Last Week: The University of Mary men's soccer team had an impressive performance last Thursday playing #3 Simon Fraser to a 2-2 draw. Rory Pratt put U-Mary up 1-0 in the 39th minute and Joe Wood scored in the 85th minute allowing the Marauders to retake the lead at 2-1. However, U-Mary surrendered a goal late and the game eventually ended in a draw. On Saturday the Marauders played even with Western Washington through 44 minutes, but allowed the Vikings to score a goal with one minute to play in the first period. WWU scored quickly out of the intermission to take a 2-0 lead, but Pratt responded in the 63rd minute to keep the game within reach.  Unfortunately the Marauders were unable to strike again as they fell 3-1.
 
This Week: The Marauders on the road for a pair of GNAC rematches. On Thursday U-Mary will take on Seattle Pacific at 6:30 PM and on Saturday it will square off against Saint Martin's University at 2 PM. The Marauders fell to both opponents 1-0 at home earlier this season.
 
Game Coverage: Livestats will be provided for the SPU game at www.sidearmstats.com/spu/msoc. Livestats for the SMU game can be found at client.stretchinternet.com/client/smusaints.portal#
 
Social Media: You can also follow along with U-Mary general updates on Twitter at @umarysports. Be sure to follow the Marauders' Facebook page as well "Marauder Athletics". You can also follow the team's official accounts on Twitter @umarysoccer and on Facebook "University of Mary Men's Soccer".
 
Rematch: When U-Mary and Seattle Pacific played in Bismarck earlier in the season the contest was evenly matched throughout. Through 53 minutes the game was scoreless, but in the 54th minute the Falcons struck from 15 yards out for the game-winner. When U-Mary played Saint Martin's earlier in the year it took two extra periods for either team to break the stalemate as the Saints capitalized on a penalty kick in the 108th minute to win the game.
 
History: U-Mary has not beaten Seattle Pacific in eight contests dating back to 2007. In their first season as GNAC foes last season the Marauders lost 3-1 on the road, but played the Falcons to a 1-1 tie in Bismarck against the then #9 Seattle Pacific. In their past four meeting dating back to 2010, U-Mary is 2-2 against Saint Martin's. The Marauders beat the Saints 2-0 on the road last season and 3-1 in Bismarck.
 
Seattle Pacific: The Falcons finished third in the GNAC a year ago with a 7-4-3 record and were tabbed to finish second by the coaches this season. Four Falcons earned first-team All-GNAC in 2012, but Blaine Carver is the only one of the four returning. Carver notched eight goals and 18 points while starting 17-of-18 matches. Only four returners from a team that was ranked top-10 in the nation in 2012 started at least 10 games for SPU in 2012. Anthony Mohammed and Ian Adams each earned All-GNAC honorable mention a year ago and return in 2013. Mohammed started 17 matches in the midfield in 2012. Adams scored four goals and added an assist over 18 contests. Freshman forward Stephen MacDonald is leading SPU with 12 points on four goals and one assist. Goalkeeper Cody Lang has a goals allowed average of just 0.71 and has recorded five shutouts. With a 6-0-3 record SPU has not lost in GNAC play this season and are just one point behind Simon Fraser for first place in the GNAC.  The Falcons have outscored opponents 21-9 this season and have outshot them 181-116.
 
Saint Martin's: Finishing in last place in the GNAC at 2-12 in 2012, Saint Martin's returned six starters and nine players who saw significant time last season. The Saints were slated to finish seventh by the league's coaches. Dylan Gaydosh and CJ Chu, who represented the Saints as honorable mention All-GNAC selections in 2012 are SMU's top returners. Gaydosh led SMU with eight goals and tacked on a pair of assists in 18 contests, while Chu found the net three times in 15 starts. Chu and Gaydosh are leading the Saints with eight points each. JJ Olson and Eric Owen split time in the net in 2012, with Olson starting nine contests and Owen seven. Owen has started seven of nine GNAC games for SMU and has two shutouts overall. Owen is allowing 2.06 goals per game. With a 4-4-1 GNAC record, Saint Martin's sits in fourth place in the conference. The Saints have been outscored on the season 26-12 and outshot 193 to 159.
 
Next Week: U-Mary will host their final home games of the season against Northwest Nazarene on Oct. 31 and Montana State-Billings on Nov. 2. The game against Northwest Nazarene will be Breast Cancer Awareness Night.  
 
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