUB, Saint Martin’s and Northwest Nazarene.  WWU had 25 points to lead the way.

CHARLES SETS SECOND GNAC RECORD
Senior Sam Charles broke the GNAC career scoring record this past week with a goal at Cal State-LA.  With that goal, it was his 95th point since MSUB has been in the GNAC breaking Bobby McAlister’s record of 93 (2002-2005).  For Charles’ career, he has 51 goals and 115 points, however the GNAC only counts records since MSUB has been in the league (2007). 

CHARLES NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Charles scored three goals and two assists in the opening week of the season in a pair of wins for the Yellowjackets.  He set the GNAC goal scoring record and tied the GNAC career points record with a goal and assist against UGF on Aug. 30.  For his efforts, he was named the first GNAC Player of the Week for the 2009 season.  He was named Player of the Week twice last season in back-to-back weeks in September.

WHAT TO EXPECT IN ‘09
Montana State University Billings men’s soccer team brings tangible optimism to the third season in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.  In his fifth season at the helm, head men’s soccer coach Dan McNally is enthused about the prospects of having his first true recruiting class playing as seniors.

“I think that it is a big deal that these seniors have had a lot of success and have played together for three seasons and have really transformed this team,” McNally said.  “They are really motivated to have a great senior year and we are returning a good number of players who have started a lot of games for us.”

McNally considers the two key strengths of the team to be experience and flat out talent.

“For the first time since I’ve been at MSUB, we are going to be able to field an experienced team of juniors and seniors,” McNally said.  “Some of the sophomores and freshmen will play because some of them are excellent, but the strength of this team is the juniors and seniors who bring the needed experience to do well in Division II men’s soccer.

In terms of talent, we have an outstanding group of defenders, two great goalkeepers, we’re loaded in midfield and we have, arguably, the best forward in the country, as well as great forward support.”

The team brings valuable lessons from experiences faced in last season’s 10-8 overall record.

“We were runner-up in 2007 and we let some games get away last year, which we shouldn’t have,” McNally said.  “What we learned will add to our expertise this season.”

MCNALLY CLOSES IN ON .500
Head coach Dan McNally is 37-38-3 in his career at MSUB and needs just one win to reach the .500 mark for the first time.  He is the all-time winningest coach at MSUB in men’s soccer and has led the team to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in school history.

LIVE ON THE WEB
This season ALL MSUB home men’s and women’s soccer games will be FREE on the internet with live video and audio as the voice of the Yellowjackets, Ken Adelblue, will have the call.