Men's Soccer Ends Season
11/11/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Nov. 11, 2004
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Complete Statistics in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Complete WCC Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Complete WCC Statistics in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Fri., Nov. 12 - at Saint Mary's, 3 p.m.
Sun., Nov. 14 - at San Francisco, 1 p.m.
END OF REGULAR SEASON
BULLDOGS FINISH ON ROAD: Gonzaga University finishes the 2004 season on the road this weekend with matches Friday at Saint Mary's College at 3 p.m. and Sunday at the University of San Francisco at 1 p.m. Gonzaga begins its season-ending three-match road swing last weekend at Santa Clara University with a 2-0 setback.
SPOILERS: While Gonzaga University is out of the title chase, the Bulldogs can still have a say in who wins the West Coast Conference. In a pair of Friday matches, if Santa Clara University defeats or ties league-leading Loyola Marymount University and the University of San Francisco downs the University of Portland, then Sunday's match between Gonzaga and USF would be for the outright league title. LMU currently sits atop the WCC with 25 points, while USF is second with 21. A LMU tie against SCU would give the Lions 26 points and a USF win over Portland would give the Dons 24. A team gets three points for a win.
THE FIRST MEETINGS: Gonzaga University splits its Spokane meetings with the University of San Francisco and Saint Mary's College. Following a 1-0 setback to USF, the Bulldogs came back for a 2-1 win over the Gaels. That snapped a four-match Gonzaga losing streak to open WCC play.
CHANGE IN GOAL: Redshirt freshman keeper Dade Smith made his third career start last Friday at Santa Clara University, the Broncos taking a 2-0 win. Smith's other two started this year were against Montana State University-Billings at home and at Oregon State University. Bulldog head coach Einar Thorarinsson has already tabbed the Bozeman, Mont., native to start this weekend's matches at Saint Mary's College and the University of San Francisco. "Dade has played well in practice and earned the start last week. It's a permanent change," Thorarinsson said. Smith has played 283:30 this season, has allowed nine goals and has a 2.86 GAA. Six of the goals came at OSU. He replaces Sean Sosnovec who has started all 15 of his appearances this season and has a 1.60 GAA.
SHUTOUTS: Gonzaga University has been blanked 11 times this season, one shy of the school record of 12 shutouts in 1987. The most times the Bulldogs had been shutout in a season since joining the West Coast Conference in 1993 was nine, but one of those was a 0-0 deadlock with Loyola Marymount University. The lone time the Bulldogs scored a goal in a losing effort this season was in a 3-1 home setback to the University of San Diego on Halloween.
BULLDOGS VS. GAELS: Gonzaga University edged ahead in the series with Saint Mary's College 6-5-1 after taking the first meeting this year 2-1 in Spokane. SMC snapped a three-match winless streak in the series last year with a 5-0 whitewashing of the Bulldogs in Moraga, Calif. The teams tied 1-1 in overtime in Spokane in 2002 in a match that was halted after just one overtime period because of darkness.
BULLDOGS VS. DONS: The series between Gonzaga University and the University of San Francisco is now deadlocked 6-6 following the Dons earlier win this season. The Dons have won three straight, taking last year's decision 2-1 in San Francisco and 2-0 in 2002 in Spokane to go with the 1-0 victory this season. The Bulldogs had won six straight in the series prior to dropping the last three outings.
SCORING RACE: Senior Arni Pjetursson and freshman George Josten are in a tight battle for the Gonzaga University scoring title this year heading into the final weekend of the season. Pjetursson has five goals and three assists for 13 points while Josten has five goals and one assist for 11 points.
SENIORS IN FINALE: Three Gonzaga University seniors will don the Bulldog uniform for the final time this weekend. Jon Baune (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho), Mike Herzog (Kalispell, Mont.) and Arni Pjetursson (Reykjavik, Iceland) will play their final matches this weekend.
RANKED FOES: Three teams ranked in the Soccer America Top 25 dot the Gonzaga University schedule. The University of Washington is ranked ninth this week, Santa Clara University is 19th and the University of Portland is 23rd. The Bulldogs lost to UW 1-0, dropped 1-0 and 2-0 decisions to SCU and fell to Portland twice by identical 2-0 scores.
ON THE INTERNET: All Gonzaga University home matches and several road matches can be followed in real time on the Internet via Gametracker. Go to the Gonzaga web site at http://www.gozags.com and look for the Gametracker link in the Upcoming Events listing. Click on the link and follow the Bulldogs up to the minute. Gametracker is a service of College Sports Online, official athletic website provider for Gonzaga.
THE THORARINSSON TALE OF THE TAPE: Gonzaga University head coach Einar Thorarinsson is 85-76-10 in his 10th season with the Bulldogs. His overall record is 204-128-23 that includes nine seasons across town at Whitworth College. After going 3-10-2 in his first season of 1995, the Bulldogs have had winning seasons in six of the last eight 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.
