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Defend the nest. After playing five consecutive road matches throughout Oregon and California, the No. 6-ranked Seattle Pacific University women’s soccer team returns to roost at Interbay Stadium, hosting a quartet of visitors over the next two weeks. The Falcons (1-0-0/7-1-0) kick off against Northwest Nazarene (1-1-0/5-4-0) in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest Thursday night (Sept. 21). Saturday (Sept. 23), SPU welcomes Grand Canyon (0-6-0) to Interbay for a non-conference match-up. Central Washington visits Sept. 28.

Starting strong. Coach Chuck Sekyra guided his Falcons to two wins last week, including a 2-1 come-from-behind victory at Western Oregon and solid 2-0 defeat of Cal State San Bernardino. Besides their lofty position in the NSCAA national poll, they are atop the Far West Region. UC San Diego, Seattle University, Chico State, Cal State L.A. and Sonoma State round out the top six. The Falcons are focused on making their fourth consecutive NCAA playoff bid, and returning to the final four in Pensacola, Florida, Nov. 16-18.

Unbeaten streak compounds. The Falcons got off to a good start in their GNAC title defense last week. Western Oregon got on the scoreboard first, but SPU responded with two second-half goals to extend their conference unbeaten string to 45 (41-0-4) games. The conference streak dates back to Sept. 25, 2002. There’s also a 17-game (15-0-2) home undefeated run, dating back to 2004. Over that stretch they have outscored visitors 52-5.

Oakes checks in. The league season got off to a startling start after the Wolves went up 1-0 just 3 minutes into play. Among those who rose to the subsequent challenge were midfielder Shannon Oakes (So., Boise, Id./Boise). Her cross connected with Sarah Martinez (Jr., Bothell, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) for a headerr to get the Birds on the board shortly after coming out of the locker room and eventually Oakes ripped home the game-winner in the 70th minute. Oakes touts a GNAC-best 35 shots on the season and is second on the team with six total points (2 goals, 2 assists). Martinez’ scores were her fourth and fifth goals. She has now scored in three straight games and her 12 points lead the team.

Downright defensive. Other than the early WOU goal, starting keeper Katie Ruggles (Sr., Eugene, Or./South Eugene) rarely saw the ball last week. Ruggles was credited with just a total of two saves. Defenders 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) limited opponents to 11 shots altogether, below the average of 6.0 per game. Meanwhile, Seattle Pacific peppered 40 shots on the week, forcing keepers to make 20 saves.

Young guns. Janae Godoy (Fr., Yakima, Wa./West Valley) got the starting nod in midfield for the first time at San Bernardino, thus becoming the third freshman to earn that distinction this season. Fourteen players are either freshman or sophomores, and seven have started at least once. Kayla Stiegemeier (Fr., Rathdrum, Id./Lakeland) has started all eight games in her maiden season while Alex Kirk (Fr., Edmonds, Wa./Edmonds-Woodway) has six starts. Kirk and Stiegemeier each have two goals, with Kirk getting the second goal vs. CSSB. Reserve defender Jessica Pixler (Fr., Sammamish, Wa./Eastlake) ran to first place in the Sundodger Open cross country race last week, her second victory in as many outings as a harrier. She has played in three games as a substitute.

Throw-ins. The Falcons have only trailed seven times during their lengthy conference unbeaten skein. They have not allowed more than one goal to a GNAC foe in the last 44 games...There could be at least a 40-degree differential in kickoff temperature between the San Bernardino and NNU games. A mid-afternoon game against the Coyotes was played in 100-degree heat. SPU put additional pressure on the hosts by firing 13 first-half shots, including the goals by Martinez and Kirk...Gerstmann tallied an assist in both matches last week and Kara Hamby (Jr., Spokane, Wa./Mead) had an assist on Kirk’s strike…Martinez leads the GNAC in game-winning goals with four and is third in overall points. Ruggles is the conference leader in shutouts (5) and No. 2 in GAA (0.86)…Seven players have started all eight games: Oakes, Hamby, Ruggles, Stiegemeier, Nason, Gerstmann and Meredith Teague (So, Redmond, Wa./Bellevue Christian)...Mollie Taylor (Sr., Westlake Village, Ca./Oaks Christian) got her second start in California...The top four Far West teams at the end of the season qualify for the NCAA tournament. The number of playoff teams from each region is tentatively scheduled to grow to six in 2007...Somehow, despite winning four in a row, SPU slipped one spot in the national rankings this week. Nebraska Omaha, the defending NCAA champion remains No. 1. A newcomer to the top 25 is Montana State Billings at No. 18. The Yellowjackets join the GNAC next year.

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.