FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Tuesday, October 25, 2016 Preview: ‘Jacket men face crucial road trip to No. 3 SFU, WWU this week
Squaring off against the top team in the GNAC and nationally-ranked No. 3 Simon Fraser on Thursday, MSUB’s men’s soccer team enters the week in contention for its first-ever trip to the NCAA national tournament. BILLINGS, Mont. – With three games remaining on the 2016 regular-season schedule, the Montana State University Billings men’s soccer team faces its biggest test of the season this week with a road trip against the top team in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Simon Fraser University, undefeated on the year at 11-0-2, ranked third nationally, and closing in on a GNAC title, will host the Yellowjackets on Thursday night at 8 p.m. Mountain time at Terry Fox Field in Burnaby, British Columbia. The Clan is 6-0-2 in league play, and is three points ahead of second-place Northwest Nazarene University and five points ahead of MSUB. The Yellowjackets will then return to the United States to face Western Washington University on Saturday, in a match that also starts at 8 p.m. at Harrington Field in Bellingham, Wash. Both matches will feature live video and live statistics, available through MSUB’s Stretch Internet portal here.
“We are playing for a berth into the national tournament, and we are going to need two great results this week,” said MSUB head coach Alex Balog. “We are going to get after it against Simon Fraser and Western Washington, and we know that those two games are never easy. SFU is a quality team ranked first in the region, and it is going to be a great game.” MSUB (8-4-3, 4-2-3 GNAC) entered last week’s games ranked No. 8 in the first NCAA Division II West Region poll of the year, and defeated Concordia University 4-1 and Seattle Pacific University 1-0 in a pair of home games. The NCAA regional rankings, which will next be released on Wednesday, will ultimately determine the six teams from the west region that will advance to the national tournament beginning in November. GNAC INSTAGRAM TAKEOVER: In a first-time exclusive, MSUB’s upcoming road trip will be documented from within the team as the Yellowjackets will take over the GNAC’s Instagram Story from Wednesday through Saturday. Follow the GNAC on Instagram @gnacsports to view updates that the team will post on everything from takeoff at Billings Logan International Airport to crossing the border to reach the NCAA’s only team in Canada. Click here to follow the action. ‘JACKETS ON THE RADIO: Junior Rhys Lambert will be featured as a live guest on GNAC Insider, the weekly radio program of the conference, on Julien Dragomir enters this week tied for the most goals Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Mountain time. Tuesday’s program airs live on in the GNAC with nine this season. Blog Talk Radio at this link. An interview with Coach Balog will be featured on the radio locally in Billings on Wednesday afternoon, as part of the Billings Sports Talk live remote broadcast from MSUB’s campus from 4-6 p.m. Listeners can tune their radio to ESPN 910 KBLG in Billings, or listen live to Wednesday’s program here. WEST’S BEST OFFENSE CONTINUES TO ROLL: No team in the NCAA West Region has scored more goals than the Yellowjackets, who kept their torrid scoring pace alive last week with five goals in two matches. With 33 finishes on the season, MSUB has one more than Simon Fraser, and three more than PacWest Conference leader Concordia University (Irvine) and California Collegiate Athletic Association leader Cal State Dominguez Hills. D IS KEY: For the third time this season, MSUB was recognized with GNAC Defensive Player of the Week honors, as freshman center back Oliver Posarelli was singled out. The Verona, Italy, native has started all 15 matches this season, and earned his first career assist in Thursday’s win over Concordia. He then played a full 90 minutes in the 1-0 shutout of SPU, helping MSUB to its sixth shutout of the year. Posarelli’s assist came from the right corner of the pitch, as he trekked the length of the field on a strong run out of the defensive third to create the goal. His pass to Julien Dragomir for the goal was the 15th in-a-row by the ‘Jackets on the play, as a dominant string of possession set up the finish. DRAGOMIR LEADS GNAC: Scoring two goals against the Cavaliers, Dragomir pushed his team-best total to nine, and he is now tied with Mamadi Camara of Simon Fraser University for the most goals in the GNAC. He and Camara each also have four assists, giving them a conference-best 22 points.
CAREER FIRST FOR TRIPLETT: Emerging into a starter at left back late in the season, freshman Chad Triplett did more than just defend in both matches last week. With MSUB and Concordia tied 1-1 in the first half, Triplett ripped a cross into the box from 35 yards away that carried over CU’s goalkeeper and into the upper-right corner of the net. “Chad and I are really close off the field, and I was so happy for him scoring a great goal,” said fellow freshman defender Callan Martin. “He has been working really hard to contribute minutes, and he has been playing great lately.” Martin also contributed to the shutout of the Falcons, starting the second half at center back and putting in solid minutes to keep the level of play consistent. ROBINSON EXCELLING ON THE OUTSIDE: Playing a major role in MSUB’s latest defensive triumph, senior right back Garret Robinson put together two of his best performances of the year last week. Robinson kept attacking players in check with strong defense on the perimeter of the field, and also aided MSUB’s offensive effort by pressuring up the right side.
Senior Garret Robinson has been a key part of MSUB’s defensive unit as an outside back this season.
PALOMINO PRODUCES AGAIN: For the second straight week, junior striker Ricardo Palomino scored a goal as he capped off MSUB’s win over the ‘Cavs on Thursday. He now ranks tied for second on the team with five goals, and is tied with Thiago Novis for ninth-most in the GNAC.
HAUENSTEIN’S HELPING HAND: While JD Hauenstein had already cemented himself as one of the top freshmen in the conference with four goals entering last week, the first-year Yellowjacket continued to display his offensive ability with an assist in each match. Hauenstein set up Dragomir’s first goal against the Cavaliers, and patiently held off a defender before a quick combination with Flavio Colasanti on Niklas Schregel’s game-winner against the Falcons. KREMER, COLASANTI KEEPING IT UP: Sophomore holding midfielder Guillaume Kremer picked up his fifth assist of the season, as he played the pass to Triplett before his goal. Though Colasanti did not have an assist last week, he continues to lead the team and rank third in the GNAC with six. The junior from Rome, Italy, came inches away from scoring a second goal against SPU on multiple occasions on Saturday, as he recorded a team-best five shots that were all highly accurate. “These last two games, we were very solid and played well as a team,” said Kremer. “The last game was tough and there were not many opportunities for either team, but we did well.” SCOTT EARNS THIRD SHUTOUT: Junior Joe Scott made four saves on five shots faced on Saturday, as he picked up his third shutout of the year. Scott holds a goals-against average of 1.12 and a save percentage of 71.1, while starting 11 matches and totaling 1,046 minutes between the posts.
Thursday, October 27 – at #3 Simon Fraser University Clan – 8 PM MTN Terry Fox Field | Burnaby, B.C. 2016 Record: 11-0-2, 6-0-2 GNAC Head Coach: Clint Schneider, 2nd season 2015 Record: 10-3-4, 9-2-3 GNAC Thriving under second-year head coach Clint Schneider, the Clan remain undefeated and are ranked third in the latest NSCAA top-25 poll released Tuesday. SFU has allowed only one goal in its last four matches, and most recently defeated Saint Martin’s 5-0 and tied Western Washington 1-1 last week. Camara jumped into a tie with Dragomir for the conference lead in goals with nine, while reigning GNAC Offensive Player of the Week Adam Jones ranks second on the team with six. The latter’s eight assists are the most in the GNAC as well, and Ryan Dhillon ranks second with seven and three goals scored. While the Clan have overpowered teams with their strong offense, the squad has been just as good defensively with a GNAC-low eight goals allowed in 13 matches. Senior goalkeeper Brandon Watson has earned six shutouts and holds a GNAC-best goals-against average of 0.60. Senior center back Magnus Kristensen has started all 13 matches and played every minute of the season (1,210), while contributing one goal. Pascal Schmidt has matched Kristensen’s numbers exactly, and Robert Hyams is another regular starter who has been vital to the team’s success. The Series: MSUB has never defeated SFU, with the Clan holding a 17-0-3 record against the ‘Jackets. MSUB is 0-8-1 in games played at Terry Fox Field. Last Time Out: Jones scored the only goal of the match as the Clan picked up a 1-0 victory at Yellowjacket Field on Oct. 8. Saturday, October 29 – at Western Washington University Vikings – 8 PM MTN Harrington Field | Bellingham, WA 2016 Record: 5-4-4, 2-3-3 GNAC Head Coach: Greg Brisbon, 4th season 2015 Record: 5-10-3, 3-9-2 GNAC The Vikings are coming off of a convincing 3-0 win over Saint Martin’s last Thursday, after pulling off a 1-1 draw at Simon Fraser the week before. WWU picked up four points in its two games since a 3-1 loss at MSUB, and will host Northwest Nazarene University on Thursday before Saturday’s rematch against the ‘Jackets. WWU is currently in fifth place in the GNAC standings with nine points, one behind Seattle Pacific and six behind the Yellowjackets. Nine different players have scored for the Vikings, with Anthony Dean heading up the group with a team-best six goals and four assists for 16 points.
Eleazar Galvan and Luke Olney have each started 12 matches, and have each put away a pair of goals while playing upwards of 1,000 minutes. Stephen Jinneman leads all field players with 1,127 minutes played, starting a dozen matches for the Vikings. In goal, Tyler Visten has started all 13 games and holds a goals-against average of 1.00 with 45 saves and four shutouts. The Series: MSUB is 7-17-1 all-time against the Vikings, including a 3-11 record in games played in Bellingham. The ‘Jackets have won three games in-a-row and four of the last five between the teams dating back to the 2014 season. Last Time Out: The ‘Jackets scored early and often, rolling to a 3-1 victory at Yellowjacket Field on Oct. 13. Ian Bream scored his second goal of the year, while Novis put away a pair to lead the ‘Jackets.
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