Complete Release | PDF

SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's soccer team returns from a two-week layoff with two Frontier Conference road games this weekend in Montana.  Westminster will face Rocky Mountain on Friday at 3:30 p.m. in Billings.  They will also play Great Falls on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in Great Falls.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster enters the week at 7-6-1 overall and at 3-1-1 in the Unaffiliated Frontier Conference.  They are coming off a 3-0 won at York on Oct. 2 and they have a 2-3 record away from home this season.  The Griffins have gone 1-1 against Rocky and UGF this year in games played at Dumke Field.

The team is averaging 1.57 goals per contest while coring 22 goals.  They average 13.1 shots per outing and have put 80 shots on goal with 17 assists.  Griffin opponents are averaging 1.50 goals per game while attempting 11.1 shots per game.

Dennis Sellis leads the team with 24 points behind a team-best 11 goals.  Sellis has fired 59 shots and put 30 on frame.  He has scored three game-winning goals along with being a perfect 2-for-2 in penalty kicks.  Gabe Gonzalez is second on the team with two goals and has five points.  Ryan Beck also has six points with one goal and a team-best four helpers.

Damir Sabanovic has gone 4-4 in goal this season with a 1.49 GAA.  Sabanovic has recorded 36 saves behind a .766 save percentage.  Nathan Young has made six appearances and five starts in goal.  Young has a 3-2 record with a 1.64 GAA and 21 saves.

Game Coverage
Live stats will be available for the game on Friday against Rocky Mountain.  The link to the live stats can be found under the calendar at WestminsterGriffins.com. There will be no live stats available for the game on Sunday at UGF.

Friday's Opponent: Rocky Mountain
Rocky Mountain begins the week at 6-5 overall and 1-3 in the Unaffiliated Frontier Conference.  They have won two straight games and five of the last six they have played.  They lost to the Griffins 1-0 on Aug. 29 in Salt Lake City.

Nick Heffernan leads the Battlin' Bears with 13 points behind six goals and one assist.  Oliver Gore has scored six goals despite playing just seven games.  James Voisey has added five goals with Evan Connoly has four goals.  Joachim Soderstrom has posted a 1.35 GAA with 44 saves.

Sunday's Opponent: Great Falls
Great Falls brings an 11-3 overall record in this week's action and have a 4-1 record in the conference.  The Argos had a 10-match winning streak snapped with a 2-1 loss against Jamestown on Oct. 15.  UGF claimed 3-2 double overtime win over the Griffins on Sept. 17 in Salt Lake City.

Ryan O'Neil has a team-best 13 goals and 30 points.  David Jimenez has scored six goals with Manuel Espinoza has added five goals.  They have four players that have recorded a team-high four assists. Zach Johnson has recorded 44 saves and posted a 1.62 GAA in 10 games played in goal.

Inside the Series
Westminster has a 3-1 record in four all-time meetings against Rocky Mountain after the win earlier this season.  The series is tied at 1-1 in games played in Billings with Westminster outscoring the Bears 5-2 in those two games.

Great Falls holds a 6-2 lead in the all-time series with Westminster.  With the win earlier this season, UGF has now won five straight over the Griffins with two of those wins coming on overtime.  Westminster is 1-2 in three games played at Great Falls.

On the Offensive
Westminster is having an excellent year when it comes to putting the ball in the net.  The Griffins are averaging 1.57 goals per game and rank fifth in the Unaffiliated Frontier Conference in that category.  They have scored multiple goals in seven games this year including three in the last outing versus York.

The Griffins had an 11-game streak of scoring at least one goal snapped when they were shutout by Northwestern on Oct. 1.  It was the longest such streak since 2007 when they scored in 16 consecutive games.  The record for consecutive games with a goal in one season is 19 set in 1990.

Continuing Where He Left Off
Westminster senior forward Dennis Sellis has scored 11 goals this season and is the first Griffin to score 10 in a year since Dave Rogers scored 12 in 2007.  Sellis has scored 11 goals in 14 games this season and has three times scored two goals in one game.

Sellis has scored 27 goals in his career and ranks seventh in school history in that department.  He needs one goal to move into a tie for sixth all-time and three more would move him into fifth in school history.  His 0.63 goals per game average are second-best at Westminster while his 1.44 points per game also ranks second.

Dumke Advantage
The Griffins have posted a 42-15-4 all-time record on the fast surface of Dumke Field.  Since 2008, Westminster is 23-7-3 at home and this is this first time since 2006 that the team has dropped three home games in one season.  The three-game winless streak earlier this year is the longest such streak since Dumke Field opened in 2005. The recent two-game home losing streak is only the third time that has ever happened.

Massey Ratings
Westminster currently sits at No. 74 in the latest Massey Ratings that were released on Sunday.  The Griffins are rated fourth among teams from the Unaffiliated Frontier Conference with a rating of 0.103.  The ratings have the Griffins schedule played at No. 59.

The Massey Ratings are compiled each week with new ranking being released on Sundays.  Kenneth Massey is the creator of the rating formula and all ratings can be found on his web site at www.masseyratings.com.

Among the Best
Westminster head coach Chris Dorich is in his 28th season at the helm of the Westminster men's soccer program.  He has totaled 253 wins in his career and ranks 26th in NAIA history in that category.  Dorich also ranks 11th in career victories among active NAIA coaches.

Unaffiliated Frontier Conference
The NAIA approved the creation of a second Unaffiliated Conference that included the teams of the Frontier Conference and four teams from the Association of Independent Institutions.  The new conference will feature: Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), Great Falls (Mont.), Jamestown College (N.D.), Marymount University (Calif.), Rocky Mountain (Mont.), Soka University (Calif.) and Westminster.

The conference tournament will be held at Dumke Field in November.  The top four ranked teams will qualify for the tournament with two semi-final games on November 11 and the championship on November 12.