After impressive unbeaten starts to their seasons, the Montana State-Billings duo saw the opening of conference play take them in opposite directions with the lady Yellowjackets posting a pair of wins while the men dropped both matches.
Northwest Nazarene, meanwhile, was one of three teams in the conference to go unbeaten on the week with a win and a draw. The ladies team lost both matches while Central Washington split its two opening matches.
Great Northwest Athletic Conference - Men
Seattle Pacific jumped to the top of the table as the only team in the GNAC to win both contests in the opening weekend.
On Thursday, the second-ranked Falcons blanked visiting Sioux Falls 2-0 on a day full of shutouts as Simon Fraser and Mary also earned 2-0 wins against Saint Martin's and MSU-Billings, respectively. The fourth match between Northwest Nazarene and Western Washington went scoreless.
Saturday was a different matter as all eight schools found the back of the net. Seattle Pacific downed Mary, 3-1, and Saint Martin's edged Sioux Falls, 3-1 while Western Washington and Northwest Nazarene posted 2-1 wins against MSU-Billings and Simon Fraser. Kyle Peterman (Boise, ID) scored the third goal for SPU. Emerson Peredo (Boise, ID) set up the 87th minute game-winner for Northwest Nazarene by Jaime Torres, who also set up Daniel Clark's opener in the 72nd. MSUB took the initial lead through Cameron Lee in the 23rd minute with Sujinda Dangvan scored two second half goals for Western Washington.
Coming Up...
Thursday, September 20
Saint Martins @ MSU-Billings - 4:00
Seattle Pacific @ Northwest Nazarene - 5:30
Simon Fraser @ Sioux Falls - 7:00
Western Washington @ Mary - 8:00
Saturday, September 22
Seattle Pacific @ MSU-Billings - 1:00
Saint Martin's @ Northwest Nazarene - 3:00
Western Washington @ Sioux Falls - 7:00
Simon Fraser @ Mary - 7:00
Great Northwest Athletic Conference - Women
Aside from Seattle Pacific falling 2-1 at MSU-Billings, it was a good opening day for the Washington-based schools. Saint Martin's edged Simon Fraser 1-0, Western Washington downed Western Oregon 2-0 and Central Washington topped Northwest Nazarene 3-0. Heidi Greenback scored back-to-back goals in the 21st and 24th minutes to give MSU-Billings the early two-goal lead with Jaucelyn Richter (Billings, MT) setting up the second. Seattle Pacific tried to rally with a Josie Graybeal goal six minutes into the second half. Central Washington cruised to the win with goals from three different players in the first 25 minutes. Jamie Arthurs (Richland, WA) posted three saves for Western Washington's clean sheet.
Scoring nearly doubled Saturday. MSU-Billings picked up the lone shutout with a 2-0 victory against CWU while Seattle Pacific and Western Washington posted 3-1 wins against Northwest Nazarene and Saint Martin's, respectively. Western Oregon downed Simon Fraser 4-1. Megan Lindsay (Spokane, WA) scored what proved to be the SPU game-winner on Heather Young's second assist in four minutes with a goal from Jenny Field (Nampa, ID) coming as the lone strike for the hosts. Chelsea Shuman (Kalispell, MT) scored both goals for MSUB. Katlyn Lokay set up the first in the 35th minute with Richter setting up the second in the 49th.
Coming Up...
Wednesday, September 19
Western Washington @ Seattle Pacific - 7:00
Thursday, September 20
Saint Martin's @ MSU-Billings - 1:30
Western Oregon @ Northwest Nazarene - 3:00
Simon Fraser @ Central Washington - 4:00
Saturday, September 22
MSU-Billings @ Northwest Nazarene - Noon
Central Washington @ Seattle Pacific - 7:30
Sunday, September 23
Western Oregon @ Saint Martin's - 1:30
Simon Fraser @ Western Washington - 6:00
