On the road again. A bit frustrated after being held scoreless but still undefeated in its last five outings, the Seattle Pacific University women's soccer team hopes to find the nets this week in northern California. The Falcons (2-0-1/6-1-1) play a pair of vital road matches and will be hungry for a win when they take on Great Northwest Athletic Conference co-leader Humboldt State (3-0-0/5-2-0) Thursday afternoon (Sept. 25). Saturday night (Sept. 27) they meet Chico State (4-3-1) in a non-conference contest. SPU returns to Interbay Stadium to take on Central Washington on Oct. 1.

Playoff contention. Whereas the 3-3-1 start of last season effectively knocked Seattle Pacific out of tournament contention early, new head coach Chuck Sekyra has the Birds comfortably perched as legitimate contenders eight games into the '03 schedule. Despite its unbeaten run, SPU remains seventh in the Far West Regional rankings, but it has a good chance to move up if it can return home with a pair of victories. As it stands, Seattle Pacific trails UC San Diego, Seattle University, Cal State Dominguez Hills, San Francisco State, Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona in the region.

Low octane. When it rains, it pours. And hopefully a dry spell doesn't become a drought. After literally overpowering its opponents with 18 goals in the previous three games, Seattle Pacific's attack was silenced in Bellingham last week. Desperately needing a conference win, the Vikings elected to change up their game plan and got downright defensive. Western parlayed its narrow pitch and a packed midfield to endure a 120-minute SPU onslaught (advantages of 16-6 in shots, 6-1 in corner kicks). It was the first scoreless tie in the program's three-year existence and it snapped a streak of 10 consecutive conference wins.

Another big zero. Defensively, who could be disappointed with a string of three shutouts? Western was the sixth team in eight games to get blanked by the fab five of goalkeeper Jennifer Hull (Jr., Eugene, Or./Sheldon) and defenders Nicole Ruiz (Sr., Federal Way, Wa./Federal Way-Barry), Katie Lim (Jr., Hillsboro, Or.), Michelle Everson (So., Tacoma, Wa./Stadium) and Mollie Taylor (Fr., Westlake Village, Ca./Oaks Christian). The defense has held opponents to just one goal the last 570 minutes and, as of last week, ranked 19th nationally in scoring defense. Hull, who leads the GNAC in goals-against average (0.28) and shutouts (4), owns a personal scoreless streak of 418 minutes going into Thursday's game.

It's only a matter of time. With four of the conference's top 10 scorers, a goal deluge could be just around the corner. The Falcons are averaging a GNAC-best 3.12 goals per game and have proven particularly potent when at full-strength. Last year's GNAC Freshman of the Year Shannon Lovejoy (So., Seattle, Wa./Seattle Prep) leads the conference in goals scored (5) and is second on the points list (13), followed by the 10 points each of frontrunners Heidi Jacobson (So., Bothell, Wa./Cedar Park Christian-Gonzaga) and Michelle Sanders (Jr., Centralia, Wa.). After earning six points in last week's 5-0 win over Montana State Billings, Megan Lienhard (So., Everett, Wa./Cascade) is eighth with nine points. Against Western, Lovejoy, Lienhard and Everson led the Falcons with three shots apiece.

Footnotes. SPU hit the post or crossbar three times at Western. It was the first time Seattle Pacific was held scoreless in 24 games, dating back to last season...Seattle Pacific leads the conference with 25 goals and six shutouts. The Falcons are ranked second in shots, points, goals and assists and first in goals per game...Sarah Melby (Jr., Mukilteo, Wa./Kamiak-Idaho) and Allison Teague (So., Redmond, Wa./Bellevue Christian-Santa Clara) are tied for 11th in points with seven each...Theresa Morelli (Fr., Bellevue, Wa./Bellevue Christian), Teague and Karen France (Jr., Woodland Park, Co./Palmer) are tied for 15th in goals. Jacobson and Sanders are tied for second in assists (4)...Sanders picked up the first yellow card of the season at Bellingham.

Tickets, Please. Ticket prices for all SPU regular season home games are $5 for general admission, with students and senior citizens $3. Group and team rates are available by phoning (206) 281-2085 in advance.

SPU Coaching Staff. Chuck Sekyra was hired as the Falcons' head coach on Feb. 24, 2002. Seykra, an assistant at the University of Washington for three seasons, has close ties to the Puget Sound soccer community and to Seattle Pacific in particular. He is a graduate of SPU, played on two NCAA championship teams and was assistant men's coach from 1998-99. Sekyra is head coach of the Washington State girls ODP Under-16 team and a Region IV ODP staff coach. He was a starter on the '86 squad which became the first in Division II history to win back-to-back national championships. Returning to the staff for her second year is Julie Cain. New to the bench are Kevin Blokker and volunteer assistant Steve Miller.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.