PNCLL Week 5 Preview
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PNCLL Schedule for Wednesday, February 27th – Tuesday, March 4th
Friday, February 29th
Gonzaga at St. Mary’s 3:30pm
Chico State at Oregon 6:00pm
Saturday, March 1st
Gonzaga vs UC San Diego (at Cal) 12:00pm
San Diego at Oregon 1:00pm
Chico State at Oregon State 1:00pm
Central Washington at College of Idaho 1:00pm
Montana at Washington 1:00pm
Western Washington at Whitman 1:00pm
Lewis & Clark at Pacific Lutheran 1:00pm
Washington State at Boise State 1:00pm
Sunday, March 2nd
Gonzaga at Santa Clara 11:30am
Montana at Simon Fraser 12:00pm
Lewis & Clark at Puget Sound 12:00pm
Western Washington at College of Idaho 1:00pm
Willamette at Southern Oregon 1:00pm
Central Washington at Whitman 1:00pm
San Diego at Oregon State 1:00pm
Division I Preview by Dr. Jason Stockton
Of the ten contests this week in the PNCLL D1, seven games will be played against out-of-conference opponents. Chico State and the University of San Diego make a trip to Oregon to face the Beavers and Ducks, and Gonzaga travels south to face St. Mary’s, UCSD and Santa Clara.
The most intriguing division game of the weekend has the Montana Grizzlies (1-0) travel to Seattle to face the Washington Huskies (4-1). This is the first meeting between the teams since 2004. Both teams played Gonzaga close last weekend, so on paper this looks like a great matchup. Sam Cameron (3g, 2a) and Townsend Hall (3g, 2a) led the Grizz attack last week in their defeat of the Bulldogs, 13-9. Sophomore midfielder Tucker Sargent lived up to the hype and notched 3 goals in the victory. The one-two punch of Gilbert Thompson and Colin Connery continued to work magic for the Grizz as they combined for a 17 saves in their first game of the young season.
For the Huskies, Junior goalie Cameron Moore was the story over the weekend, logging 28 saves over the two games and a huge 76% save percentage. Nick Tierney (11g, 4a), Sean Forsyth (7g, 8a) and Joe Kramer (13g, 3a) continue to do the majority of the scoring for the Huskies. Attackman Jacob Sonkin, whose brother Eli scored 4 points in the Husky win over Montana in 2004, is having a nice Sophomore season with 12 points through his first 5 games.
Montana will bring their passports and head due North for a Sunday contest with Simon Fraser University. SFU went 2-1 on their road trip through Utah and Idaho last weekend. The young SFU squad will need to improve their team offense if they want to make a run at Nationals in 2008. Of their 39 goals over the weekend, only 8 were assisted – which is very unlike SFU teams of the past. With their “youth movement” they obviously aren’t all on the same page yet, but if coaches Cathrea and Hoskins can get this group to gel—this offense could be phenomenal. Sophomores Ben Towner (13g) and Russell Thomas (9g, 1a) did the majority of the damage for SFU over the weekend.
In the only other division contest this weekend, the Washington State Cougars (0-1) lick their wounds after their 30-0 loss to the Ducks and travel to Idaho to face Boise State (0-3). The Broncos have some wounds of their own after being outscored 28-3 in their two games over the weekend. Senior Dan Bargholz (3g, 1a) leads the Broncos in scoring.
After two close losses over the weekend, Gonzaga (1-2) takes their show on the road for three out-of-conference games. Hours before their hoops team hosts WCC rival St. Mary’s in Spokane, the Bulldogs will face the Gaels (0-3) down in Moraga in their version of the “Holy War.” It’ll be a homecoming of sorts for Jr. midfielder Peter Janicki (1g, 6a), winner of the Sasha Dansky Award as the most improved player on the 2005 Gaels squad. Through three games, freshman Stewart Allen (9g, 3a) has been very impressive at attack, and senior Aaron Niehuser (9g, 2a) continues to provide the biggest midfield threat for the Zags. Saturday the Zags will play U.C. San Diego (0-2) on a neutral field in Berkeley. UCSD has had a rough time last season in the “post Nick Dean era”, and those struggles have continued early in 2008 with losses to LMU and Cal Poly. Finally, on Sunday, the Zags take on Gary Podesta’s Santa Clara Broncos (2-2). Sophomore attackman Charles Ellis (8g, 11a) is one of the WCLL’s top threats and along side junior Mark Swoboda (11g, 2a) this team can really light up the scoreboard.
Friday night the #5 Oregon Ducks (3-0) host the Chico State Wildcats (1-3). Freshman midfielder Josh Roden leads the ‘Cats in scoring with 6 goals through 4 games. For the Ducks, Justin Blackmore (14g, 6a) continues to dominate games and leads the PNCLL in scoring. The tough Duck defense, led by seniors Andrew Vincent and Jeff Brunelle, has been fantastic through 3 games – allowing only 8 goals in their first three games.
On Saturday, Oregon hosts USD in another interleague contest. Senior attackman Dan Barber is the straw that stirs the drink for the Torreros, and freshman attackman Dillon DuPont (Bishop’s H.S.,CA) has been very solid early, logging 3 solid points in his first college game against #15 Chapman.
The Oregon State Beavers (2-4) picked up their first league victory last weekend with a win over the up-and-coming Idaho Vandals. The senior class stepped up in the victory, with midfielder Jon Provancher (4g, 2a) and attackman Jordan Phillips (3g, 2a) leading all scorers. Sr. Goalie Josh Azevedo had another solid game with a 75% save percentage in three quarters of play. Oregon State will face Chico State on Saturday, and then play the University of San Diego on Sunday.
Division II Preview by Dan Wishengrad
An exciting first month of DII play is “in the books”, with upsets galore and upstart teams making lots of noise. Pre-season polling has proven to be an extremely inaccurate gauge of 2008 form, as only one of the four teams picked to lead the pack is currently within a game of the lead in the standings. The absence of ‘07 national champ Montana has made the PNCLL’s DII a truly wide-open division, and any of the six teams who ultimately qualify for the ‘08 post-season might have a realistic shot at capturing the crown. Month two kicks off with some crucial contests that either will clarify that there is, indeed, a new pecking order in the division, or perhaps will further roil the already muddy waters.
In one critically important Saturday matchup, Western Washington (2-1, 2-2 overall) visits Whitman (2-1). A pair of outstanding Frosh Attackmen, Sunn Kim (18, 5, 7.67) of WC and Lucas Simons (21g, 1a, 5.50 ppg) of WWU lead their respective teams in scoring, with Kim leading the division in overall scoring to date. The Vikings have rebounded well from a rocky start, while the Missionaries lost an overtime heart-breaker to UPS last weekend in a battle of the conference’s final two unbeaten teams. Both teams have potent offenses, and this looks to be a high scoring affair. WWU might have the slight edge defensively, but WC has an important home field advantage, and Ankeny Field in Walla Walla should be rocking and rolling for this one. If I could be present to spectate any DII game in week #5, this Vikings vs Missionaries battle would definitely be the one to pick.
Central Washington (2-1) is at College of Idaho (0-3) on Saturday in another important contest. Like WWU and WC, the Wildcats are tied for second place in DII. After a stunning upset of ranked WOU earlier in the season which temporarily elevated CWU to first-place in the standings, the Wildcats were brought back down to earth a little by a six-goal home loss to the Vikings. Led offensively by Freshman Middie Jake Mehl (12, 4, 5.33 ppg) and a potent attack, it would be too easy for Central to look past the winless Yotes in anticipation of the big Sunday game at Whitman – but the Wildcats do so at their own peril. CofI has recovered nicely from a pair of 12-goal defeats to start the ‘08 campaign, and gave perennial DII powerhouse PLU all it could handle in a 13-11 loss last weekend. Colin Burke (13, 8, 7.00 ppg) is the focal point of the Yotes’ offense, who will have to possess the ball to limit Central’s opportunities and tighten up both the transition and close defense to have any realistic chance to pull off an upset in this one. The Yotes may be in last place in the standings, but are by no means out of contention. Any realistic post-season aspirations for the Yotes certainly ride on capturing at least one win this weekend, however, against either Central or Western Washington, who comes calling on Sunday. Falling to 0-5 with only four road games remaining would almost sruely dash these hopes, which makes College of Idaho both a desperate and dangerous team here in Week #5.
On Sunday Whitman will take it’s turn hosting Central Washington, while WWU heads to Caldwell to take on CofI. The Wildcats’ returning players certainly remember a 13-2 drubbing at the hands of the Missionaries in Walla Walla last season, as if they even need any added incentive this time around. If Central Washington can manage to win Saturday while Whitman has a tougher game (on paper, anyway) against WWU, the Wildcats could be in good shape to pull another huge shocker that would impact both the PNCLL standings and the MCLA national poll due out next week.
Lewis & Clark (0-1) travels north on I-5 for a pair of weekend games at Pacific Lutheran (1-1, 2-2) and Puget Sound (3-0). Veteran Goalie Raffy Cuevas will have to play at his best to lead the Pioneers’ defense, while the offense will have to seriously increase its production for L&C to have any chance in either game in Tacoma. The Lutes are two-and-half-games behind the surprising first-place Loggers in the DII standings, and will need star Attackman, Nick Tkachuck (20, 7, 6.75 ppg), to continue to lead their young team on the field.
UPS has been “the story” so far in 2008, and can maintain it’s lead in the division on Sunday against the visiting Pios. The Loggers have managed to surge into the conference lead despite playing the first month at less than full strength. Extending to 4-0 against L&C is critically important to maintain the momentum UPS has gained in February.
Also on Sunday Southern Oregon (1-1, 2-2) hosts Willamette (0-2, 1-3). The Bearcats are still looking for their first divisional win in three seasons, but will likely have to wait at least another week to get it. A tough Raiders’ defense led by Dan Snell and the home field advantage in Ashland look to be too much for a young WU team to overcome. But this IS the wacky 2008 PNCLL DII, after all, so maybe Willamette can add to the list of shocking upsets already recorded.
