Here & there. With two home wins behind them and the offense beginning to kick into high gear, the No. 2-ranked Seattle Pacific University women’s soccer team plays one more contest on its home turf of Interbay before cruising down the coast for five matches in California and Oregon. The Falcons (2-0-0) finish out a three-game home stand Tuesday night (Aug. 29) versus No. 19 Cal State Dominguez Hills (0-1-0). The first stop is Rohnert Park, Calif., where SPU plays Cal State L.A. (0-0-0) Friday (Sept. 1) and Sonoma State (1-0-0) Monday (Sept. 4).

Two & counting. Seattle Pacific is off to another impressive start, blanking both of its first two opponents while accumulating a 49-8 advantage in shots. The Falcons downed Chico State 1-0 in a rematch of last year’s playoff opener, and then beat Cal State Monterey Bay 3-0 for the sixth straight shutout at home, dating back to last season. Coach Chuck Sekyra also got a look at every player on his roster, which is stocked largely with underclassmen. Fourteen are either freshmen or sophomores.

Streaks growing. The regular season unbeaten streak reached 59 games (54-0-5) after the first week. It’s a run of success which dates back to Sekyra’s first season as coach. His only regular season loss was to Cal State Dominguez Hills, 2-1, on Sept. 1, 2003. The Falcons are still two weeks away from kicking-off Great Northwest Athletic Conference games where they own a 44 (40-0-4) match unbeaten streak.

Right where she left off. After leading Seattle Pacific in scoring last season, Sarah Martinez (Jr., Bothell, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) wasted no time in getting the ball back in the net. She scored the team’s first goal of the season in the 39th minute versus Chico State. Martinez touched a Janae Godoy (Fr., Yakima, Wa./West Valley) cross past a Wildcat defender and hit the upper left corner. Martinez had also scored the overtime game-winner against Chico in the playoffs last fall. In the win over Monterey Bay, Martinez assisted on Alex Kirk‘s (Fr., Edmonds, Wa./Edmonds-Woodway) goal 69 seconds into the match–a record for the earliest goal. SPU also got unassisted, long-range goals from Kara Hamby (Jr., Spokane, Wa./Mead) and Meredith Teague (So, Redmond, Wa./Bellevue Christian).

Stingy ’D.’. Sekyra’s back line of Carolyn Nason (Sr., Lafayette, Co./Broomfield-Metro State), Katie Taylor (So., Vancouver, Wa./Columbia River), Claire Grubbs (So., Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) and Jessica Gerstmann (Jr., Puyallup, Wa./Cascade Christian) helped keep things relatively quiet for starting keeper Katie Ruggles (Sr., Eugene, Or./South Eugene). Chico State was limited to seven shots and none of Ruggles’ three saves was difficult. Monterey Bay managed just one shot, that coming after Ruggles had yielded to Jesslyn Rahm (Fr., Eugene, Or./South Eugene). Mollie Taylor (Sr., Westlake Village, Ca./Oaks Christian) assisted the back line in a reserve capacity; the junior is making a return from a knee injury that sidelined her for the second half of last season. Jeanne Webster (Jr., Bothell, Wa./Bothell) got the start in the opener, only to leave because of a leg injury early in the first half.

Making a difference. There is considerable competition for key roles, and two freshmen managed to win starting jobs. Kirk and Kayla Stiegemeier (Fr., Rathdrum, Id./Lakeland) started alongside Martinez up front. Against Monterey Bay, Kirk scored and Stiegemeier forced a fine save from keeper, with the Otters’ Erika Ulfelder pushing her shot onto the crossbar. Sophomore midfielders Teague and Shannon Oakes (So., Boise, Id./Boise) also started and made an impact. Teague scored from a corner kick and Oakes ripped a team-high 12 shots on the week (one more than Martinez).

Throw-ins. The home unbeaten streak at Interbay is now 16 games (14-0-2) over two seasons. Over that span, the Falcons have outscored visitors 49-4. Under Sekyra, SPU is 32-1-3 at home with 27 shutouts...Martinez is now No. 2 in career game-winning goals with 11–two shy of Shannon Lovejoy’s four-year total. Altogether, Martinez has 25 goals. She needs four to overtake Megan Lienhard (2002-05) for No. 3...The shutout for Ruggles vs. Chico State was her first...Visitors have gone scoreless for 605 consecutive minutes at Interbay, dating back to a 3-1 win over Central Washington last Nov. 2...Kirk’s score beat the previous record for earliest goal by 10 seconds. Heidi Jacobson scored at 1:19 vs. Western Oregon in 2004...Hamby’s goal was the second of her career and first in 23 games...Two of the three CCAA teams which made the playoffs last season ventured into GNAC territory last week and, combined, Chico State and Cal State Dominguez Hills went 0-2-1.

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 $5 for general admission, with students and senior citizens $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.