Bulldogs Face Grueling Weekend
10/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 27, 2005
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Fri., Oct. 28 - at Loyola Marymount, 1 p.m.
Sun., Oct. 30 - at San Diego, 2 p.m.
Mon., Oct. 31 - at San Diego, 1 p.m.
TOUGH ROAD SWING: Gonzaga University's men's soccer team faces perhaps its most grueling weekend ever as the Bulldogs head to southern California for three matches in four days. It all starts Friday when the Bulldogs visit Loyola Marymount University for a 2 p.m. Gonzaga will head to further south to San Diego for a 2 p.m. Sunday match followed by a 1 p.m. Halloween match-up Monday with the Toreros. Monday's match was made necessary when an Oct. 2 match at Gonzaga's Martin Field was postponed because of unplayable conditions. Heavy rains and three matches in a 36-hour stretch left the field unplayable when Gonzaga and USD were ready to do battle. As a result, the decision was made to play back-to-back matches when the Bulldogs made their trek south.
UNCHARTED WATERS: The Oct. 2 cancellation of the match between Gonzaga University and the University of San Diego left West Coast Conference officials in somewhat of a quandary over how to resolve the situation. "It's not like baseball where there's a rule for what to do in case of a rainout. Soccer traditionally doesn't cancel a match because of weather. Nobody in this conference can ever remember a soccer match being cancelled because of the weather," Gonzaga athletic director Mike Roth said. "It might force us to take a look at the WCC Handbook and perhaps come up with a provision in case it would happen again."
THE LAST TIME: The last - and perhaps only - time Gonzaga University has had to cancel a match was following the Sept. 11, 2001, World Trade Center terrorist attack. The Bulldogs had a pair of home matches cancelled as a result of the nationwide cancellation of most athletic contests that weekend. The Bulldogs were to have faced Fresno State University and 10th-ranked University of Washington at Martin Field. Neither match was re-scheduled that year.
FINISH AT HOME: Following the upcoming stretch that has Gonzaga University playing three matches in four days, the Bulldogs have just one more regular-season home match remaining before ending the season with three straight matches at home. Gonzaga will be at Saint Mary's College Nov. 4, then conclude the season with home matches Nov. 6 against the University of Washington, Nov. 10 against Santa Clara University and Nov. 12 against the University of San Francisco. All three homes matches will start at 1 p.m. Some schedules reflect Nov. 11 and Nov. 13 dates for the last weekend, respectively, but the changes were to avoid having teams playing on selection Sunday when then College Cup field is announced on Nov. 13.
BULLDOGS VS. LIONS: Gonzaga University will try to continue its dominance of Loyola Marymount University on Friday in Los Angeles. Although the Lions took the first meeting this season in Spokane by a 2-1 count, the Bulldogs still lead the overall series 9-5-1. The Bulldogs snapped a three-match losing streak to LMU with a 1-0 home victory in the second meeting between the teams last season. Junior Ybarra scored at 52:40 to break a 1-1 tie and give LMU the earlier victory this year at Martin Field.
BULLDOGS VS. TOREROS: If there's one team that has had Gonzaga University's number in West Coast Conference play it might be the University of San Diego. The Toreros hold a 10-3-1 lead in the series and have won three straight, including 4-0 at home and 3-1 in Spokane last season. The last Bulldog victory in the series was 2002, a 3-2 double-overtime victory in San Diego. Gonzaga's last home victory over USD was 4-2 in 1999. The Toreros quashed Gonzaga's NCAA Tournament hopes in 1998 with a 2-1 season-ending victory in San Diego. That dropped the Bulldogs and Toreros into a tie for first but USD got the conference's automatic NCAA berth with the win.
WASHINGTON MUST SIT: Sophomore defender Austin Washington must sit out Gonzaga University's match Friday at Loyola Marymount University after picking up a red card in the 81st minutes last Saturday at the University of Portland.
JOSTEN GRABS GOAL, ASSIST: George Josten scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season in Gonzaga University's 1-0 win over the University of Portland, then had an assist in last Saturday's 2-2 tie at Portland. The sophomore from Idaho Falls, Idaho, now has 12 career goals to rank ninth on the all-time Gonzaga list. His 38 career points move him into a tie for seventh on the Gonzaga charts with Brett Fink, three behind Jason Adams and sixth place.
FOLLOW THE ZAGS: All Gonzaga University men's soccer home matches can be followed via Gametracker on the Bulldogs athletic website at http://www.gozags.com. Gametracker is a service of Online College Sports, the official web provider for Gonzaga athletics, and is a real time update of the action. Selected Gonzaga road matches are also available via Gametracker.
THE THORARINSSON TALE OF THE TAPE: Gonzaga University head coach Einar Thorarinsson is 88-84-14 in his 11th season with the Bulldogs. His overall record is 207-134-27 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 nine 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.
