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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's soccer team begins a season-ending six-game road swing with two games this weekend.  Westminster begins the trip in Orange City, Iowa where they will face Northwestern (Iowa) on Saturday.  The trip weekend concludes on Sunday with a game against York College in York, Neb.

Griffin Notebook
The Griffins will look to extend a two-match winning streak and a 6-5-1 overall record on this week's trip.  Westminster has gone 1-2 in three games away from home this season including a 1-1 mark in road games.  They are coming off two home wins last week against Bellevue and Marymount.

The team averages 1.58 goals per game while attempting 12.8 shots per contest.  They have put 67 of their 153 total shots on goal and added 15 assists to their 19 goals.  Defensively they have allowed 19 goals with the opposition attempting 11.8 shots per game.

Dennis Sellis leads the team with 20 points behind a team-best nine goals.  Sellis has fired 50 shots and put 25 on frame.  He has scored two 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 five points.  Ryan Beck also has five points with one goal and a team-best three helpers.

Damir Sabanovic has gone 4-3 in goal this season with a 1.31 GAA.  Sabanovic has recorded 34 saves behind a .781 save percentage.  Nathan Young has made five appearances and four starts in goal.  Young has a 2-2 record with a 2.00 GAA and 19 saves.

Game Coverage
Live stats will be available for the game on Sunday against York College.  The link to the live stats feed will be available under the calendar at WestminsterGriffins.com.

Saturday's Opponent: Northwestern
Northwestern enters the game with Westminster at 5-3-1 overall and coming off a 2-1 loss at Dordt (Iowa) on Tuesday.  The Raiders had won three straight prior to Tuesday's loss and they are 1-1 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.  They have outscored their opponents 18-8 this season and have put 73 shots on goal while allowing just 55.They rank 41st national with an average of 17.33 shots per outing.

Mario Garcia leads the squad in goals with four, assists with three and points with 11.  Taylor Biggs and Jason Tessman have added three goals apiece.  Graham Kinsinger and Brandon Hammack are second on the team with two assists each.  Luis Hernandez ranks 23rd in the NAIA with his 0.83 GAA while his 47 total saves are the 34th most in the nation.

Sunday's Opponent: York
York begins the week at 3-5-1 overall and 3-1-1 in their previous five games.  The Panthers defeated Saint Mary 4-3 in their last outing on Tuesday.  They have been outscored 27-17 this season with 59 shots on goals and 15 assists.  As a team, York averages 10.89 shots per game and 5.11 saves.

Two Panthers have reached double figures in points this season.  Santiago Castano has totaled 11 points behind four goals and a team-best three assists.  Chris Kistenoglu has 10 points with a team-high five goals.  Carlos Fernandes has added three goals while Andrew Rush has two goals and two assists.  Andrew Percic has made 27 saves with a 2.05 GAA in six games played in the pipes.

Inside the Series
Saturday's game against Northwestern is only the second meeting all-time between the two programs.  The Griffins defeated the Raiders 1-0 in overtime on Sept. 3, 2010 at Dumke Field.

Westminster and York College will be meeting for the first time on Sunday.

On the Offensive
Westminster is having an excellent year when it comes to putting the ball in the net.  The Griffins are averaging 1.58 goals per game through the first 12 games this season and rank fourth in the Unaffiliated Frontier Conference in that category.  They have scored multiple goals in six games this year including both games last weekend.

The Griffins are currently riding an 11-game streak of scoring at least one goal.  It is 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 is one goal shy of becoming the first Griffin to score 10 goals in a season since Dave Rogers scored 12 in 2007.  Sellis has scored nine goals in 12 games this season and has twice scored two goals in one game.  His nine goals lead the conference as do his 20 points.  He also ranks 20th nationally in both of those categories.

Sellis has scored 25 goals in his career and ranks eighth in school history in that department.  He needs one goal to move into a tie for seventh all-time and three more would move him into sixth in school history.  His 0.61 goals per game average are third-best at Westminster while his 1.41 points per game 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.

Looking at the NAIA Rankings
Westminster didn't receive any votes in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll that was released on Tuesday for the second straight week.  They had been as high as 120 points and just outside the poll on Sept. 6.  They are currently ranked second in the Unaffiliated Frontier Conference rankings that were released on Monday.

The first NAIA Modified RPI ratings were released on Wednesday and Westminster came it at No. 86.  The MRPI consists of the team's modified winning percentage, their opponents' winning percentage and the cumulative ranking points from the current NAIA Men's Soccer Coaches' Top 25 Poll. Each of the three values has a weighted percentage calculated in the MRPI. The MRPI modifies the value of home/away/neutral results and adds more value for games against opponents ranked in their respective national poll.  The next MRPI will be released on Oct. 26.

Massey Ratings
The Griffins jumped four positions to No. 60 in the latest edition of the Massey Ratings that were released on Sunday.  Westminster has a rating of 0.263 and rank 73rd in offense and 55th in defense.  According to the ratings, Westminster has played the 40th-best 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 252 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.