SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's soccer team will close out the 2014 regular season on Sunday when they host Rocky Mountain (Mont.) in a 1:30 p.m. MT game at Dumke Field. Prior to the game, Westminster will recognize the seven seniors on this year's team.
 
The game will be carried live on Griffins TV and there will be live stats available. Griffins TV can be found online and through the Livestream app on mobile and Roku devices.
 
Griffins Notebook
Westminster will enter the final game of the regular season at 8-8-1 overall on the year and they have gone 2-3 in Frontier Conference play. The Griffins have posted a 5-2-1 record at home this season, but they have only played two home games since Sept. 1. They are coming off an 0-2 road trip last weekend at Rocky Mountain and Great Falls.
 
The Griffins have scored 26 goals on the year and they are averaging 1.53 goals per game. The team is taking 10.5 shots per game with 47.2 percent of those attempts on goal. Westminster is 4-0-1 on the year when taking more shots than the opposition. They have recorded 16 assists and taken 75 corner kicks this season.
 
Westminster opponents have scored 19 goals for an average of 1.12 goals per game. The Griffins have allowed more than one goal in a game only four times during the year, but they have surrendered a goal in eight straight outings. The opposition takes 14.4 shots per game with 41.2 percent of them on goal.
 
Andrew Clayton, Connor Thompson and Jonnathan Rodriguez are all tied for the team lead with four goals apiece. Clayton has added a team-best five assists to lead all Griffins with 13 points. Thompson has three assists and 11 points and is also tied with Clayton for the team lead with two game-winning goals. Manuel Duenas is second on the team with four assists.
 
Three different Griffins have appeared in goal this season with Logan Butzier posting a team-best 0.92 goals-against-average. He has made 38 saves with five wins, three shutouts and a .844 save percentage. Sean Lyne has recorded 31 saves with a 0.96 GAA and Taylor Ruff has a 1.65 GAA with 11 saves.
 
About Rocky Mountain
Rocky Mountain enters the week at 8-7 overall and 2-1 in the conference. They have been hot of late, winning seven of their last eight games, including a 1-0 win over the Griffins last Friday. The Battlin' Bears are scoring 1.87 goals per game while they attempt 11.93 shots per contest. They have scored at least one goal in eight consecutive games with multiple goals in six of those outings. Jack Clancy leads the team and is 39th in the NAIA with 11 goals and he is 35th national by scoring 0.79 goals per game. Sean Flynn has a 1.34 goals-against-average with a .700 save percentage.
 
Record Streak
After allowing a goal to Carroll (Mont.) at the 10:31 mark of the season opener, Westminster didn't surrender a goal for the next 558:36 minutes of action. They established new school records for consecutive shutout minutes and also for consecutive shutouts at five. They currently place 17th in the NAIA with six shutouts on the season while also placing 24th in the national by giving up 0.93 goals per game.
 
Spreading the Wealth
The 26 goals scored by the Griffins this season have come from 12 different players with 14 players recording at least one point during the year. The Griffins eight game-winning goals have come from six different players with only Andrew Clayton and Connor Thompson notching two winners. A total of 23 players have attempted at least one shot during the year with 22 getting an attempt on goal.
 
Sharing the Rock
Westminster has been playing more of a possession game in 2014 and it has translated to 16 assists on the team's 26 goals scored this season. Three players have accounted for 12 of those assists with Clayton leading the way with five assists. Manuel Duenas has tallied four assists and Thompson getting three helpers.
 
Three-Headed Monster
The goalkeeper combination of Logan Butzier, Sean Lyne, and Taylor Ruff has combined to make 82 saves with a .812 save percentage this season. The group has posted a 1.09 goals-against-average with six shutouts. Butzier leads the team with his 0.92 GAA and five wins. Lyne has posted two shutouts and 31 saves for a 0.96 GAA while Ruff has 11 saves and a 1.65 GAA.
 
Second Half Success
Westminster has been stellar in the second half of games this season. The Griffins have scored 19 goals after intermission which accounts for 73.1 percent of their total goals scored.  Despite the scoring totals, the Griffins have been outshot 127-99 after the first 45 minutes. The Griffins are 8-0 on the year when they hold the lead at the 75-minute mark.
 
Climbing the NAIA Wins Chart
With eight wins this season, head coach Chris Dorich now has 282 wins in his Westminster career. He currently ranks eighth in the NAIA among active coaches in that category. Dorich is in his 31st season at the helm of the Westminster program and is one of three NAIA coaches across the country with 30 years at one school.
 
Home Cooking
Over the years, Westminster has been tough to beat at home. The Griffins have compiled a winning record at home every year since 2001 and only had a losing record at home four times in 30 seasons. Since Dumke Field opened in 2005, Westminster has gone 60-22-5 on the home turf. This season, Westminster is 5-2-1 at home and they have outscored the opposition 12-3 in those games.
 
Frontier-North Star Tournament
The bracket for next week's Frontier/North Star Conference Tournament was released this week with the Griffins receiving the No. 3 seed. The tournament will be held in Billings, Mont. with Westminster opening against No. 6-seed Presentation (S.D.) on Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. MT at COT Field. The semifinals will be played on Nov. 7 at 2 p.m. with the championship game slated for Nov. 9 at 2 p.m.