#14 WOU MEN'S SOCCER (13-2-1)
GNAC STANDINGS | GNAC STATS | WOU STATS | WOU STAT RANKINGS
 
SCHEDULE
Thursday
at Western Washington, 7 p.m.
Bellingham, WA
Saturday
at Northwest Nazarene, Noon (PT)
Nampa, ID
Live Stream & Stat Links
 
THE WOLVES HEADING INTO THE WEEK
Though the 14th-ranked Wolves wrapped up the GNAC title and the NCAA auto berth that comes with it after its 3-1 win over Seattle Pacific Saturday (combined with a Western Washington loss), they have plenty to play for this week in terms of NCAA seeding.

The top 10 teams out of each of the four regions make the NCAA Championships with the bottom four playing a first-round matchup Nov. 22 with the winner advancing to the second round to face either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the region. Wins this week only help WOU's chances for the best seed possible - which the Wolves will find their seed 3:30 p.m. Monday at NCAA.com.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Western Washington
ALL-TIME: 2-2-1
STREAK: Won 1
LAST WIN: Oct. 3, 2024 - 1-0 in Monmouth
LAST LOSS: Oct. 13, 2022 - 1-0 in Monmouth
LAST DRAW: Oct. 26, 2023 - 2-2 in Monmouth

Northwest Nazarene
ALL-TIME: 3-2
STREAK: Won 3
LAST WIN: Oct. 24, 2024 - 4-1 in Monmouth
LAST LOSS: Oct. 20, 2022 - 3-1 in Nampa
LAST DRAW: N/A
 
NOTES
Wolves top 10 scoring team in nation a true team effort
Heading into this week, WOU ranks eighth in the nation in scoring offense (2.75 goals per game), 11th in points per game (7.5), 12th in goal differential (+27) and third in shot accuracy (0.557) - yet don't have a single player in the top 75 in the nation in goals per game and only one player in the top 100 (Yahir Ocampo Navarro is 89th at 0.44).

The Wolves have 10 players this season with multiple goals - including eight with three or more and three with six or more. Overall, 15 different players have scored a goal for WOU this season. Compare this to the program's first NCAA team in 2022 where WOU had three players that scored multiple goals (two still play for WOU - Alex Grignon and Abraham Villalobos) and five players overall that scored goals. WOU has scored 44 goals in 2024 - four times more than it scored in 2022 in the program's inaugural NCAA season (11).

WOU's undefeated streak of 13 (11-0-2) in Monmouth to continue into 2025 ...
While the Wolves officially show a loss this season at home, the game had to be played at Salem's Willamette University. So while not an official home win streak, WOU still hasn't lost a match in Monmouth since Nov. 3, 2022 (741 days as of Wednesday) - owning an 11-0-2 mark in Monmouth home matches, including going 6-0 this season on campus.

The Behonick/Kagey effect ...
Since WOU head coach Michael Behonick and assistant coach Tim Kagey took over prior to the Wolves' second season since returning as an NCAA program in 2023, the Wolves have shined with a 26-5-4 mark - including going 24-3-4 since starting the 2023 season 2-2. For reference, WOU went 2-13-2 in its first season in 2022.

Wolves move up a spot to No. 14 ... POLL
The Western Oregon men's soccer team moved up a spot to No. 14 in last week's United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll. These are the first six weeks WOU has been ranked in the program's three-year history.

Wolves national rankings in 2024:
Oct. 1 - #25
Oct. 8 - #24
Oct. 15 - #15
Oct. 22 - #10
Oct. 29 - #15
Nov. 5 - #14

Let's go streaking!
This season the Wolves set records for:

• Unbeaten streak: 11 (10-0-1)
• Win streak: 7
• Home unbeaten streak: 11 (9-0-2) / a span of 723 days between home losses

Fisher named GNAC Defensive Player of the Week - (Nov. 11)
Western Oregon center back Ethan Fisher was a fixture for another strong defensive week for the 14th-ranked and GNAC champion Wolves along with adding an assist and was named the GNAC Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 11. The sophomore helped secure a GNAC title with a 3-1 win Saturday over Seattle Pacific by being a strong force on the WOU back line in holding the Falcons to just three shots on goal (one of which was on a PK, SPU's only goal) while also getting the assist on the game-tying goal after WOU fell behind 1-0.

WOU GNAC Players of the Week

• Ethan Fisher, Defensive (Nov. 11)
• Alexis Luna, Offensive (Nov. 4)
• Andre Schlaefli, Defensive (Oct. 7 & Oct. 14)
• Michael Divano, Offensive (Sept. 23)
• Yahir Ocampo Navarro, Offensive (Sept. 16)

Wolves selected GNAC Team of the Week (Oct. 14)
The then-No. 24 Western Oregon men's soccer team outscored defending GNAC champ Simon Fraser and Seattle Pacific by a combined score of 7-1 during the week of Oct. 10-12 and was named the GNAC Team of the Week on Oct. 14. The Wolves with the victories moved their unbeaten streak to nine games (8-0-1) and their winning streak to five games - both records for the third-year program. During the unbeaten streak, WOU has outscored its opponents 22-6. WOU's 3-0 shutout win over the Red Leafs on Thursday moved their home unbeaten streak to 10 matches (8-0-2).

Wolves picked second in GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll
The Western Oregon men's soccer team picked up a pair of first-place votes and was voted to finish second in the GNAC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll. The Wolves - entering year three as a program - snagged two of the five first-place votes and finished with 41 points - two points behind Simon Fraser (which collected the other five first-place votes). Seattle Pacific and Western Washington tied for third with 32 points followed by Northwest Nazarene (25), Montana State Billings (13) and Saint Martin's (10).

The Wolves went from a 2-13-2 team (1-10-1 in conference) in their first season in 2022 to 11-3-3 overall and 8-1-3 in GNAC play last season in head coach Michael Behonick's first season at the helm. WOU finished just short of a GNAC title as with games in the conference canceled due to inclement weather, the standings came down to points per match. WOU finished at 2.25 points per match with its 8-1-3 conference record, .02 points behind Simon Fraser's 2.27 with a 8-2-1 record.