MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon soccer team concludes a run of five consecutive home games this week when they host Montana State Billings Thursday, Oct. 17, and Northwest Nazarene Saturday, Oct. 19, at WOU Soccer Field. Both matches this week feature opponents within two points of the Wolves in the GNAC standings.

Western Oregon (5-4-2, 2-2-1 GNAC) sits in a tie for fourth place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference entering this week's play after receiving points in six of seven matches between Sept. 19 and Oct. 10. That run included an upset victory over Seattle Pacific, 2-0, Oct. 5. It was the Wolves' first win over the Falcons since 2002. WOU is 4-1 at home this season, suffering their only loss in Monmouth to No. 15 Western Washington last week. The Wolves have out-scored opponents 8-2 in their home wins this season.

The Wolves are second in the conference with a 4.64 points per game average over their 11 matches. This offensive output has included 17 total goals while allowing just 13.

Junior Alyssa Tomasini is third in the GNAC with 1.27 points per game on five goals and four assists. Her four assists is second only to Western Washington's Karli White for the conference lead. Goalkeeper Alex Qualls has totaled three shutouts this season, second-most in the GNAC.

Montana State Billings (4-4-2, 3-2 GNAC) comes in to the week with a two-point advantage over Western Oregon for third in the GNAC with the possibility to make the leap ahead of the 'Jackets on the line on Thursday. In their first meeting of the year, MSUB escaped with a 1-0 win in Billings to open conference play. Since then, they are 2-2 and have been out-scored 13-3 by opponents.

Despite allowing 12 goals over a two-game span earlier this month, MSUB goalkeeper Erinn Harder leads the conference with four shutouts this season on the back of a .694 save percentage.

WOU is 9-10-4 against MSUB all-time. The Wolves have picked up a point in three of their last four meetings and have not lost in Monmouth since 2015. Western is 6-3-2 at home in the series.

Northwest Nazarene (5-5-1, 2-2-1 GNAC) sits in a three-way tie for fourth in the GNAC with seven points along with WOU and Central Washington. Their 1-0 loss Oct. 12 in Billings ended a streak of three straight matches with a point and was their first loss since Sept. 26. The Wolves and Nighthawks drew, 1-1, earlier this season in Nampa.

NNU's 1.73 goals per game average is second only to Western Washington in the conference, having scored 19 goals in 11 matches.

WOU is 22-10-4 against NNU all-time. Western has won three of the last six matches and is 5-2-4 over the last 11 meetings dating back to 2013. Western's last win in Monmouth over NNU came on Sept. 24, 2016, 2-1. They are 13-4-1 at home in the series.

Thursday's matchup with the 'Jackets is set for a 2 p.m. start while Saturday's game will begin at 11 a.m. PDT. Both matches will have live stats and video available here.