MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University men's soccer program has put together their first fall schedule for the coming 2022 season.
The Wolves will play nine home games, with the first of the season arriving on August 26.
The season starts on August 17 playing an exhibition game at Multnomah in Portland starting at 2 p.m. WOU will travel to McMinnville on August 22 for another exhibition against Linfield with a 7 p.m. start time.
WOU opens the regular season at home on August 26 against Hawaii Pacific starting at 2 p.m. The Sharks went 8-6-2 last year, playing a few GNAC teams in Western Washington and Seattle Pacific. The Vikings picked up the 2-0 win and then the Falcons added a 2-1 victory over HPU, as both games were played in Hawaii.
The final exhibition match of the fall arrives on August 28 when WOU travels to Portland for a 12 p.m. game at Lewis & Clark.
September will see WOU travel to Salt Lake City to start the month facing host Westminster on September 1 at 7 p.m. They will close the trip on September 3 against Colorado Mesa at 1 p.m. The Griffins went 9-10 last year, facing two GNAC teams in Northwest Nazarene and Montana State Billings. Westminster traveled to Idaho for both games, falling just short against the Nighthawks by a 1-0 score, but then defeated the Yellowjackets by a 3-0 score. The Mavericks had a big 2021 season going 16-4-2 and advancing to the second round of the NCAA Championships, falling to eventual National Champion and West Region team Cal State LA. Colorado Mesa played a trio of GNAC teams last year, winning all three against Montana State Billings (2-1), Northwest Nazarene (2-1) and Simon Fraser (5-0).
WOU will host a home tournament after returning from Utah with Cal State Dominguez Hills, Stanislaus State and Saint Martin's traveling to Monmouth for a tournament September 9-11. The Wolves will open the tournament on September 9 against Cal State Dominguez Hills starting at 2 p.m. The Toros went 10-6-1 last year, advancing to the semifinals of the CCAA Championships. WOU will then play Stanislaus on September 11 starting at 11:30 a.m. The Warriors went 6-11-1 last year and didn't play any GNAC teams.
The GNAC portion of the schedule begins on September 22 when WOU travels to Seattle to face Seattle Pacific at 4:30 p.m. The Wolves will later host SPU on the final regular season home game of the year on November 3 at 1:30 p.m. The Falcons went 12-4-2 and 6-2-2 in conference play, advancing to the first round of the NCAA Championships. SPU won the regular season GNAC title in 2021.
WOU continues the road swing on September 24 traveling to Western Washington in Bellingham for a 7 p.m. start time. The Wolves will host WWU back in Monmouth on October 13 starting at 1:30 p.m. The Vikings went 7-8-2 overall and 5-3-2 in GNAC play last year, finishing third in the conference standings. WWU just missed the postseason and finished the end of the regular season with several tight games. Over the final four games, the Vikings defeated NNU by a goal and then after ties against Montana State Billings and Seattle Pacific, they lost in overtime to Simon Fraser.
The first GNAC home game arrives on September 29 against Northwest Nazarene starting at 11:30 a.m. WOU will then travel to Idaho on October 20 for a 6 p.m. start time. The Nighthawks went 8-8 last year and went 5-5 in GNAC play to finish fourth. NNU finished the 2021 year strong picking up wins over Montana State Billings (2-0) and Seattle Pacific (1-0).
WOU will be right back on the road to start October playing at Saint Martin's on October 1 starting at 3:30 p.m. in Lacey. The two teams will meet again back in Monmouth on October 23 starting at 1 p.m. The Saints went 4-13 last year and 3-7 in GNAC play to finish fifth in the conference standings. Saint Martin's also closed the 2021 year strong winning two of their final three games against NNU and MSUB both by 2-1 scores in Lacey. Between those two games they just fell short in a 1-0 home battle against SPU.
The Wolves welcome Montana State Billings to Monmouth on October 8 starting at 11:30 a.m. WOU will travel back to Montana on October 29 starting at 2:30 p.m. The Yellowjackets went 4-9-3 last year, closing the year with a home win against Simon Fraser (3-0). MSUB went 2-6-2 in conference play to finish sixth. They played GNAC champion SPU strong falling in double-overtime in Seattle and then played to a 1-1 draw in Billings.
