Gonzaga Opens Home Campaign This Weekend
8/28/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
Aug. 28, 2000
SPOKANE, Wash. -
GONZAGA BULLDOGS (0-1) vs.
PORTLAND PILOTS (1-0)
Friday - Sept. 1 - 2 p.m. @ Martin Field (500)
GONZAGA BULLDOGS vs.
WHITMAN MISSIONARIES (0-0)
Sunday - Sept. 3 - 1 p.m. @ Martin Field (500)
LAST TIME OUT: Gonzaga opened its season with a 2-0 setback against the University of Montana. The Grizzlies scored just three-minutes into the contest and held on for their tenth consecutive victory over the Bulldogs. Freshman Tara Curtis looked solid in goal for Gonzaga, turning away seven shots in the losing effort. Montana's defense shutdown the GU attack allowing only four shots on goal during the contest.
VS. THE PILOTS: This will be the ninth meeting between Portland and Gonzaga. The Pilots won 3-0 last season and lead the all time series 8-0-0, allowing only one Gonzaga goal during the series. Portland opened the season last weekend with a 4-0 blanking of Oregon State. The Pilots were ranked 23rd in the Soccer Times pre-season poll. Current GU assistant coach Kim Stiles played on three NCAA national semifinal teams at Portland.
VS. WHITMAN: This will be only the second meeting between Gonzaga and Whitman. The Bulldogs won the last meeting in 1997 by a 7-0 score. This will be the season opener for the Division III school from Walla Walla.
COACH STILES RETURNS FOR SECOND SEASON: Gonzaga head coach Shannon Stiles returns to guide the women's program for a second season. In her rookie campaign, Stiles coached the Bulldogs to their second most successful season in school history with a 7-13-0 record. Although the Zags finished 1-6 in the West Coast Conference, it marked only the second time the team has won a WCC game and first time Gonzaga has not finished last in the WCC. Stiles needs just one more conference victory and eight overall wins to become the school's leader in both categories. Stiles career record stands at 7-14-0.
ZAGS SHUT DOWN IN SEASON OPENER: When Montana blanked the Bulldogs in the season opener last Friday, it marked the seventh time in the ten year history of the program that Gonzaga has been shutout in a season opener. Last season, Gonzaga did not break into the scoring column until game number three against San Jose State. From that slow start in 1999 Gonzaga went on to produce its best offensive season in school history, setting school records with 34 goals and 1.70 goals per game.
STREUFERT CLOSING IN ON RECORD: Already the single season and school record holder in almost every offensive category, senior Sara Streufert will have the chance to place her name in the WCC record book by seasons end. Streufert needs just 29 points during her senior season to become the tenth player in West Coast Conference history to tally a 100 or more points in a career. The WCC career leader in points is current U.S. National team member Shannon MacMillan with 219 points at Portland from 1992-95.
FRESH FACES IN STARTING ROLES: Although Gonzaga returns eleven players who contributed last season, the Bulldogs started six freshman in the season opener at Montana. Tara Curtis won the starting position in goal and was joined by fellow freshmen Patty Blankenship, Sarah Halton, Kelly Leffel, Walker Loseno, and Amber Richart in the starting line-up. Freshman Katie O'Brien came off the bench as the seventh freshman to play in the season opener.
EARLIEST CONFERENCE OPENER: Gonzaga will get a true test on how far its program has progressed when the Zags open the conference season against perennial power Portland. This will be the earliest conference opener for Gonzaga in school history and the Bulldogs will not compete in another conference game until early October when they travel to Santa Clara.
GONZAGA PICKED SEVENTH IN WCC: A year after its most successful season in the West Coast Conference, Gonzaga was selected to finish seventh in the WCC race based on a coaches pre-season poll. Santa Clara, which advanced to the NCAA Final Four last season, was selected to win their fifth title. Tied with GU in seventh place in the poll is San Francisco, the team that the Bulldogs defeated in 1999.
COMPLETE WEST COAST CONFERENCE PRE-SEASON POLL:
School Points
1. Santa Clara (7) 49
2. Portland (1) 40
3. Loyola Marymount 39
4. San Diego 29
5. Saint Mary's 23
6. Pepperdine 22
7. GONZAGA 10
7. San Francisco 10
(first place votes in parenthesis)
FIRST HOMESTAND OF SEASON: Gonzaga plays the first and second of seven home matches this weekend when they host Portland and Whitman. Last season GU had an unprecedented 12 home matches, posting a 6-6 record in those matches. Following this home weekend Gonzaga takes to the road for two weeks before returning to Martin Field on Sept. 19 to host Portland State. Gonzaga's other home matches this season are against Eastern Washington (Oct. 4), Loyola Marymount (Oct. 20), Pepperdine (Oct. 27) and the season finale against Idaho (Nov. 5). Gonzaga was 2-5 last season against this year's home opponents.
