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SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster College men's soccer begins a season-ending three-game road swing with two games in Montana this weekend. Westminster plays at Rocky Mountain (Mont.) on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before facing Great Falls (Mont.) on Sunday afternoon at noon.
Griffin Notebook
Westminster begins this trip at 10-4-1 on the season. They are now 1-1 in Frontier Conference action after a 1-0 win over Rocky Mountain at Dumke Field on Saturday. The Griffins can clinch the conference title with wins in both games this weekend.
With 10 wins on the season, Westminster has now recorded at least nine wins in seven consecutive years. This is the first 10-win season since 2009 and the 10th all-time. They have also secured a second straight winning season and they haven't had a losing season since 2005 when they went 8-9-2.
The Griffins have been good at holding a lead this season and are 6-0 when they hold a halftime advantage. That recorded extends to 9-0-1 when they are ahead or tied after 45 minutes. Westminster is also 7-2 on the year when they attempt more shots than the opposition and have gone 6-1 in games played on Sunday.
The team is averaging 1.67 goals per game and has outscored their opponents 25-18 this season. The Griffins have 17 assists on those 25 goals and have scored on two penalty kicks. They are attempting 13.3 shots per game and have 79 shots on goal. They defense allows 8.2 shots per game and 68 shots on goal.
Ryan Smith leads the Griffins with eight goals and 19 points. Smith has attempted 36 shots and put 16 of those on goal while also being a perfect 2-for-2 on penalty kicks. Smith is tied with
Wilson Larson and
Manuel Duenas for the team-lead with three assists each.
Jace Maxfield is second on the team with three goals and six points.
Gabe Gonzalez,
Marcus Brown and
Alex Roegiers have scored two goals apiece. In total, Westminster has had 12 different players score this season.
Liam Harry has posted two assists with six others recording one assist.
Damir Sabanovic has a 5-4-1 record in 11 starts in goal. He has a 1.28 goals-against-average with 32 saves and four shutouts.
Nathan Young has made 17 saves with a 0.88 GAA. He is a perfect 5-0 this year with one shutout and has been named the Frontier Conference Defensive Player of the Week the last two weeks.
Against the Opposition
With Sunday's win, Westminster now holds a 4-2 edge in the all-time series against Rocky Mountain. The Griffins have posted a shutout in each of the four wins in the series. In Billings, Rocky is 2-1 in three meetings and has won two straight.
Great Falls holds an 8-2 advantage over the Griffins in the all-time series, including a 4-1 win at Dumke Field in September. Westminster is 1-3 in Great Falls and has been shutout in three straight trips.