Tough strip of road ahead. With four convincing wins under their belts, the 7th-ranked Seattle Pacific University women’s soccer team faces perhaps the toughest pair of road matches dead ahead. In a matchup of two teams with unblemished records, the Falcons (4-0-0) face 17th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills (3-0-0) Saturday afternoon (Sept. 10). On Monday (Sept. 12) they visit Cal State Bakersfield (1-2-0) before returning home. Great Northwest Athletic Conference play begins Sept. 16 at Northwest Nazarene.

Fast start. The Falcons are once again off to a quick start, and Coach Chuck Sekyra was undoubtedly pleased with a pair of wins over inter-region opponents. After disposing of Sonoma State (4-0) at home and Cal Poly Pomona (5-0) to begin the stretch of four straight road games, Seattle Pacific clearly has a head of steam going into its biggest game of the year so far. It has scored 15 unanswered goals and the starting defensive unit has yet to allow a score. SPU moved up two spots in the NCAA Division II rankings and stands No. 2 among Far West Region teams in the first such NSCAA listing.

Between now & November. Certainly the Cal State Dominguez Hills features some interesting plot twists. The Toros are the last foe to defeat the Falcons in regular season play (2-1, Sept. 1, 2003), and they have qualified for the NCAA tournament each of the last two seasons. Since that defeat two years ago, SPU has gone unbeaten in 41 regular season games (39-0-2), including a 1-0 home victory over CSDH to open the ‘04 campaign. The lone loss of any kind since then was in the second round of the ‘04 playoffs.

Get forward quickly. Sekyra’s offensive mantra has been to get forward quickly and in greater numbers. It’s a feeling which seems to have taken hold. The Falcons have scored nearly twice as many goals (19 to 10) in their first four games than at the same point a year ago. Ten different players have found the net, including five with two or more goals. Heidi Jacobson (Sr., Kirkland, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) has been the ringleader thus far, scoring in each game, while central striker Megan Lienhard (Sr., Everett, Wa./Cascade) and central defender Carolyn Nason (Jr., Lafayette, Co./Broomfield-Metro State), who comes forward on set plays, have three each. And the goals may only multiply since career scoring leader Shannon Lovejoy (Sr., Seattle, Wa./Seattle Prep) and Sarah Martinez (So., Bothell, Wa./Cedar Park Christian), who had eight goals last season, have yet to assert themselves. To date, Lovejoy and Martinez have only one goal apiece but they have a combined five assists.

Opponents are stymied. Opponents have yet to come up with an equation that would break down SPU’s defense. Goalkeeper Jen Burns (Fr., Boise, Id./Capital) has been perfect in her 283 minutes played, with an NCAA-best goals-against average of 0.00. Defenders Michelle Everson (Sr., Tacoma, Wa./Stadium), an All-American, and Nason have been impenetrable in the middle while outside backs Mollie Taylor (Jr., Westlake Village, Ca./Oaks Christian), Jean Kolb (Sr., Eugene, Or./South Eugene) and Meredith Teague (Fr., Redmond, Wa./Bellevue Christian) have hounded people on the fringes. Just 19 shots have been fired at Burns overall, many of them coming from long-distance. The only ball picked out of the net was a penalty kick in the season opener.

New faces shine. Rookie Shannon Oakes (Fr., Boise, Id./Boise) has started each and every match at midfield for Sekyra, and curled a left-footed 25-yarder into the upper right corner against Sonoma for her first collegiate goal. Washington State transfers Jessica Gerstmann (So., Puyallup, Wa./Cascade Christian) and Samantha Hufford (Jr., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake) jump-started the attack at Pomona, coming off the bench in the second half to snap a scoreless tie by scoring back-to-back goals barely two minutes apart. Hufford and Gerstmann each have two goals plus an assist so far.

Footnotes. Nationally, Seattle Pacific ranked No. 8 in scoring offense (4.67) before raising that figure with the 5-0 win at Cal Poly, when the visitors scored three times over a span of 3:12...Jacobson’s four goals have come on just six shot attempts, and her total is just one shy of last year’s sum...Two of Nason’s goals have been headers off Everson corner kicks. Four of Nason’s five goals last year were assisted by Everson...Everson has 11 assists in her last 10 home games, dating back to last season. Her 21 career assists is second only to Michelle Sanders (27)...Lienhard has 21 career goals...Sekyra, who has used the same starting 11 in each outing, has cultivated his depth, using 22 players in two games and all 23 in two others...Kara Hamby (So., Spokane, Wa./Mead) has started all four matches as a midfielder and scored her first goal of the year against CPP...Tricia Loomis (So., Des Moines, Wa./Mount Rainier), Gerstmann and Hufford substitute at the forward position and Allison Teague (Sr., Redmond, Wa./Bellevue Christian/Santa Clara) at midfield. Teague rattled off a pair of shots versus Sonoma...Katie Ruggles (Jr., Eugene, Or./South Eugene) took over in the net for Burns over the final 10 minutes of the Sonoma match. She and Erin Pierce (Sr., Milwaukie, Or./Rex Putnam) each got into the final stages at Pomona.

Coaching Staff. SPU Coaching Staff. Chuck Sekyra was voted coach of the year for the second consecutive time in the GNAC after taking the Falcons to a league title, NCAA playoff berth and a 19-1-2 record in his second season. Seykra, an assistant at 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 men¹s coach from 1998-99. Sekyra was a starter on the Œ86 squad which became the first in Division II history to win back-to-back national crowns. He is head coach of the Washington State girls ODP Under-16 team and a Region IV ODP staff coach. Goalkeeper coach Kevin Blokker returns for his third year on the staff after previously coaching at San Francisco (his alma mater), Wyoming, Fresno State and Kansas. Chalise Baysa, Oregon¹s all-time scoring leader, is in her second season on the staff. She now plays for the W-League Seattle Sounders.

Tickets, Please. Ticket prices for all SPU regular season home games are $7 for reserved and $5 for general admission, with students and senior citizens receiving G.A. tickets for $3. Group and team rates are available by phoning (206) 281-2085 in advance.

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.