Men's Soccer Home Sunday
10/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 8, 2004
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Complete WCC Release in PDF Format
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Complete WCC Statistics in PDF Format
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Sun., Oct. 10 - Santa Clara, 2 p.m.
Fri., Oct. 15 - San Francisco, 3 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 17 - Saint Mary's, 2 p.m.
BULLDOGS RETURN HOME: After six straight matches away from home, Gonzaga University's men's soccer team returns to Martin Field on Sunday for the first time since Sept. 11. The Bulldogs will make their West Coast Conference home debut against No. 4 Santa Clara University at 2 p.m. That match will be the second half of a men's/women's double-header as the Bulldogs face sixth-ranked University of Portland at 11 a.m.
THORARINSSON RECOVERING... Gonzaga University will be without 10th-year head coach Einar Thorarinsson when the Bulldogs entertain Santa Clara University on Sunday. Thorarinsson is recuperating at UCLA Medical Center following surgery to repair injuries after being involved in an automobile-bike accident last Saturday. Thorarinsson was bicycling on Saturday during Gonzaga's day off between weekend matches at Loyola Marymount University on Friday and at the University of San Diego on Sunday when the accident occurred. A passerby phoned emergency crews who transported Thorarinsson to the UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, Calif. Thorarinsson suffered facial injuries, including a broken jaw, and did not accompany the team to San Diego for last Sunday's match. The surgery was performed Monday morning. Doctors in Los Angeles said he will be hospitalized for about a week, meaning he won't return to Spokane until sometime next week. "Complete details of the accident are unavailable," Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth said. "The good news is Einar was not more seriously injured and is expected to make a full recovery. When he will return to coaching the team isn't known, but for now his personal well being is of the utmost priority for us."
...THOMPSON, McCARTHY RUN THE TEAM: Gonzaga University athletic director Mike Roth said assistant coaches Mike Thompson and Mike McCarthy will run the team during head coach Einar Thorarinsson's absence. They were on the sidelines last Sunday when the Bulldogs faced the University of San Diego. "I have the utmost confidence our men's soccer program will continue to move forward during Einar's absence," Roth said. "They have both played in our program and been around Einar for several years, so they know what to do. You hope they never get pressed into service in a situation like this, but this is one of the reasons you hire quality assistants and Einar has done that."
SIX-OF-SEVEN AT HOME: Sunday's match begins a stretch where the Bulldogs will play six of their next seven matches at Martin Field. The Bulldogs will then conclude the regular season with three straight road matches.
SNAPPING A STREAK: Gonzaga University will try to snap a 10-match West Coast Conference losing streak when the Bulldogs make their WCC home debut Sunday against Santa Clara University. The Bulldogs, 0-2-0 this season, went 0-6-0 last season and lost the final two matches of the 2003 campaign. Last year was the first time the Bulldogs had gone winless in WCC play since 1994 when they went 0-5-1 in their second year in the conference. The Bulldogs shared the regular-season crown in 1997 and 1998 but both years lost the tiebreaker for the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
BLANKED: All six Gonzaga University losses have been via shutout this season. The Bulldogs were blanked a school-record 12 times in 1987 and suffered 11 shutouts in 1986. The most times the Bulldogs have been blanked since joining the West Coast Conference is eight in 2002, three of them coming in conference play.
THE SERIES: Gonzaga University trails its series with Santa Clara University 6-4-1, but if the pattern of the past eight years holds then the Bulldogs will be victorious on Sunday. The teams have alternated wins since Gonzaga posted a 3-0 home victory in 1996. As a matter of fact, in the 11 meetings the road team has only been able to capture one victory, SCU pulling the trick with a 1-0 win in Spokane in 1994. In 1995, the teams played to a 1-1 tie at Santa Clara.
RANKED TEAMS: Santa Clara University will be the third ranked team Gonzaga University has played this year. The Bulldogs opened the season with back-to-back games against ranked foes, dropping a 3-0 home decision to then No. 21 University of Washington and a 1-0 match to then No. 24 University of Alabama-Birmingham at the Nike Invitational in Portland, Ore.
TIME CHANGE: Gonzaga University's match Oct. 22 at the University of Portland will start at 7 p.m. Some schedules reflect a different start time. The Pilots installed lights earlier this season at Merlo Field.
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 88-71-10 in his 10th season with the Bulldogs. His overall record is 202-123-23 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.
