PREPARING FOR A FLY-BY: Weather has played a factor for Seattle University this week, as the match scheduled for Friday at Denver University has been postponed due to a snow storm. Sunday's home match against Air Force will be played, but the question is where it will take place. If rain makes Championship Field unplayable, as it did for last Friday's match against Sacramento State, the match will be moved to Field #11 at the Starfire Soccer Complex in Tukwila, south of Seattle.
SCOUTING AIR FORCE: The Falcons come into Friday's match at Cal State Bakersfield with a 7-5-1 overall record. After losing its first two conference matches the previous weekend, Air Force defeated New Mexico and UNLV at home last weekend to move into fourth place in the conference standings with a 2-2 record. The Falcons are 0-5 on the road this season. Five players are tied for the team lead with three goals each: Kevin Rosser, Josh Rhynard, Steven Noller, Jared Gomez, and Garrett Getschow. Rosser leads the team with five assists and 11 total points. Mike Mauro was the goalie during Air Force's two victories last weekend. For the season, he has a 4-3 record with a 1.29 GAA, a .780 save percentage, and two shutouts. Jim Gullo has posted a 3-2-1 record with a 1.12 GAA, a .767 save percentage, and two shutouts.
USING HIS BRAINS: Senior Derek Rogalsky has been a constant fixture in the starting lineup since the middle of last season, starting 17 of the team's last 20 matches. He is also one of the best students on the team, currently carrying a 3.862 grade point average while majoring in biochemistry. This will be a busy weekend for Rogalsky, as he will be giving a presentation on creating new cancer treatments from existing drugs at the Murdock College Science Research Program Fall Conference at Gonzaga University Saturday afternoon. He will then travel across the state, hoping to be back in time for Sunday's match. Also, it was announced Thursday that he earned First Team Academic All-District honors from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA), making him eligible for Academic All-America honors. This is the fifth straight year that a Seattle University men's soccer player has earned Academic All-District honors. The last SeattleU men's soccer players to earn Academic All-America honors were Adam Jensen (2nd team) and Hans Esterhuizen (3rd team) in 2006.