Game 6
Thursday, Sept. 21 (3 p.m.)
Western Oregon vs. Northwest Nazarene
WOU Soccer Field | Monmouth, Ore.
Live Stream | Live Stats

Game 7
Saturday, Sept. 23 (11:30 a.m.)
Western Oregon vs. Montana State Billings
WOU Soccer Field | Monmouth, Ore.
Live Stream | Live Stats


MONMOUTH, Ore.—The Western Oregon University (1-4-0, 0-1-0 GNAC) women's soccer team will play half of its upcoming four-game home stand this week with a Thursday match against Northwest Nazarene and a Saturday morning tilt against Montana State Billings.

ABOUT NORTHWEST NAZARENE (4-2-0, 1-0-0 GNAC): In just six matches, the Crusaders have already matched their win total from 2016… NNU was one of three teams to open conference play with a win last week with a 1-0 outcome at home against Montana State Billings… NNU's Rikki Myers scored in the 70th minute for the game winner… All four NNU wins have come via shutout this season… Tadi Taylor is the leading goal scorer (3) and is in a three-way tie for the team lead with a pair of assists… Daniele Ortiz and Chloe Sholtz have split time in net for NNU this season with a combined 0.83 goals against average… NNU tied for eighth place in the GNAC standings a year ago with a 2-10-0 record in conference play, 4-13-0 overall.

ABOUT MONTANA STATE BILLINGS (1-5-0, 0-1-0 GNAC): The Yellowjackets will play at Concordia on Thursday before facing the Wolves… MSUB picked up its lone win with a 4-1 home victory against Black Hills State on Sept. 8… Outside of the win, the Yellowjackets have scored just three goals in five matches and have been shut out for the last 241 minutes, more than two and a half matches… Alexa Iacolucci has scored three of the team's seven goals while Alycia Wright has a pair of scores…Lila Dalgadillo has played the bulk of minutes in goal for MSUB and holds a 1.75 goals against average… MSUB went 4-10-3 overall a year ago and finished sixth in the GNAC standings with a 4-6-2 mark in league play.

LAST WEEK: The Wolves played a single match last week in facing the No. 1-ranked and defending NCAA DII national champion Vikings of Western Washington University… The Vikings scored five times in the first 20 minutes en route to a 7-0 win, extending the team's winning streak to 29 matches.

TOMASINO NAMED GNAC POW: With two goals in the second half against Chaminade, freshman Alyssa Tomasini was named the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 11… Tomasini broke the stalemate in the 64th minute against the Silverswords and returned with her second goal of the day in the 81st minute to preserve the first win of the season for the Wolves.

WOU ATTACK: Four different WOU players have scored a goal so far this season with freshman Alyssa Tomaini the lone player to find the net more than once through the first four contests… The team's four assists have come from four different players while junior defender Dana Jacobs and freshman forward Kennedy Clay have notched one goal and one assist each for the Wolves.

IN GOAL: Sophomore Caitlin Kastelic has played all 463 minutes for the Wolves between the pipes… Kastelic holds a 3.11 goals allowed per match average and a .644 save percentage… With 1,540 minutes logged a year ago, Kastelic played all but 10 minutes in goal during her freshman campaign for the Wolves in 2016.

YOUTH MOVEMENT: The Wolves feature eight freshmen and six sophomores on the roster… Defender Kai Mahuka represents the lone senior on the squad… Four players are in their third season in the program in Dacia Alexander, Chelsea Hartnett, Morgan Roan and Sydney Thomas.

RETURNERS: The Wolves return eight players that started at least one match a year ago, including senior defender Kai Mahuka, who got the starting nod in 15 contests in 2016… In the midfield, Meli Cortez made eight starts, Dacia Alexander six and Selene Konyn five… Defender Kaitlin Poe started four contests on the back line... The Wolves graduated players that scored 13 of the team's 16 goals a year ago, including Taylor Higa, who led the squad with seven goals and four assists.

GNAC PRESASON POLL: With 23 points in the poll of the nine head coaches, the Wolves were picked to finish eighth in the GNAC Preseason Coaches' Poll… The Wolves ranked higher than Saint Martin's (11 points) while being edged in points by Northwest Nazarene (26 points)… Defending national champion Western Washington earned all nine first-place votes for 91 points and was followed by Central Washington (62 points) and Concordia (58 points).

2016 RECAP: The Wolves went 5-11-1 overall in 2016… With a 2-9-1 record in GNAC play, WOU placed seventh in the league standings… WOU opened the year with back-to-back wins against George Fox and the Academy of Art… The Wolves experienced two overtime games a year ago, taking a loss at Saint Martin's on Oct. 6 and returning with a double-overtime win at Concordia on Oct. 18.