WCC Men's Soccer Weekly Notes - West Coast Conference Official Athletics Site

Oct. 27, 2009

SAN DIEGO STILL TEAM TO BEAT IN WCC PLAY

Loyola Marymount broke No. 22-ranked San Diego's five-game win streak after defeating the Toreros 2-1 on Thursday evening. The Toreros came back to win the second game of the home series, claiming a 4-1 victory over the Lions and sole possession of first in conference. Saint Mary's won two straight over Santa Clara to take second in the WCC standings, while Portland moved into third after a 2-2 draw and 5-1 defeat over Gonzaga.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

All Times PST

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30
TEAMS	LOCATION	TIME	RECAP
SANTA CLARA at GONZAGA	Spokane, WA	1:00 PM
SAINT MARY'S at PORTLAND	Portland, OR	7:00 PM
SAN DIEGO at SAN FRANCISCO	San Francisco, CA	7:00 PM
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1
TEAMS	LOCATION	TIME	RECAP
SAINT MARY'S at GONZAGA	Spokane, WA	1:00 PM
LOYOLA MARYMOUNT at SAN FRANCISCO	San Francisco, CA	2:00 PM
SANTA CLARA at PORTLAND	Portland, OR	2:00 PM

AROUND THE WCC

Make sure to download the full release in PDF format for national ranking lists, complete schedules, and results.

NCAA Releases Men's Soccer RPI: San Diego and Portland in Top 10
San Diego and Portland led the West Coast Conference, landing at No. 9 and 10 out of 204 programs in the latest NCAA men's soccer RPIs (October 12, 2009). Below are all seven WCC programs' RPIs, as determined by the NCAA.

University of San Diego - 9
University of Portland - 10
Loyola Marymount University - 37
Saint Mary's College - 67
University of San Francisco - 82
Gonzaga University - 87
Santa Clara University - 120

WCC Player of the Week:
Ryan Luke, University of Portland
Junior forward Ryan Luke scored four goals as the Portland Pilots battled Gonzaga to a 2-2 draw in Spokane, WA and defeated the Bulldogs 5-1 at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex. Luke tallied both of Portland's goals on Wednesday afternoon as the Pilots built a 2-0 lead and then scored two more goals on Sunday. With the weekend, Luke is now tied for the team high in goals with five, and Portland has moved into sole possession of third place in the WCC standings.

September 2009 Player of the Month: Rafael Baca, Jr., F, LMU
Junior Rafael Baca started the season with a bang and has not slowed down since, leading the WCC in goals (5) and points (10) through the first month. A team captain and M.A.C. Hermann Trophy candidate, Baca has been one of the catalysts to LMU's 5-3-0 start that returned the Lions to the national rankings for the first time since 2006. He opened the 2009 campaign with both goals in the Lions' 2-1 season-opening win at San Diego State that snapped the program's 18-match road winless streak. On September 13, he scored the first goal in a 2-1 upset at #6 UC Santa Barbara that put the Lions into the top-25 for the first time this year. The following week, he had his second multi-goal outing of the season, scoring twice, including the game-winner with eight minutes left, as LMU upset #5 Dartmouth at the San Diego Nike Classic. That performance netted him his first-ever WCC Player of the Week honor and a place on the Soccer America Team of the Week. Thanks in part to Baca, the Lions posted their best non-conference season since 2004.

San Francisco Selected as Preseason Favorite in 2009 WCC Men's Soccer Poll
The 2008 WCC Champion University of San Francisco garnered the maximum six first place votes to earn the top spot in the 2009 West Coast Conference men's soccer preseason coaches poll, as voted on by the head coaches in the conference. The Dons are followed by Bay Area rival Santa Clara University, who was selected as the preseason favorite last year. Loyola Marymount University and Gonzaga University both moved up from last season's coaches' poll and now are tied for third place. Rounding out this year's list are the University of San Diego, which was selected fifth, followed by the University of Portland and Saint Mary's College.

2009 WCC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. San Francisco 36 (6)
2. Santa Clara 24
3. Loyola Marymount 23 (1)
Gonzaga (23)
5. San Diego 19
6. Portland 16
7. Saint Mary's 6
First place votes

WCC Player of the Week: Ryan Luke, University of Portland

Two WCC Players Named To M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Watch List
The WCC landed two players on the 2009 Men's Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List. 2008 WCC Player of the Year Conor Chinn from San Francisco was selected, as was Loyola Marymount's Rafael Baca.

2009 WCC Preseason All-Conference
In addition to a preseason poll, the WCC head coaches were also asked to submit a preseason all-conference team for the first time. Below is the list of players named to the 2009 WCC preseason all-conference team.

Preseason All-Conference Team
Jalil Anibaba, Santa Clara - JR, MF
Rafael Baca, Loyola Marymount - JR, F
Nick Barclay, Gonzaga - SR, D
Bryan Burke, San Francisco - JR, F
Conor Chinn, San Francisco - SR, F
Roger Downes, Loyola Marymount - SO, D
Austin Guerrero, Portland - JR, GK
Tye Perdido, Gonzaga - SR, MF
Ryan Peterman, San Diego - SR, D
Yousef Samy, Saint Mary's - SR, MF
Collen Warner, Portland - SR, MF

WCC TEAM NOTES

SCHOOL	TEAM NOTES
Overall Record: 5-6-3 WCC Record: 2-4-1	Gonzaga tied with Portland 2-2 at home and suffered a 5-1 loss to the Pilots on the road. The Zags came from a two-goal deficit with a pair of second-half goals, scored by forwards Nick Love and Zach Smith, to end Wednesday's game in a 2-2 draw. Goalkeeper Scott Barnum recording eight saves on Wednesday afternoon. In the second matchup with the Pilots, Gonzaga fell behind early as the Pilots scored five goals. Despite having to play the final 38 minutes short one when starting defender James Partee received a red card for a hard tackle at 51:51, defender Tim Muravez managed to scored his first goal of the season to get the Zags on the board. Gonzaga will host Santa Clara on Friday (10/30) before hosting Saint Mary's on Sunday.
Overall Record: 7-7-1 WCC Record: 2-4-1	Loyola Marymount split its matches against San Diego, winning the away match 2-1 and losing at home 4-1. Defender Tyler Krumpe scored his first goal of the season four minutes into overtime to lift the Lions to a 2-1 victory over then 19th-ranked San Diego on Thursday night. Freshman goalkeeper Max Young finished with five saves against the Toreros and registered his fourth win of the season. On Sunday, forward Rafael Baca scored his league-leading ninth goal of the season, but it was not enough as the Lions split the home-and-home series with the first place Toreros. LMU was outshot 17-13. The Lions will travel north to take on San Francisco on Sunday (11/1) at 2 PM.
Overall Record: 8-3-3 WCC Record: 3-2-2	Portland tied with Gonzaga 2-2 on the road, then came back to beat the Zags 5-1 at home. The Pilots are currently third in the WCC standings. WCC Player of the Week Ryan Luke found the back of the net twice to give Portland a two-goal lead over Gonzaga, but the Bulldogs battled back to force a 2-2 draw on Wednesday afternoon at Gonzaga Soccer Field. It was a busy day for both goalies. Pilot goalkeeper Austin Guerrero recorded six saves on the day. The Pilots came out firing in their second matchup with the Zags on Sunday, finishing with a 19-10 shot advantage. Forward Luke and midfielder Jarad vanSchaik both scored twice in the 5-1 win, while vanSchaik also tallied two assists. Portland will remain at home next weekend to host Saint Mary's on Friday (10/30) at 7 PM and Santa Clara on Sunday (11/1) at 2 PM.
Overall Record: 9-2-3 WCC Record: 5-1-1	Saint Mary's dealt Santa Clara two losses last weekend, winning 1-0 on the road and 2-1 at home. The Gaels are second in the WCC standings. On Friday night, defender Tom Mohoric scored his first goal of the season in the 13th minute to lift the Gaels to its fifth shutout of the year. The Gael defense stayed tough, holding Santa Clara to just four shots the entire game. Defender Trevor Newquist scored both goals in Sunday's game off headers, with the game-winner coming with 17 seconds left in overtime. Midfielder Dylan Leslie assisted both goals. Gael goalkeeper Doug Herrick recorded eight saves over the weekend. Saint Mary's will travel up north to take on Portland on Friday (10/30) at 7 PM and Gonzaga on Sunday (11/1) at 1 PM.
Overall Record: 10-4-0 WCC Record: 6-1-0	No. 22-ranked San Diego dropped its home match to Loyola Marymount 2-1 and bounced back to defeat the Lions 4-1 on the road. San Diego still remains in sole possession of first place in the WCC standings. A late Loyola Marymount goal on Thursday night snapped San Diego's five-game win streak. The lone Torero goal was scored by forward Patrick Wallen and assisted by forward Stephen Posa in the 51st minute play. In the second game of the home series, the Toreros came back to unload a 4-1 victory and 17-13 shot advantage over the Lions. The Toreros had three different goal scorers on the night with one goal scored by midfielder Dan Delgado, another scored by Wallen, and two scored by forward Andrew Feld. San Diego will face off against San Francisco on the road on Friday (10/30) at 7 PM.
Overall Record: 5-7-1 WCC Record: 2-4-0	San Francisco did not compete last week, being the odd team out in this year's seven-team double round robin format. The Dons' latest results include a match split for the second straight weekend with a 1-0 win over then ranked Portland and a 2-0 loss to Gonzaga. Midfielder Jonathan Levi's third goal of the season in the 82nd minute lifted the Dons to a 1-0 WCC shutout against Portland. Goalkeeper Brendan Roslund collected his third shutout of his freshman campaign and made four saves for the Dons. The Dons held a 15-10 shot advantage over the Zags but could not get past goalkeeper Scott Barnum, who made six saves in the contest. All-American Conor Chinn and Levi each recorded three shots for the Dons. San Francisco will return to action on Friday (10/30) at home against San Diego.
Overall Record: 3-9-3 WCC Record: 1-5-1	Santa Clara dropped both its contests to Saint Mary's, losing its home match 1-0 and its away match 2-1. In the 1-0 loss to the Gaels, a late red card allowed Santa Clara an advantage, but the Broncos were unable to punch-in an equalizer. Both teams recorded four shots the entire match, while goalkeeper Larry Jackson recorded one save. Forward Erik Hurtado scored in the 86th minute to force overtime, but it was not enough for a Santa Clara victory. The Broncos finished with nine shots, in comparison to the Gaels' 17, and Bronco goalkeeper Naushad Godrej notched six saves. Regular keeper Jackson did not play due to injury. The Broncos will compete next against Gonzaga on Friday (10/30) at 1 PM and Portland on Sunday (11/1) at 2 PM.