Men's Soccer Hosts Northwest Nazarene for Futbol Frenzy Saturday

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BRIEFLY
The MSUB men’s soccer team returns home for a key Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup with Northwest Nazarene, Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Yellowjacket Field in the second game of a Futbol Frenzy doubleheader as the women’s team plays prior to the men’s game.

FUTBOL FRENZY 2009 SPONSORED BY WENDY’S
The 2009 edition of Futbol Frenzy is scheduled for Oct. 3 at Yellowjacket Field. The MSUB men’s team will battle Northwest Nazarene at 3:30 p.m. after the women face Central Washington at 1 p.m.  Prior to the women’s game, there will be a BBQ which will be free for MSUB students with a U-Card.  The BBQ is $8 for non-students.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE BILLINGS
The Yellowjackets enter the week with a 7-2-1 record after going winning two road conference games this past week.  The Yellowjackets won for the first time in school history at Western Washington with a 2-1 double overtime win and blanked Saint Martin’s 1-0 to improve to 2-0-1 in league play.

The Yellowjackets, currently ranked sixth 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 11 goals on the year.  He broke both the GNAC all-time scoring record and GNAC career goals scored record earlier this season. This last week, he set the GNAC record for consecutive games with a goal (9) and consecutive games with a point (13).  Second on the team in scoring is Garion Holian who has four goals and one assist for nine points.  Chris Andre and Charles are tied for the team lead with five assists and are tied for second in the league.

In goal, the Yellowjackets are led by Matt Mitchell who has played 845:48 minutes and has an 0.74 goals against average.  He is 6-2-1 on the year with 45 saves and three shutouts and he combined with Sander Tollefson and Daneson Gray for a fourth shutout.  Mitchell leads the league in saves (45), save percentage (.865) and saves per game (5.00).  Sander Tollefson earned his first start of the season against Jamestown Sept. 20 as he allowed one goal on a penalty kick with eight saves and has a 0.85 goals against average.

The Yellowjackets have blistered their opponents thus far as they have scored 23 goals in 10 games and allowed just eight.  The team has 26 assists already for 72 total points.  MSUB is shooting .174 on the year, while its opponents are just .057.  In addition, the ‘Jackets have 68 shots on goal for a .515 percentage and their opponents are at a .457 clip.  The Yellowjackets lead the league in goals (23), assists (26), points (72).

RECAPPING LAST WEEK
The Yellowjackets went 2-0 this past week with a pair of GNAC road wins. MSUB won for the first time in nine tries at Western Washington with a 2-1 double overtime win and followed with a 1-0 shutout at Saint Martin’s.  The Yellowjackets got an early goal (2:53) from Jeremy DeHerrera and an assist from Sam Charles for a 1-0 lead on the Vikings. The MSUB clamped down and held WWU without a goal for the next 85 minutes, but WWU’s Kellen Brown found the back of the net in the 89th minute to tie the game.  In double overtime, Chris Andre scored on a breakthrough on the right side with the game-winning assist from Zach Yeager.  Against Saint Martin’s the Yellowjackets got on the board first again as Tyler Moriarty took a Charles pass for the game winner.   

SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The Crusaders enter the game with a 3-6 record and a 0-2 mark in conference play.  NNU has dropped two straight and four of five entering Saturday’s match.  Leading the way for the Crusaders is Alex Mangeac who leads the team with five goals and three assists.  He also leads the team with 33 shots and 11 on goal.  Second on the team in scoring is Alonso Avila and Renatto Brito as each have three goals and one assist.

Between the posts, the Crusaders are led by Alexander Engemann who has played in eight games and started six.  He has a 2.49 goals against average with 30 saves in 724:13 minutes of action.  He has a 2-5 record with two shutouts.  Mitchell Rice has played in two games and started one with a 0-1 record in just under 100 minutes.

As a team, the Crusaders have scored 16 goals with 10 assists on the year.  They have 106 shots for a .151 average and 48 shots on goal for a .453 clip.  Their opponents have scored 22 goals with 12 assists.  

INSIDE THE SERIES...
The Yellowjackets own a 5-4 record in the series, but are 0-2 since NNU added men’s soccer as an intercollegiate sport last year.  The Crusaders won both contests, including a 2-1 win in Billings and a 3-2 win in Nampa in 2008. 

LAST SEASON VS. THE CRUSADERS
The Yellowjackets dropped two games to NNU last season in heartbreaking fashion.  NNU upended the Yellowjackets 2-1 in Billings in the conference opener with two second half goals after MSUB held a 1-0 lead at half.  In the second game, the teams traded goals with NNU scoring the game winner in the 88th minute as Alex Mangeac scored his second goal of the half giving the home team a 3-2 win.  It was the only two conference wins for the Crusaders last season.

RECAPPING FUTBOL FRENZY 2008
On a cold and blustery day, the MSUB men’s soccer team defeated Seattle Pacific, 1-0 in the 2008 edition of Futbol Frenzy.  The Yellowjackets got a goal from senior Jurell Linford in the 22nd minute and then held on as SPU fired a barrage of shots in the second half to try and get the equalizer. 

MAKING A POINT
Senior forward Sam Charles continues his onslaught of the school and GNAC record books as he set the GNAC record for consecutive games with at least a point.  With an assist in each game last week, Charles improved his GNAC record with at least a point in 13-straight games dating back to last season.  His GNAC record string of nine consecutive games with a goal was snapped at Western Washington Thursday.

SIXTH REGIONALLY
The Montana State Billings men’s soccer team currently is sixth in the West Region according to the latest NSCAA/adidas poll.  It is the highest ranking of the season so far for MSUB.  The Yellowjackets have fluctuated between 6-10 in the poll for five weeks.  GNAC foe, Seattle Pacific, currently is fourth.  The Yellowjackets and Falcons played to a 1-1 tie in Billings on Sept. 19.  Cal State-Los Angeles is leading the region with a 9-0-1 record.  MSUB’s upset bid of then-sixth-ranked (nationally) CSULA fell just short in a 2-1 overtime loss earlier in the season.
 
ANDRE NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior forward, Chris Andre, was named GNAC Player of the Week as he tallied the game-winning goal against Western Washington.  He sparked the Yellowjackets to a 2-1 double overtime win at WWU which was the first win in school history in Bellingham.  It was Andre’s first POW honor of the season and third for the Yellowjackets. 

NATIONALLY SPEAKING
The Montana State Billings men’s soccer team is ranked nationally in a number of areas.  The Yellowjackets are 37th nationally in scoring offense (2.3), 24th in team goals against average (0.75), 39th in shutout percentage (0.40) and 10th in save percentage (0.875).  Individually, Sam Charles is fourth nationally in points per game (2.7) and 10th in goals per game (1.1).  Chris Andre is 35th in assists per game (0.5), while Matt Mitchell is 27th in goals against average (0.745) and is 16th in save percentage at a 0.865 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 Sept. 13.  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.

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. 

MCNALLY HITS .500
With a 3-1 win over Jamestown (Sept. 20), Dan McNally  reached the .500 mark for the first time in his career.  He started his career 10-24-2 in his first two years and has gone 30-14-2 since.  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.  McNally now is 40-38-4.

MCNALLY COACHES’ SHOW
Each week fans have the opportunity to log on to www.msubillings.edu/athletics and listen to Dan McNally’s Coaches Show.  McNally will breakdown the previous week and preview the upcoming with the voice of the Yellowjackets, Ken Adelblue. 

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.