Oct. 28, 2010

Complete Release in PDF Format

BULLDOGS HEAD TO BAY AREA: Gonzaga University's men's soccer team heads to the Bay Area this weekend to face one team ahead of it and one team below it in the West Coast Conference standings. The Bulldogs open the Bay Area swing Friday at Saint Mary's College (7-5-1, 3-3-0), the Gaels currently tied for fourth in WCC play with 9 points. Sunday Gonzaga travels across the East Bay to face the University of San Francisco in a 1 p.m. contest. The Dons (2-10-2, 0-6-1) are the only teams the Bulldogs have defeated to date in WCC play, taking a 3-1 victory in Spokane in the first meeting this season. A Gonzaga sweep combined with a University of Portland win over SMC, would give the Bulldogs no worse than a tie for fourth coming out of the weekend.

REGIONALLY RANKED FOE: Once again Gonzaga University will be facing a regionally ranked foe when the Bulldogs head to Saint Mary's College Friday, the Gaels tied for 10th with the University of New Mexico in the NSCAA/HendrickCars.com Far West regional ranking. It marks the seventh Bulldog opponent in the last eight matches to come into the match with a Far West ranking.

ON THE NATIONAL SCENE: Two Gonzaga University opponents are ranked in this week's NSCAA/HendrickCars.com and/or Soccer America Top 25 rankings. UC Irvine, which defeated the Bulldogs 4-0 in the season opener, has moved up to seventh in the NSCAA/HendrickCars.com poll and is eighth in the Soccer America Top 25. Loyola Marymount University jumped one spot to 21st in the NSCAA/HendrickCars.com balloting, and entered the Soccer America Top 25 in 24th this week after being unranked last week.

BULLDOGS DROPPED BY PILOTS: The University of Portland scored two second-half goals and took a 2-1 come-from-behind West Coast Conference men's soccer victory over Gonzaga University last Saturday night at a wet and soggy Merlo Field to start the second half of conference play. The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead when Colin Flynn scored his third goal of the season and second in three matches at 34:15. Flynn headed Greg Carter's free kick to the left post as he was left unmarked by the Pilot defense. But the momentum swung to the side of the Pilots when the Bulldogs were called for a foul in the box at 77:21 resulting in the penalty kick. Jarad vanSchaik converted the penalty kick to the open right side past Gonzaga keeper Ryan Caballero. The decisive goal came at 87:36 when Ryan Luke's shot from the close right wing deflected off a Bulldog and changed directions at the right post and beat Caballero, who had no chance at making the save.

ZAGS MINUS A PAIR OF PLAYERS: Two Gonzaga University players will have to sit out Friday's match at Saint Mary's College. Colin Flynn received a red card in the waning seconds of last Saturday's match at the University of Portland which carries with it an automatic one-game suspension. James Partee will also be sidelined Friday after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last Saturday at Portland. Five yellow cards results in a one-match suspension. Flynn is tied for the team lead with Stefan Eysteinsson for goals (3) and points (7).

BULLDOGS VS. GAELS: Saint Mary's College won the first meeting with Gonzaga University this season in Spokane, 1-0, on a goal in the 88th minute. The decisive goal came after a flurry of shots as the first two were blocked by the Bulldogs before the third attempt found the net. The teams swapped a pair of shutouts last season, the Gaels posting a 2-0 decision at home and the Bulldogs repaying the favor with a 5-0 home whitewashing. Gonzaga leads the all-time series with SMC 11-10-3.

BULLDOGS VS. DONS: Gonzaga University grabbed the upper hand in its series with the University of San Francisco when the Bulldogs snapped a four-match losing streak with this year's 3-1 victory in Spokane earlier this season. The Bulldogs now lead the overall series 12-11-1. The clubs split the series a year ago, the Bulldogs winning 2-0 at USF, but the Dons ending the regular season with 2-1 victory at Gonzaga.

HALLOWEEN DATES: October 31 seems to have had its share of tricks rather than treats for Gonzaga University's men's soccer team over the years. Sunday's Halloween matchup at the University of San Francisco will be the ninth such contest in Bulldog history since 1980, the first year the Bulldogs fielded a team. The Zags are 3-5-0 on Halloween. The last time Gonzaga played on the ghoulish day was 2008 when the Bulldogs took a 2-1 road win at Santa Clara University. The Bulldogs downed the University of San Diego 3-2 in 2005 in San Diego. Gonzaga took a 3-1 decision in 1992 at Loyola Marymount University in its first Halloween victory.

THE THORARINSSON FILE: Einar Thorarinsson is in his 16th season at Gonzaga University. He has taken the Bulldogs to two NCAA Tournaments, the first in 2001 and the last in 2007. Thorarinsson is the winningest coach in Bulldog men's soccer history with a 129-130-25 record. He earned his third WCC Coach of the Year honor in 2005, and won his 100th Gonzaga match in 2006. For Thorarinsson's complete biography visit the web at http://www.gozags.com/sports/m-soccer/mtt/thorarinsson_einar00.html.

ON THE WEB: All Gonzaga University home matches and selected road contests will be available on video through the CBS College Sports Online All-Access subscription service available at http://wwww.gozags. Gametracker will be available free of charge for all home matches and selected road contests through the Gonzaga website.