A pivotal pair. After what will be a 14-day break from play, the Seattle Pacific University men's soccer season resumes with a pair of pivotal matches versus two of the top teams in the Far West Region. In their home opener, the Falcons (3-3-0) face 17th-ranked Sonoma State (4-1-1) Thursday night (Sept. 20) and then will likely have a near-capacity crowd for Saturday night's (Sept. 22) encounter with UC Davis (4-2-1). The three-game home stand concludes Sept. 25 against San Francisco State.

Near must-win games. Realistically, SPU can ill-afford a loss to either Sonoma State or UC Davis. Only two teams from the region will qualify for the NCAA playoffs in November and currently the Falcons find themselves fifth, behind Cal State Dominguez Hills, Sonoma State, Chico State and UC Davis, and they have already lost to both Dominguez Hills and Chico. Seattle Pacific is vying for its 12th consecutive postseason appearance.

Intimidating Interbay. The Falcons are a formidable team on any field but particularly at Interbay Stadium. There, they are 37-6-2 since the facility opened in 1997. Last season they went 8-1-1 at home, out-scoring visitors 50-7. The team played its first six games on the road this season. UC Davis is one of the few opponents to taste victory at Interbay. The Aggies upset SPU in the first round of the 1999 playoffs.

Compacted schedule. Last week's tragic events in America prompted SPU and the great Northwest Athletic Conference to postpone both of last week's scheduled games. Although the team owns a modest two-game win streak, it has not played since the 3-1 win at UC San Diego Sept. 6. The GNAC opener versus Western Washington was moved from Sept. 12 to Sept. 27 in Bellingham. Kickoff is now 4 p.m. and that week's compacted schedule now has the Falcons playing three games in five days. The Sept. 15 game at Simon Fraser has tentatively been rescheduled for Oct. 10 in Burnaby, B.C.

Falco's field. Interbay is rarely kind to visitors, however Grant Falco (Jr., Spokane, Wa./University) finds the field to be something of a touchstone. Falco has 16 goals to his credit at SPU and 11 of those were scored at Interbay. Two of the five road goals were scored this season. Falco is the team's leader in assists with three.

Remember when? The two-week lapse between games is the longest ever in regular season play (there was an 18-day break between the end of the regular season and playoff opener in 1990) but hopefully the Falcons can sustain the momentum generated on the end of their California road trip. SPU averted a four-game losing skein by blasting Cal Poly Pomona 4-1 behind the two goals of Joe Kinzel (So., Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood). Michael Schefter (So., Yakima, Wa./West Valley) earned GNAC player of the week honors after scoring three goals, including two in the victory at UC San Diego.

Footnotes. Michael Schefter is the GNAC co-leader in goals with four and is No. 3 in points. SPU leads the conference in goals per game (2.17)...After being out-shot 56-26 in the first four games, SPU responded by keeping the pressure on the other goal and finishing with a 27-21 edge in shots in its last two wins...Brent Egbert (So., Bellingham, Wa./Sehome), last year's top-scoring nonstarter, has scored one goal and had two assists in the last three games...Forward David Smith (Fr., Corvallis, Or./Corvallis), who did not play in the first six games due to a hamstring injury, is expected to be available this week. Smith scored 12 goals and 16 assists in leading Corvallis to second in the Oregon championships as a senior...There were no new regional or national rankings this week due to the vast amount of postponed contests last week.

Opponents & Series Notes. SPU has managed to remain unbeaten (7-0-2) versus Sonoma State, despite some close calls. Three of the wins were by one goal. The Cossacks, who were the first visitors to Interbay in 1997, played once last week. Their sole loss was to Seattle University. They will have played six of their first seven games at home following the Monday (Sept. 17) game with UC San Diego...UC Davis has won once­the 1999 playoff encounter­in eight meetings with Seattle Pacific. The Aggies tied Sonoma State 1-1 earlier this month and visit Western Washington Thursday (Sept. 20).