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Men's Soccer Opens WCC Play Friday Night At Portland
Sept. 24, 2008
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Friday, September 24 - at Portland, 7 p.m. Sunday, September 26 - at Washington, 2:30 p.m. BULLDOGS OPEN WCC PLAY: Gonzaga University's men's soccer team will open West Coast Conference play Friday at Pacific Northwest foe University of Portland in a 7 p.m. match on Merlo Field at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex. This is the second straight year these two teams have kicked off the WCC slate, the squads battling to a 1-1 double-overtime tie at Portland in last season's opener. Gonzaga visits the University of Washington Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in their final non-conference match of 2008. BULLDOGS CAPTURE TOURNAMENT: For the first time in three tries, Gonzaga University won the Gonzaga Nike Soccer Classic last weekend. The Bulldogs opened the tournament with a come-from-behind 3-2 overtime victory over UMKC after being down 2-0, Tye Perdido scoring a pair of goals that included the match winner. Philippe Garre scored his first goal of the season and Scott Barnum had five saves as GU held off Cal State Bakersfield 1-0 Sunday. CSUB had defeated Oregon State University 1-0 in Friday's opener. In Sunday's other match, OSU routed UMKC 5-1 for third place. Gonzaga also hosted the tournament in 2002 and 2005. PERDIDO NAMED MVP: Gonzaga University's Tye Perdido was named MVP of the Gonzaga Nike Soccer Classic last weekend, one of four Bulldogs honored on the all-tournament team. Teammates joining Perdido on the all-tournament team were defenders Nick Barclay, Tim Muravez and Mitch Boland. Also named to the all-tournament team were Cal State Bakersfield's Anthony Snygg, Manny Guzman and keeper Steve Trojanowski, the latter allowing just Sunday's goal in the two matches. Rounding out the all-tournament awards were Oregon State University's Robby Christner and Ryan Callahan, and UMKC's Brian Harris and Bryan Perez. BARNUM RECORDS ANOTHER SHUTOUT: Junior keeper Scott Barnum recorded his second shutout of the season with a 1-0 win over Cal State Bakersfield in the championship match of the Gonzaga Nike Soccer Classic. His first shutout was in a scoreless tie at Oregon State University. After earning the starting berth in the second match of the season, he has recorded a 1.13 GAA. WCC DRAUGHT: While Gonzaga University snapped one scoreless draught in the season opener at Creighton University - 601:21dating back to last season - the Bulldogs enter Friday's match at the University of Portland with a West Coast Conference scoreless string of 448:13 since a 1-0 win at the University of San Francisco Nov. 2, 2007. John Reha scored that goal at 31:03 and Gonzaga went the final four WCC matches without a goal - including a double-overtime scoreless tie at Saint Mary's College and a 1-0 home loss to Santa Clara University on a goal at 109:16. KISS YOUR SISTER: Both of last season's matches between Gonzaga University and the University of Portland resulted in double-overtime ties, a 1-1 affair at Portland and 2-2 at Gonzaga. Portland scored at 79:55 at home to force overtime and Gonzaga's Tye Perdido rang a goal post in the 107th minute that would have given the Bulldogs the win. In the re-match in Spokane, Gonzaga's George Josten scored at 87:19 to send the match to OT. Grant Lundberg almost gave the Bulldogs a victory when his shot at 108:23 hit the top corner of the right post, Gonzaga holding a 6-1 shots advantage in OT. THE SERIES: Gonzaga University has not lost to the University of Portland in the last six matches, the Bulldogs 3-0-3 dating back to 2005. The Bulldogs won the first meeting 1-0 at home in 2005, tied 2-2 in double overtime in Portland, swept the series in 2006 and then tied the two matches last season. Portland still leads the series 17-8-3. The teams met in Gonzaga's inaugural NCAA Tournament appearance in 2001, the Pilots taking a 1-0 victory at the University of Washington. BULLDOGS FINALLY BITE BACK: Gonzaga University's men's soccer team finally got the monkey - or should that be Husky - off its back last season with a 2-1 non-conference victory over cross-state rival University of Washington. The Bulldogs had never defeated the Huskies in 19 previous tries dating back to 1981, the tie a 2-2 deadlock in 1999 at Martin Field. Ben Funkhouser's goal at 84:42 broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Bulldogs the win over the 15th-ranked Huskies in front of a school record 1,127 fans at Martin Field. Washington still leads the series 19-1-1. GAMETRACKER, VIDEO AVAILABLE: Gametracker, a function of web site provider CBS Collegesports, and live video will be available for all Gonzaga University home matches and select Bulldog road contests this season. To follow Gonzaga University via Gametracker log on to http://wwww.gozags.com and go the Gametracker link in the schedule portion of the site. The video is subscription based off the All-Access portion of the website. THE THORARINSSON TALE OF THE TAPE: Gonzaga University head coach Einar Thorarinsson is 113-104-21 in his 14th season with the Bulldogs. His overall record is 232-156-34 that includes nine seasons across town at Whitworth College. He picked up his 100th Gonzaga win in 2006 with a 3-0 home win at Saint Mary's College. After going 3-10-2 in his first season of 1995, the Bulldogs have had winning seasons in six of the last 10 seasons under Thorarinsson. His teams led the West Coast Conference in wins with a 14-4-0 record in 1997 and 12-4-2 mark in 1998, capturing WCC co-championships in each of those seasons. The Bulldogs were 9-5-2 in 2001, making their inaugural College Cup appearance. In 2005 Gonzaga went to the final match of the season with a chance to win the WCC title. He was accorded his third WCC Coach of the Year honor in 2005 to go with similar honors won in 1996-97 as he was the first coach in Gonzaga history to receive back-to-back WCC Coach of the Year accolades. He is the fourth winningest coach overall in WCC contests with 46 wins and is second among active coaches, Seamus McFadden of the University of San Diego atop both lists with 73 wins.
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