Northwest College Sports
Weekly notebook: Heat, hurricane don't daunt SPU

By Seattle Times staff

Cliff McCrath

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Robert Frost once wrote of a decision to take the less-worn path. That Frost fella may be on to something, according to Seattle Pacific midfielder Brent Egbert.

The Falcons' men's soccer team today find themselves in Hurricane Alley, halfway through a coast-to-coast, seven-game, 25-day road trip. And, yes, Mom, the kids are all right.

After a shaky start at home last month, Seattle Pacific (4-1-1) is unbeaten in its past five games. The Falcons are off to their best start in seven years and are squarely in the center of the playoff hunt after the first quarter of the season. The Falcons yesterday were ranked No. 24 in NCAA Division II, their first top-25 rating since early in the 2001 season.

Egbert, a fifth-year senior who has crisscrossed the country several times on coach Cliff McCrath's legendary travelogues, says such road trips can make or break a team.

"Winning has made a huge difference in our team's morale," said Egbert. "Playing, training sessions, the travel, the down time — everything is pleasant. It's probably helped us gel as a team. But when you're struggling, it's no fun at all on the road."

	Brent Egbert is a fifth-year senior for SPU.

Egbert has scored goals in four consecutive games, and the SPU defense has allowed only three goals this season. It perhaps signals that McCrath has his team back on track to national prominence. He has taken his teams to five national championships (and 22 states) over the past 27 years.

Egbert and his teammates won't miss a day of classes, which begin Sept. 27. However, he does miss his family, his girlfriend and playing at home, under the lights. Six of the seven road games will be played in midday heat. Game-time temperatures last week at Sonoma State in California reached 102 degrees.

Pick of the week Women's soccer SPU at Seattle U.: Saturday, at Championship Field, 1 p.m. The scoop: Matches two nationally ranked NCAA Division II teams. SPU is No. 4 and Seattle U. is No. 11.

The thought of landing in Miami at about the same time as Hurricane Ivan also caused some anxiety.

"We didn't know if we'd still go, or whether the fields would be under water," said Egbert.

But the storm track has since steered clear of south Florida.

Egbert's last trip to Miami was as a freshman. The team was there for six days and lost twice.

"It seemed like we were there forever," he said. "So far, this trip is going by quickly. Winning can make all the difference."

SPU sports

Women's soccer: Seattle Pacific (5-0-0), which moved up to No. 4 yesterday in NCAA Division II, takes an 18-game home winning streak and a 20-game GNAC unbeaten string into tonight's conference opener against Western Washington at Interbay Stadium.

Volleyball: Junior Chelsey Myers (Minden, Nev.) doubled her season kills total, hitting 37 in two matches last week. The Falcons (5-5, 1-1 GNAC) 11 of their first 13 games are on the road.

Cross country: With one of its strongest men's teams in 30 years, SPU won its first Emerald City Invitational team title last week. The Falcons had not finished higher than fourth in the past 17 years.

Seattle University

Men's soccer: Junior forward Bobby McAlister (Decatur of Federal Way) is not only the scoring leader in the NCAA II West Region with nine goals, but he also has scored more goals than 10 of the 17 teams in the region. Seattle U. (7-0, 1-0 GNAC) moved up to No. 6 in the NCAA Division II rankings.

Women's soccer: Seattle U. (5-0-1, 1-0 GNAC), which hosts SPU on Saturday, entered the NCAA Division II top 10 for the first time in the program's history last week. The Redhawks are No. 11 this week.

Cross country: The women's victory Saturday at the Emerald City Invitational marked its first invitational win in program history.

Volleyball: Seattle U.'s (3-7, 1-1 GNAC) victory over SPU last weekend marked the Redhawks' fourth straight win in the series, dating to 2002.

Washington

Cross country: The women's victory Saturday at the Emerald City Invitational was led by Meghan Lawrence, a fifth-year senior making her college debut. Lawrence walked on to the team a week before the meet and was cleared to compete just hours before the race. She led UW finishers in 18 minutes, 51 seconds, second for Division I runners.

Men's soccer: The No. 10 Huskies (4-1) have outscored opponents 9-2 and have three shutouts. Seven different Huskies have scored at least once.

Women's soccer: The No. 4 Huskies (5-0), who play at Maryland on Friday, won their first five games for only the second time. Washington opened with six straight wins in 2000.

Tennis: Assistant tennis coach Gordon O'Reilly has resigned to pursue business opportunities.

Washington State

Volleyball: Sophomores Kelly Rosin (Springfield, Ore.) and Jennifer Todd (Henderson, Nev.) were named to both the UNLV Classic and the LMU Furama Hotel Invitational all-tournament teams.

Tennis: Seniors Nora Gaal (Szekesfehervar, Hungary) and Chris Martinez (San Luis Potosi, Mexico) are four and six wins away, respectively, from being among the top 10 in Cougars career tennis singles victories. WSU hosts the Cougar Classic, Friday through Sunday.

Western Washington

Football: Junior wide receiver Andy Olson (Chehalis) has 17 catches for 189 yards and one touchdown in two games for the Vikings (1-1), who host No. 22 Nebraska-Omaha (3-0) Saturday.

Women's soccer: Forward Chela Gray (Kaneohe, Hawaii) scored the first goal by WWU (3-3) this season in the fifth game, a 4-3 come-from-behind win over Western Oregon on Saturday. The Vikings have benefited from three own goals, two of which won games.

Volleyball: Diane Flick earned her 100th coaching victory in just her fifth season at WWU in Friday's 3-1 win over Northwest Nazarene. She is the second Vikings' volleyball coach to reach that milestone.

Men's soccer: Senior forward Ryan Hopp (Marysville-Pilchuck) has eight goals, including four game-winners. Western (6-2), off to its best start since 2000, hosts Pacific Lutheran on Monday.

Other schools

Central Washington: The Wildcats' volleyball team (9-0) enters this weekend's home matches with SPU and Western having won 14 straight dating to the end of 2003.

Eastern Washington: The Eagles play rival Central Washington in football Saturday in Cheney and the ties between the schools are obvious. Three Eastern coaches went to college in Ellensburg, CWU head coach John Zamberlin is a former EWU assistant, five Wildcats were student-athletes at EWU, and Eastern's roster includes ex-CWU player Keith Grennan, who is redshirting.

Gonzaga: Tickets for the men's basketball team's only game in Seattle — vs. Massachusetts Dec. 4 at 1 p.m. at KeyArena — will go on sale at all Ticketmaster locations or ticketmaster.com Saturday at 10 a.m. Tickets are priced from $18 to $100.

Northwest : The Eagles' volleyball team (6-2, 3-0 Cascade Conference) is ranked No. 29 by the NAIA, the first time the school has cracked the top 30. The team started the season 0-2.

Pacific Lutheran: The Lutes' 14-12 football victory over Cal Lutheran marked the first home victory for first-year coach Scott Westering. In 1972, Scott's father, Frosty Westering, won his first game at PLU at home with a 31-9 win over Cal Lutheran.

Puget Sound: Junior Cortney Kjar (Sandy, Utah), NWC Offensive Player of the Week for women's soccer, recorded the Loggers' first hat trick since October 2000 on Saturday as No. 4 UPS (3-0) beat No. 10 College of New Jersey. Junior goalkeeper Brian Lawson (Gig Harbor), NWC Defensive Player of the Week for two straight weeks, carries a 0.20 goals-against average after allowing one goal in 430 minutes.

Saint Martin's: Freshman cross-country runner Janelle Probst (Mead of Spokane) has broken the course record and won both meets she has run in this season — the Puget Sound Open (20 minutes, 24 seconds) and a dual meet with Evergreen State (19:30).

Whitman: First-year forward Kristen Berndt (Mount Si of Snoqualmie) has four goals, including a hat trick, in helping the women's soccer team to a 3-1 start and No. 24 NCAA III ranking.

Whitworth: In Saturday's 52-49 football win over Redlands, the two teams combined for 101 points, 1,029 yards and 57 first downs. The 52 points match the most scored by a John Tully-coached team at Whitworth.

Community colleges: Former Sounders coach Neil Megson is coach of the new men's and women's soccer programs at Olympic College in Bremerton.

Compiled from submissions by sports-information directors and other sources

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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