GNAC & the NWC: NNU, Whitworth men off to good starts

With conference play just around the corner for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the Northwest Conference, handful of area teams and players have gotten things off to good starts in non-conference play.

In the GNAC, the Northwest Nazarene men have gotten off to a great start to the season. The Crusaders are 4-1-0 with the lone loss, 1-0, being their only game at home. The team swept a three-game trip in Hawaii and picked up another victory in California. They also netted an impressive exhibition result in their first action of the fall, netting a 2-2 draw in Spokane against Division I Gonzaga.

Meanwhile, league power Seattle Pacific has been perfect through its first four games with Cody Lang (Spokane, WA) not allowing a single goal along the way.

GNAC newcomers Concordia has gotten off to mixed starts in their move up from the NAIA. The men are 2-1-0 and the ladies are 2-1-1.  MSU-Billings (2-1-1) and Northwest Nazarene (3-2-0) also boast winning non-conference records heading into the women's season.

In the NWC, the reigning champion Whitworth men have been rather dominant in their non-league start at 4-0-0 in addition to a pair of road draws against GNAC opposition Saint Martin's and Western Washington in exhibition contests on the same day.

On the ladies side of the NWC, it has been a tough start for the local programs with Whitworth going 2-2-0 and Whitman 0-4 in non-league play.

Here is an update on the action thus far in the GNAC and NWC along with some notes on players around the nation at the DII and DIII levels...

Whitman edges rival Whitworth 1-0 in NWC women's opener

Full INWsn photo gallery [+]

In a match where each side had the better of play for a half, it was the visiting Missionaries that were able to break the stalemate, tallying their first goal of the campaign via a Danielle Wieck penalty to record their first positive result of the season as the Northwest Conference opened play in the women's league Wednesday.

PAC-12, the WCC & more DI: Great starts for WSU, UW & OSU

Washington State is off to one of the best starts among the INWsn area schools at 6-0-0. The Cougars have taken care of business in the non-conference portion of their slate thus far, downing three Big Sky schools as well as handing Seattle University one of its two losses - Washington being the other. In fact, Post Falls, ID native Kelcie Hedge (Post Falls, ID) as a true freshman is helping the Huskies get off to a 6-1-0 start with a goal and two assists on the other side of the state.

In Spokane, the Gonzaga programs have mixed results thus far, each with their own predicaments. The ladies are 1-3-3 with injuries making things difficult in the arly going while the men are 3-2-1 thanks to a stifling defense that has seen every game decided by just one goal, including a season-opening 1-0 loss at Washington, as the team searches for offensive consistency.

Also of note, the Oregon State Beavers are off to a perfect 5-0-0 start thanks to a team-leading four goals from Timmy Mueller (Post Falls, ID). And further away from home, Kara Marbury (Spokane, WA) has helped Illinois get off to a great start as well with two goals and an assist in the program's 6-1-0 start.

Big Sky & the MW: Eastern Washington off to hot start in non-conference play

Things are looking a bit different so far this year, particularly in the Big Sky Conference where Eastern Washington University is off to it's most impressive start in program history. The Eagles boast the best non-conference record thus far in the league while Montana is 3-4-1 and Idaho is 3-4-0.

The real eye-opener is the possible fall that Idaho State is in the midst of after having reached the Big Sky Final a year ago. The Bengals, Big Sky champions in 2012, have struggled through the early part of the campaign with a 1-6-1 record and the only win coming against Division II Westminster, which just moved up from the NAIA.

Idaho State's other positive result was a 1-1 draw against Boise State, which is also finding a hard go of things with a 1-4-2 record that also has them among the worst of the Mountain West Conference in regards to non-conference results. The Broncos' lone victory was a 1-0 win against Idaho.

The big litmus test for the teams in the region is Washington State, an NCAA tournament team. Three teams out of the Big Sky and Mountain West took on the Pac-12 side and two nearly came away with a surprise result. Boise State fell 2-1 while Montana took the Cougars all the way to overtime before falling 1-0. In the border battle, WSU came out on top 3-1 against Idaho.

Gonzaga men edge UW-Milwaukee, ladies fall to Oklahoma State

Full INWsn photo galleries: MEN -- WOMEN

After a heartbreaking, dramatic loss in overtime Friday, the Gonzaga men bounced back and earned a hard-fought 1-0 win against UW-Milwaukee Sunday afternoon at Luger Field thanks to a second half Ben White tally. The Bulldog women, however, were unable to find the back of the net in a 2-0 loss to the Cowgirls of Oklahoma State.

CC Spokane splits NWAC East openers versus Columbia Basin

Full INWsn Photo Gallery[+]

Both games started with scoreless draws through the first half, but the second stanza proved fruitful for the CC Spokane ladies in a 3-0 win against Columbia Basin College while the men continued to find misfortune in front of goal in a 2-0 defeat to the Hawks.

Overtime sees Gonzaga women tie, men fall in heartbreaker

Full INWsn Photo Galleries - WOMEN :: MEN 

It was a disappointing day of double overtime at Gonzaga's Luger Field Friday as the lady Bulldogs played to a 1-1 draw in a game both they and Cal State Fullerton would probably rather forget and the Zag men dominated a contest that saw them fall 2-1 in a dramatic finish to Hartwick.