SALT LAKE CITY – The Westminster men's soccer team will take to the road for the first time this season when they travel to California this weekend to play three games. The Griffins have started the season by going 5-0-1 at home over the season's first two weeks.
 
The road trip opens on Friday with a neutral site game against Westmont (Calif.) at 5:30 p.m. MT at The Master's Tournament. On Saturday, the Griffins face The Master's (Calif.) for the second time this season in a 5 p.m. contest. They close the trip on Saturday with a game at Soka (Calif.) at 2 p.m.
 
Live video and stats will be available for the games on Friday and Saturday courtesy of The Master's Athletic Department.
 
Griffins Notebook
The Griffins 5-0-1 start is the team's best six-game opening since posting that same record to open the 1993 campaign. They extended their fast start by picking up wins over Dakota Wesleyan (S.D.) and College of Idaho at home last weekend.
 
Westminster has controlled possession throughout most of the six games they have played this season and they are currently averaging 2.0 goals per game. Those goals are coming on 14.5 shots per game with 43.7 percent of those attempts on goal. The Griffins have also assisted on 11 of those 12 goals with the only non-assisted goal being an own goal against College of Idaho.
 
At the defensive end of the field, Westminster is giving up 9.5 shots per game and they have only allowed one goal all season. The team is allowing 0.17 goals per game with a 0.16 goals-against-average. The opposition hasn't scored in the past five games and over a span of 549 minutes.
 
Michael Porter leads the team with three goals on the season, scoring all three in the season-opening win over Carroll (Mont.). Andrew Clayton and Connor Thompson have each scored two goals with four others notching one goal on the season. Clayton has added a team-best five assists to lead the team with nine points. Thompson has three assists for five points.
 
Three different Griffins have appeared in goal this season with Logan Butzier leading the team with seven saves. Butzier has three wins and two shutouts. Sean Lyne hasn't allowed a goal in two starts with one win and one shutout while making six saves.
 
About Westmont
Westmont enters the weekend at 0-1 on the season after dropping a 2-1 decision to Pomona-Pitzer last Friday. Tanner Wolf scored the Warriors' lone goal in the game. Cody Howen took a team-high four shots with Austin Lack getting away three shots. Josh Glover made three saves in defeat.
 
About The Master's
The Master's plays host to the weekend and they enter with a 0-3 record. After going winless in two games at the Westminster Kickoff Classic, the Mustangs dropped a 2-1 contest to Marymount (Calif.) last week. Joseph Hess has scored the team's only goal on the year. Kyle Cunningham leads the team with nine saves and Casey Phillips has made three stops.
 
About Soka
Soka has started the season with three wins in three games. They are averaging 2.67 goal per outing while getting off 14.67 shots per game. Alexander Whyte and Jaroslav Zapletal have each totaled three goals and one assist on the year with Zapletal leading the team with 12 shots. Danny Smyth has made 14 saves and posted a 0.66 goals-against-average.
 
Record Streak
After allowing a goal to Carroll (Mont.) at the 10:31 mark of the season opener, Westminster hasn't allowed a goal since. The Griffins current span of five-straight shutout in a school record, surpassing the old record of four straight set two different times. They enter the weekend having not allowed a goal in the past 549:29 minutes of action which is also a school record.
 
Fast Start
The 5-0-1 start to the season ranks among the best six-game starts in school history and is the first time since 1993 they have gone unbeaten in the first six games. This is the seventh time in the 31 years of the program the Griffins have won at least five games in the season's first six chances. Only twice, 1990 and 1992, did a Westminster team start a season at 6-0.
 
Climbing the NAIA Wins Chart
With five wins this season, head coach Chris Dorich now has 279 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.
 

NAIA Winningest Active Coaches
Rank	Coach, Institution	Yrs	Wins
1.	Steve Burke, Judson (Ill.)	30	521
2.	Ray Wells, Lindsey Wilson (Ky.)	26	476
3.	Scott Morrissey, Rio Grande (Ohio)	25	389
4.	Brian Harvey, Oklahoma City	28	382
5.	Blair Reid, Grand View (Iowa)	30	362
6.	Dan Birkey, Concordia (Ore.)	26	351
7.	Dave Wolf, Westmont (Calif.)	23	280
8.	Chris Dorich, Westminster (Utah)	30	279
9.	Jim Rickard, The Master's (Calif.)	23	271
10.	Chris Kranjc, Hastings (Neb.)	15	268

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 60-20-5 on the home turf.
 
Opening Trick
Seven different players have scored a goal so far this season with three of them notching multiple goals. Michael Porter tallied a hat trick on the season opener and currently leads the team with three goals. The sophomore became just the fifth Griffins sine 2005 to tally a hat trick.
 
Sharing the Rock
Fellow sophomore Andrew Clayton is also off to an impressive start in 2014. The midfielder leads the team with five assists on the year and he has recorded a pair of multi-assist games. Clayton recorded three assists in the opener against Carroll and then had two assists against College of Idaho. He also has scored two goals – both game winners – and he ranks sixth in the NAIA with nine points.
 
Thompson up Top
Connor Thompson broke through with two goals in the Griffins win over College of Idaho on Monday. The sophomore recorded the 36th multi-goal game by a Griffin since 2005 in the contest and recorded his first-career game-winner in the process. Thompson has added three assists to give him seven points on the year. He claimed two of those helpers on the team's two goals against Dakota Wesleyan last Friday.
 
Three-Headed Monster
The goalkeeper combination of Logan Butzier, Sean Lyne, and Taylor Ruff has combined to make 18 saves with a .947 save percentage this season. The group has posted a 0.16 goals-against-average with five shutouts. Butzier leads the team with seven saves and three wins while Lyne has made six stops and one victory.
 
Looking Ahead
It's back to the road next week as the Griffins travel to the Midwest for three games. They open the trip at No. 19 Midland (Neb.) on Sept. 12 before playing at No. 12 Grand View (Iowa) on Sept. 13. The trip concludes at Bellevue (Neb.) on Sept. 14.