First conference match. Undefeated and rife with momentum and confidence following a highly successful California road trip, the No. 3-ranked Seattle Pacific University women’s soccer team opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week before returning to its home turf. The Falcons (6-0-0) pay a visit to Idaho and Northwest Nazarene (2-4-0) Friday afternoon (Sept. 16). That begins a stretch of five games in 12 days, although the last four are at home, beginning with Grand Canyon (4-2-0) Monday night (Sept. 19). They will also host Western Washington and Humboldt State next week at Interbay.

Stock rising. Coach Chuck Sekyra guided his Falcons to a pair of victories over region opponents last week as SPU put forth a valiant second-half effort in defeating 17th-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills 2-1, and prevailed in overtime at Cal State Bakersfield by identical score. Seattle Pacific was duly rewarded for its show of character as it jumped four spots in NCSAA national poll. Regionally, the Falcons replaced Seattle University as the top team in the Far West. Dominguez Hills, UC San Diego, Seattle U., Chico State and Western Washington round out the top six. SPU is unbeaten in its last 43 (41-0-2) regular season matches over three seasons.

Title defense starts Friday. Seattle Pacific was a near-unanimous pick to repeat (make that three-peat) as GNAC champion in the coaches preseason poll. No wonder. The Falcons are unbeaten in their last 32 (30-0-2) conference games, dating back to Sept. 25, 2002. They also did not allow a goal in their last six GNAC contests last season. Seattle U. and Humboldt State were chosen as the top contenders for the league crown. Northwest Nazarene was fifth.

Martinez breaks out. She started the season quietly, but last week Sarah Martinez (So., Bothell, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) was all bells and whistles as she transformed into the bold gamebreaker of her freshman campaign. Martinez scored thrice on the week, including the game-winner with 16 minutes remaining at Dominguez Hills to garner GNAC player of the week honors. Martinez also hit the crossbar twice against the Toros and tallied the first goal at Bakersfield. After going scoreless in the first three games, she has four goals in the last three outings.

Heidi, whoa! Continuing her steady scoring contribution was one of the Falcons’ other forwards, Heidi Jacobson (Sr., Kirkland, Wa./Cedar Park Christian). Less than four minutes into overtime, Jacobson shot home her team-leading fifth goal to end the Bakersfield bout. Allison Teague (Sr., Redmond, Wa./Bellevue Christian/Santa Clara), who assisted on the first goal at CSDH, also set-up the Jacobson goal. Jacobson and Martinez rank 1-2 in GNAC scoring. Career scoring leader Shannon Lovejoy (Sr., Seattle, Wa./Seattle Prep) has just one goal but leads the league with four assists.

Now famous for more than potatoes. Two freshmen have earned places in the starting lineup and both hail from the increasingly fertile recruiting ground of Idaho. Goalkeeper Jen Burns (Fr., Boise, Id./Capital) and midfielder Shannon Oakes (Fr., Boise, Id./Boise) have been fixtures for Sekyra as he replaced four starters from a year ago. Both will be playing before family and friends on Friday in Nampa. Burns is among the NCAA Div. II leaders and leads the GNAC with a 0.39 goals-against average. Oakes has a goal and an assist.

Call ‘em stingy. Cal State Dominguez Hills managed to break a 283-minute string of scoreless minutes for the defense, but opponents have managed just three goals in Seattle Pacific’s first half-dozen matches. Sekyra’s teams have won 34 games by shutout in two-plus seasons, and have allowed only six goals in 24 GNAC matches. The midfield and backline tends to smother attacks before they penetrate the final third and Burns has saved 89 percent of the shots on target. SPU leads the conference in shutouts (.50) and goals-against average (.50).

Footnotes. Jacobson leads the GNAC in both points (11) and goals (5), just ahead of Martinez, who has 10 and 4, respectively...Lovejoy earned an assist on Martinez’ equalizer at Bakersfield, boosting her four-year total to 22. She leads the conference in assists per game (0.67). Michelle Everson (Sr., Tacoma, Wa./Stadium) is next with three assists (0.50)...Megan Lienhard (Sr., Everett, Wa./Cascade) has four goals, ranking sixth among GNAC players...SPU is also the conference offensive leader, averaging 3.83 goals...Sekyra has used the same starting 11 in each outing but made use of his depth, using 18 players against the Toros and 19 at Bakersfield...The Falcons have won 16 straight conference home games and in Sekyra’s tenure they have outscored GNAC visitors 41-2...Everson has eight assists in her last eight home games.

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.