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There, there. Not quite halfway through its first road foray, the No. 6-ranked Seattle Pacific University women’s soccer team plays three more contests in hostile environs before returning to roost at Interbay Stadium. The Falcons (4-1-0) continue a stretch of five straight road games Thursday (Sept. 7) at Notre Dame de Namur (1-3-0) before opening Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at Western Oregon Sept. 13.

Getting back up. An unfortunate byproduct of success at the national level is the fact that the program’s pedigree makes SPU an obsessive target for every foe it faces. Seattle Pacific resumed its winning ways against Sonoma State on Labor Day after absorbing its first regular season loss in precisely three years in the opening match of the Seawolf Classic. Cal State L.A. scored twice in the final 20 minutes to deal the Falcons a 2-0 defeat. However, three days later Coach Chuck Sekyra tapped into his reserves, and the Birds rose up in convincing fashion to claim victory from the host team, 3-2. Earlier in the week, the Falcons punctuated a season-opening home stand with a 3-1 victory over then-No. 19 Cal State Dominguez Hills.

A new streak started. Seattle Pacific’s monstrous 60-game (55-0-5) regular season unbeaten streak may have ended, but perhaps another lengthy run has begun. The Falcons are still proud owners of a 44 (40-0-4) match unbeaten streak in GNAC games. During the past two seasons, SPU finished the regular season undefeated, but with 14 of his 23 athletes either freshman or sophomores, Sekyra has no such expectations this time around. He does think this is his most athletic squad in four seasons, and has the raw ability to reach the NCAA finals once again.

Tricia looms large. After a relatively quiet start to the season, Tricia Loomis (Jr., Des Moines, Wa./Mount Rainier) came off the bench and left her mark on Sonoma State. Loomis delivered a pair of clutch goals in the match, including a game-winning, 30-yard free kick in the 69th-minute. Two shots, two goals and Loomis had renewed the prominent role she played a year ago when she scored a game-winner and another game-tying goal among her four.

Sarah on the shelf. The broad-shouldered Loomis played extended minutes following a hamstring injury to All-American and scoring leader Sarah Martinez (Jr., Bothell, Wa./Cedar Park Christian). Martinez did not play the second half of the CSLA game and did not suit-up for the Sonoma match. She had scored two goals and had two assists in the first three games, including a goal and assist in the 3-1 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills. Martinez is expected to re-join the lineup later this week.

It took a village. Without Martinez, Sekyra needed a number of players to step up, and the returnees led the response. Kara Hamby (Jr., Spokane, Wa./Mead) struck for penalty kick. Veteran Mollie Taylor (Sr., Westlake Village, Ca./OaksChristian) returned from her knee injury to make her first start in 11 months and midfielders Shannon Oakes (So., Boise, Id./Boise) and Meredith Teague (So, Redmond, Wa./Bellevue Christian) fired a total of five shots. Five freshmen saw action in the last outing. Kayla Stiegemeier (Fr., Rathdrum, Id./Lakeland) and Alex Kirk (Fr., Edmonds, Wa./Edmonds-Woodway) started up front, and Janae Godoy (Fr., Yakima, Wa./West Valley), Julia Kern (Fr., Portland, Or./Jesuit) and Brittany Stewart (Fr., Wilsonville, Or./Wilsonville) came off the bench. Another rookie, Jessica Pixler (Fr., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake), played against Cal State L.A.

Clamp-down time. It was an uncharacteristic week for the defense. For a unit which has allowed no more than 10 goals in the past three seasons, yielding five in three games qualified as a bit of a jolt. Call it growing pains. Sekyra is starting three new players on defense, including keeper Katie Ruggles (Sr., Eugene, Or./South Eugene), stopper Claire Grubbs (So., Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) and outside back Jessica Gerstmann (Jr., Puyallup, Wa./Cascade Christian). Carolyn Nason (Sr., Lafayette, Co./Broomfield-Metro State) and Katie Taylor (So., Vancouver, Wa./Columbia River) are holdovers from a back line which ranked seventh in scoring defense.

Throw-ins. Jeanne Webster (Jr., Bothell, Wa./Bothell) is likely to miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL. Webster started the season opener in central defense against Chico State... SPU dropped four spots in the national rankings, but held its top spot in the region, ahead of Seattle University and UC San Diego... In the GNAC preseason coaches poll, Seattle Pacific was the favorite, receiving all six first-place votes. It was the third year in a row that SPU was tabbed as the unanimous favorite…Oakes had her first-half penalty kick saved vs. Cal State L.A. Her 22 shots lead the GNAC…Sekyra’s only other regular-season loss had been to Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sept. 1, 2003 (2-1). The only other losses during his tenure have come in the NCAA tournament...GNAC teams are a combined 11-6-2 versus CCAA opposition. Western Washington, which starts the week ranked No. 4 in the Far West Region, beat Cal State L.A. 2-1 as all four teams finished the Seawolf Classic at 1-1-0...Following the Western Oregon game, SPU will return to the Golden State to face Cal State San Bernardino Sept. 18 before a four-game home stand...SPU has outscored opponents 7-1 in the first half.

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.