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Ryan Smith
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Men's Soccer

Griffins at Home for Three Games This Week

Ryan Smith
COMPLETE RELEASE | PDF

SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's soccer team returns to Dumke Field for three games this weekend.  They begin the week on Friday against No. 8 Kansas Wesleyan at 4:30 p.m.  Saturday the Griffins face Frontier Conference rival Great Falls at 4 p.m. before taking on Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) on Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Griffin Notebook
Westminster begins the week at 4-3 overall and coming off a 1-2 trip to California last week.  The Griffins have started the year 3-1 at Dumke Field this year and have won three straight home games.  The team is averaging 1.43 goals per game while attempting 13.4 shots per contest.  Defensively, Westminster allows 1.43 goals per game and 11.9 shots.

Dennis Sellis has scored six goals to start the year and leads the Unaffiliated Conference in that category.  Sellis has fired a team-best 33 shots while putting 18 on frame.  He has one game-winner and scored one on a penalty kick.  Gabe Gonzalez has added two goals with Bryan Rucklos and Bobby Ward scoring one each.  Ryan Beck has a team-best two assists.

Damir Sabanovic has made five starts in the Westminster goal and recorded three wins.  He has made 24 saves with a .828 save percentage and a 1.06 GAA.  Nathan Young has made three appearances in goal with nine saves and one shutout.

Game Coverage
Griffins TV will broadcast the games on Saturday versus Great Falls and Sunday against Embry-Riddle.  Griffins TV is available at WestminsterGriffins.com or Livestream.com/griffins.  Live stats will be available for all three games during the weekend slate.  The live stat feed will be available at WestminsterGriffins.com and can also be accessed from your mobile device.

Promotions
Friday fans can get $2 tickets by wearing Griffin apparel.  There will be shooting contest for prizes at halftime.  Sunday's game is Utah Food Bank Support Day.  Anyone bringing two cans of food will receive 2-for-1 tickets.

Friday's Opponent: No. 8 Kansas Wesleyan
Kansas Wesleyan begins the week at 3-1 overall and having outscored the opposition 12-4.  The eighth-ranked Coyotes are coming off a 1-0 loss to No. 1 Hastings on Tuesday to snap a three-game winning streak to begin the year.

Jose Velasco leads the team with five goals and nine shots on goal.  Jacob DeLeon and Eduardo Barba have added two goals apiece with Barba adding three assists for seven points.  Alex Montiel has recorded eight saves to start the year with a 1.00 GAA.

Saturday's Opponent: Great Falls
Great Falls comes to Salt Lake City with a 2-2 record after a 5-4 victory over Rocky Mountain on Saturday.  The Argos had lost two straight before Saturday's win and average 2.25 goals per game.

Ryan O'Neail has scored a team-leading three goals while adding two assists for eight points.  David Jimenez has two goals and two assists.  Danny Delgadillo and Marius Espinoza have added two goals apiece.  Zach Johnson has played the majority of the minutes at goalie with 15 saves and a 2.52 GAA.

Sunday's Opponent: Embry-Riddle (Ariz.)
Embry-Riddle enters the week at 1-3-2 overall and winless in the previous five games.  The Eagles average 1.4 scores per game while allowing 2.0 goals per game.

Continuing Where He Left Off
Westminster senior forward Dennis Sellis ha started this season exactly where he left off after last season's injury.  Sellis has scored six goals in the first seven games, including one game-winner.  He has fired 33 shots and put 18 on frame in 622 minutes played.  He also recorded the game-winning assist against La Sierra.

Sellis has now scored 22 goals in his Westminster career. His 0.61 goals per game average currently ranks third in school history. His also currently sits second in school history with an average of 1.42 points per game.

Sabanovic Honored by Frontier
Westminster goalkeeper Damir Sabanovic was awarded the Frontier Conference defensive player of the week for the second time this season on Sept. 12. Sabanovic, a 6-foot-3 junior from Salt Lake City, Utah, recorded 11 saves in the in the two matches he played over the weekend.  He suffered the loss despite making six saves against The Master's College last Friday.  On Sunday, he made five saves and picked up the win over Soka University.  This is the fourth weekly honor of his career.

Dumke Advantage
The Griffins have posted a 41-12-3 all-time record on the fast surface of Dumke Field.  In the past four seasons Westminster is 22-4-2 at home, including 5-0-1 in 2008.  Over the past two seasons, the Griffins are 11-3 at home and have outscored the opposition 20-10 in those games.

Massey Ratings
Westminster is rated as the No. 55 team in the country according to the Massey Ratings that were released on Sunday.  The Griffins have a rating of 0.260 and dropped 19 positions from the previous week.  According to the rankings, Westminster has played the 50th-toughest schedule this season.

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 enters his 28th season at the helm of the program.  He has totaled 250 wins in his career and ranks 26th in NAIA history in that category.  Dorich also ranks 11th in career victories among active NAIA coaches.

The New Griffins TV
Westminster, along with the Victory Sports Network, have created a channel on Livestream to become the new online streaming home of the Westminster Griffins. The new Griffins TV channel can be found at WestminsterGriffins.com or at Livestream.com/griffins and will stream five men's soccer home games this fall.

Unaffiliated 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.
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