Pacific In The Media: Week 2

Here is this week's list of media mentions for Pacific Athletics...
• The Forest Grove News-Times ran previews for the Pacific men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball teams in its Sept. 9 issue, which feature previews for all of the area's high schools and, of course, the hometown Boxers.

• In Pacific's second mention in two week in The Oregonian's recently revived Small College Notebook, writer Norm Maves, Jr., makes note of the Pacific volleyball team's quick 4-0 start. The print piece appeared in the Sept. 8 print edition. Editor's Note: Norm, a retired writer who worked for The O for many years, pushed to bring the regular notebook back after a couple years of hibernation. All of us in the small colleges owe Norm a debt of gratitude for his persistence and dedication to the DII, DIII and NAIA schools.

Week 1 News & Notes: SoCal Fires & Media Links

Good evening from the press box high atop PGE Park in Portland. In between home events for the Boxers, I am working at my side job as the official statistician for the Portland Timbers soccer club. The team is having a fabulous season: first place in the USL First Division and hasn't lost a match in league play since their season opener in April.

I am not the only Boxer connection to the team. The Pacific men's soccer coaching staff, Head Coach Jim Brazeau and assistant Jim Rilatt, are both assistant coaches for the Timbers under Gavin Wilkinson. They are both in attendance tonight ahead of the Boxers' trip to Southern California. The team flies out Friday morning.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FIRES: The men's soccer squad is literally traveling into a firestorm as wildfires continue to devastate lands in northern Los Angeles Basin. According to KNX 1070 Newsradio, the fire complex was at 35 percent containment as of Thursday night. The city of Redlands and the University of Redlands, where the Boxers will play on Saturday, is 10 miles west of the basin's easternmost blaze, the Yuciapa Fire. Smoke and heat index caused the school to cancel a scheduled women's soccer scrimmage, but their weekend athletics events are expected to take place this weekend as scheduled. Click Here For Interactive Google Map Of The Fire Area.

MEDIA LINKS: Some items of interest on Pacific athletics from the press wires this week...
TENNIS COURTS OPEN: The Wednesday edition of the Forest Grove News-Times featured the new Holce Tennis Courts, located on the northeast corner of campus. The facility has been a long time in coming, as head men's tennis coach Brian Jackson describes.

GHOSTS OF FOOTBALL PAST: The Sunday Oregonian ran a feature of prep football coaches who have chosen to stay at the high school ranks rather than make the jump to (or in some cases the jump back) to the college ranks. Among those profiled is Bill Singler, who was Pacific's last football coach in the 1990 and 1991 seasons. After the program was cut at Pacific, Singler went to Rutgers and Stanford, where he coached under the legendary Bill Walsh, before returning to his alma mater, South Medford High School, to build a state power. The page also features a prep preview with another Pacific gridiron product: Marist Head Coach Frank Geske.

FAREWELL RUSS BLUNCK: Tuesday's Oregonian Small College Notebook makes mention of Russ Blunck, former Western Oregon sports information director and football broadcaster, who was recently named associate athletic director at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Blunck has been at Western Oregon doing double duty as SID and football radio broadcaster since 1997. Russ played football for Pacific in the late 1970s and 1980s and for a time served as a student SID. Best of luck, Russ on your return to San Diego.

BOXER KICKOFF THIS WEEKEND: The only home event for Pacific this weekend is the fifth annual Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational. Action kicks off Friday at 7 p.m., as the host Boxers take on Schreiner University of Texas. Matches take place all day Saturday, culminating with the Boxers facing Central (Iowa), a perennial NCAA playoff contender, at 8:15 p.m. Four matches on Sunday wrap the tourney, highlighted the Boxers against Wartburg at 1:30 p.m. All Pacific matches can be followed online via our Live Stats service. For more information of the tournament and the participating teams, read this week's volleyball notebook.

FOLLOW YOU, FOLLOW ME: Take your chance now to join the legions that are now following Pacific Athletics on Facebook and Twitter. To become a fan of Pacific University Boxers on Facebook, Follow This Link. To follow us on Twitter, Click Here or find us on Twitter at @goboxers.

And So It Begins...

It's not the most exciting way to herald the start of the season, but the 2009 Pacific fall sports seasons have officially commenced with a sit-down meeting.

Trialists for the Boxers' men's soccer, women's soccer and volleyball squads met in the University Center on Thursday afternoon for their official welcome to campus. Players received their Student-Athlete Handbooks, filled out required NCAA eligibility paperwork and filled out biographical forms for the sports information office.

The on-the-field and on-the-court action begins on Friday. Women's soccer players rise early for 8 a.m. practice at Lincoln Park Stadium. Volleyball gets underway at 9 a.m. and men's soccer follows at 10 a.m. All three teams will also participate in a second session in the afternoon, with two-a-day practices running well into next week. The teams will have their first day off a week from day, Aug. 27, when New Student Orientation gets underway.

Cross country does not begin their practices until Aug. 31, the first day of classes for the fall. By then Head Coach Tim Boyce will be back and recovered from his trip to the IAAF Track & Field World Championships (yes, he saw Usain Bolt run both of his astounding world records).

It's hard to believe that the game schedule begins in just 12 days. Join us for the trifecta on Sept. 1 as the women's soccer, men's soccer and volleyball squads all play at home.

The Portland Timbers At Lincoln Park

The final preseason scrimmage for the 2009 edition of the Portland Timbers came here in Forest Grove.

The Timbers fought to a 1-1 tie with the Tacoma Tide FC, a United Soccer Leagues' Premier Development League team, on April 18 at Lincoln Park Stadium. The match was one of a handful of "closed door" matches (unadvertised) that the Timbers play each preseason.

The match was the third that the USL First Division team has played at Lincoln Park Stadium. In 2008, the Timbers played an advertised preseason exhibition match against Gonzaga as well as another "closed door" scrimmage against the University of Washington.

The Timbers' presence in Forest Grove is not a coincidence. Jim Brazeau, Pacific's head men's soccer coach, has served as an assistant coach for the Timbers in seven of their first eight seasons. Of course, the season comes with a higher level of attention with the announcement that the Timbers will morph into a Major League Soccer franchise in 2011.

In addition to the Tacoma match, the Timbers will host a resident youth soccer camp in June. Visit the Portland Timbers Web site for more details.

More photos from the Timbers/Tacoma match...

A Senior Moment

Pacific's three men's soccer seniors pose after their final game at Lincoln Park Stadium. From left, Brandon Porter, Danny Williams and Jared Komo.

All three were selected to the All-Northwest Conference Men's Soccer Team. Porter and Williams both received first team selections, while Komo was an honorable mention.

Porter is a junior by eligibility years, but is on track to graduate in May. Head Coach Jim Brazeau has indicated, however, that Porter may return for one more season.

Photo courtesy of Delna Komo. Do you have photos to share of our Pacific seniors in their final contests to share on the Boxer Blog? E-mail them to timmbr@pacificu.edu.

A Full Weekend

As far as weekends go in the world of Boxer athletics, it does not get much more action packed.

In Forest Grove between Friday and Sunday, we had four soccer matches, two volleyball matches and a swim meet. If that weren't enough, the swim team swam on the road on Saturday, the women's wrestling team dueled out of the area and the cross country team ran at the NWC Championships. It's part of what those of us in the sports information business call the "crossover season." It keeps us on our toes...but gives us plenty to write about.

Here are some stories and observations that you didn't see in the weekend's releases...
THE SURPRISE OF THE WINTER?: I may be all wet in calling the Pacific women's swim team the surprise of the winter only week into competition, but it is already obvious that coach Alec Webster has seen his recruiting class pay off in great ways. The Boxers looked incredibly strong in Friday's NWC Sprint Pentathlon. Their third place finish is something that the team has never done (in any invitational-style meet) since the team was brought back in 2002. Even more promising is the fact that all five of the Boxers' top finishers in the meet are new to the team. That includes four freshmen.

Much of the difference can be seen in Eileen Bringman. A sophomore transfer, Eileen comes to Pacific after one year as a Division I swimmer at Cleveland State (yes, as in Ohio). She finished fourth overall. EDIT: While Eileen came close, it was Becky Hattersley who broke the Pacific record for the 50-yard freestyle. The record was one of the oldest on the books, having been set in 1984. Eileen, though, was just two-hundreths of a second behind!

I am looking forward to learning more about Eileen's story. What I do know is this...she is incredibly talented. At Cleveland State, Eileen qualified for the 2007 Horizon League Championships in two events and placed in the "B" finals in both the 200 freestyle and the 200 backstroke. What's even more impressive is, according to Webster, she had only four years of high school & club swimming under her belt before college...and was good enough to go Division I. That will yield losts of dividends for the Boxers over the next three years.

THE LONG ROAD BACK: Sunday was Senior Day for the Pacific soccer teams, and it was a fitting end for Tessa Krebs. The senior from Puyallup, Wash., had to sit out all of the 2007 season with a knee injury and much of the 2008 women's tennis season. She worked hard to get back to the courts a year later, becoming the Boxers' most successful player depsite being limited to doubles matches for much of the year.

The soccer season held a lot of unknown variables. A lot of newcomers had proven to be worthy of playing time and the knee still caused some problems early on. In the end, though Tessa proved to be a critical part of the defense. She has played in 13 matches and started nine. On Senior Day, Tessa played all 90 minutes and had a couple of good looks at the goal.

I got to know Tessa last year, when she workied for me keeping stats for the soccer teams while she rehabed. I found her quiet and unassuming, but one of the nicest and reliable people you could have on your team. I am sure Joy Boswell felt the same.

THE ROAD CUT SHORT: Things were not supposed to end this way for Brandon Porter. Instead of being able to enjoy being part of two lopsided victories for the men's soccer team over Puget Sound and Willamette, Brandon spent it on the bench. His should-have-been senior game was nixed when he tore his meniscus and LCL ligaments in last weekend's victory over Linfield. Brandon, who is junior in elegibility, is on track to graduate in May. He has not ruled out a return for the fall term, but a decision is far from made.

It was a shame to see it end for yet another one of the good guys. Like Tessa, Brandon is also one of nicest young people you could come across. He is also one of the hardest workers on the field and a key cog in a powerful Pacific defense that has allowed just 14 goals all season. I would love to see him back for the 2009 season to be a part of what could be a real special Pacific squad. We'll wait to see if we get the $15,000 decision.

Brandon's parents, Wade & Sanya Porter, made the hour trip from Canby to see the game depsite the fact that Brandon wasn't playing. They enjoyed the view from the Pacific press box as Sanya is recovering from chemotherapy and was advised to stay out of the elements. One of the best views they had ever had for a game, they commented.

SPEAKING OF PRESS BOXES: For many years, the press box for Pacific soccer games was a pop-up on the sidelines of Tom Reynolds Field. This meant many games in the rain where I prayed that the wind wouldn't blow just right and short out the computers we used for the music and stats. Needless to say, I do not take the press box at Lincoln Park Stadium for granted.

I was especially thankful for it today, when the Pacific women played through a downpour that equaled none seen before for a Boxers' soccer match. The Boxers and Bearcats spent much of the first half playing through an absolutely torrential downpour. I would guess at least an inch of rain fell during the half. At times, it pounded hard enough on the bleachers that we were left to watch the referee to see if a foul had been called. We couldn't hear the whistle.

For weather events, the downpour could equal that found in Pacific's women's lacrosse match against Oswego State on Mar. 28. That day saw the wind blow and the rain fall along with snow and hail all in the first half. And, yes, the sun showed through in the second half.

SIDELINE BANTER: Before Sunday's men's soccer team, I had a chance to talk with former Pacific standout Travis Pease, who is now an assistant coach at Willamette. Pease was part of Pacific's powerhouse teams in 1995 and 1996 and was selected as a First Team All-NWC defender in 1996. He was part of an impressive group that included Pacific Hall of Famers Zack Chown and Ean Lensch.

PARENTAL BANTER: One of the fun things this weekend was getting to meet some of the parents of our soccer players. They have been some of the most ardent supporters of our team, and a group I don't get to interact with too much. A note to all parents...if you catch me at a game, when I have a free moment when I am not running for stats or announcing lineups, please come by and introduce yourselves. I love putting faces to names.

Young & Potent

One can look at the numbers in the win-loss column and notice how well the Pacific men's soccer team is playing. The Boxers enter the week with an 8-3-4 record and are 4-1-4 against Northwest Conference opponents.

Digging a little deeper into the numbers, however, and its not hard to see that this team is quite and good. And they have the potential to be scary good over the next few years.

Let's look at the numbers that prove the point...
• To date, Pacific has lost just one conference match. The last time the Boxers finished with just one loss was 1994. Change just two of their four ties into victories, and the Boxers are on top of the conference instead of fourth.

• Pacific has allowed just 12 goals in 15 matches and the team's 0.75 goals against average is among the best in the nation at the NCAA Division III level. That's second in the conference only to the 11 allowed by Whitman. In conference matches, the Boxers have allowed a league best seven goals, one less than Whitman, Puget Sound or Pacific Lutheran.

• For the first time since adopting a more defensive-minded approach to the game with the arrival of assistant coach and defensive guru Jim Rilatt, the Boxers are posting offensive numbers that are better than that of their opponents. The Boxers have outscored opponents 20-12, outshot opponents 207-185 and posted 101 shots on goal.

• And perhaps the mosat important part...all but four of the players on the Pacific roster are underclassmen. Upperclassmen Danny Williams and Brandon Porter accounts for eight of the Boxers' 20 goals, with a number of players waiting to step into that top scoring role.

Granted, their is plenty of seaosn left with five matches remaining and, yes, a chance at their first NWC title since 1996 will require some help from some other teams. Nonetheless, the Boxers are continuing to build towards what could become a run of strong and successful teams over the years to come.

Soccer Webcasts Begin Saturday

The first of our live soccer Webcasts take place this Saturday. We will provide a Webcast of both the men's and women's soccer matches against Linfield. The women's match begins at noon and the men's match begins at 7 p.m.

You can access the Webcasts by Clicking Here.

If you were wondering...we will still have Live Stats available along with the Webcast. So, although it is not video, you can follow along on the screen while listening to the action. Cool, huh?

Something For The Entire Family

It's not Ringling Bros., but there will certainly be something for everyone this weekend in Forest Grove for the Boxers' sports fan. A busy weekend for those of us working at the PAC and Lincoln Park, but also for anyone hoping to see a little volleyball, soccer or softball (no, that's not a typo).

Here's the weekend rundown and preview...
VOLLEYBALL: If it wasn't for practice, the Pacific volleyball team might not remember what their home floor looked like. The Boxers have not played at home since they began the season with four matches at their own Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational. Six matches later, the Boxers are home for a weekend set against Whitman on Friday and Whitworth on Saturday.

This has the possibility to be a momentum-building weekend for Lena Chan's team, who enters with a 1-1 NWC record. Whitman has struggled so far in 2008. They have gone 0-11 and are dealing with a depth problem. The Missionaries have only nine players on the roster (six plus the libero start a match) and are without their their top players from 2007: Rosa Brey and Lydia Hayes.

A quality win over Whitman could give the Boxers some confidence as they enter their Saturday match with Whitworth. The Pirates are much improved, entering with an 8-6 record and 1-1 conference mark, but have lost five of their last seven matches. The losses included a four-set loss to an improved Lewis & Clark squad and losses to a pair of like opponents to Pacific, UC Santa Cruz and Cal State East Bay.

Lena Chan said that her team felt good about their performance against the No. 10 ranked Loggers last week, despite falling in three sets, and that she was pleased about how the lineup is picking up on her system of play. We will have a chance to...finally...see that in action this weekend.

WOMEN'S SOCCER: The question for the Boxers is how do they keep the run going? Pacific is enjoying their first three-game winning streak since the 2005 season thanks to last Saturday's 2-0 shutout of Pacific Lutheran and Sunday's 1-0 double overtime victory over Lewis & Clark...their first over the Pioneers since 2004.

The Boxers have done it with a very stingy defense, allowing their last three opponents a total of 28 shots and 16 shots on goal. Goalie Erin Ichimura was named NWC Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week after holding Warner Pacific, PLU and L&C scoreless. On the offensive end, Pacific has shown a much faster pace of play then they showed in the first three matches of the year. And they have played with more urgency and haven't been afraid to pull the trigger. The Boxers have taken 47 shots in the last three matches as compared to 14 in their first three matches.

If Pacific can keep up the offensive intensity against Linfield, who took a total of 19 shots combined in a 2-1 overtime loss to Whitworth and a 3-0 shutout at the hands of Whitman last weekend, the Boxers should come out of Saturday with their first 3-0 conference start since 1994.

MEN'S SOCCER: The good news that the Boxers have posted two consecutive shutouts against NWC teams. The bad news is that they haven't been able to put the ball in the net over the last 220 minutes. The numbers don't quite tell the tale. Pacific has outshot opponents by a 36-20 margin in those two matches, but have been unable to finish things off.

The defense, meanwhile, has done its job and more. Goalkeeper Andrew Stevermer has made 11 saves in the last two matches and the starting back line of Brandon Porter, Taylor Kane, Jared Komo and Anthony Jaeger have held their own well. Kane, a freshman out of Portland's Central Catholic High School, has been especially impressive with his pace in both the defense and midfield.

Saturday's match against Linfield will be the last at home under the lights in 2008 (they will, however, play a night match at Linfield on Oct. 26). The Wildcats will be looking to right the ship after losing their first two NWC matches to Whitman and Whitworth.

SOFTBALL: The team's non-traditional fall practice season will end with a game against a team of Pacific alums Saturday at noon. This will be a great first preview of this spring's team, in particular the newcomers to the program. Head Coach Tim Hill said he will break the team into two teams, one playing half of the game and then the other playing the final innings. Each team will feature six freshmen each. Pacific will hit the field this spring with somethng to prove. Their 31-9 record and second place finish to defending national champion Linfield was not enough to earn the team what should have been a well deserved playoffs berth.

Men's Soccer Photos Online

It doesn't take long for people to find things on this site. Take, for example, the photos from the Pacific/La Verne men's soccer match that we posted on our Online Photo Store yesterday.

The photos finished uploading at midnight. By 1 p.m., this afternoon, the page had been accessed nearly 200 times.

If you haven't had a look, check out the shots taken by Jaime Valdez, who has shot Pacific Athletics events for me since 1999. He is one of the best sports photographers in Portland and I am lucky to have him working for me. He also does weddings if you are looking for some memories.

We will be adding more photos over the next few weeks from all of our sports, including some from last year. Keep visiting the photo pages and see what's new.

By the way...if you see one you like, you can purchase it or have it put on a t-shirt or coffee mug.

California Dreamin'

Hello all from sunny Southern California! I am in Claremont with the Pacific volleyball team as they play at the Pacific Coast Classic, which is co-hosted by Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps colleges (which is actually all one consortium of colleges along with Scripps and Harvey Mudd Colleges, but I digress). The team arrived Thursday night, but I flew in this morning after working our men's soccer match in Forest Grove Thursday night.

I knew it was going to be a good trip when right across from our hotel was a In-N-Out Burger, some of the best burgers and fries in the world. My combined breakfast and lunch was a Double-Double, fresh cut fries and a Coke. Can't beat it!

I don't travel too much with our teams. When you have 20 sports to work with there is no way that you can go every place (or any place) with the teams. Volleyball is a notable exception, however, when it comes to tournaments. Unlike our own Boxer Kickoff Volleyball Invitational, most tournaments at the Division III level do not keep stats for any of the participating teams. They have to be kept on the bench by players.

So...here I am, keeping stats on my third volleyball trip in four years. No complaints, though. It's a great way to get to know these young women a lot better. A better connection to our players never hurts.

Speaking of stats (or lack thereof)...parents and fans of Northwest Conference volleyball should thank the sports information directors of those schools, who all keep stats for both teams during the course of a match. At most Division III schools, particularly east of the Rockies, schools keep stats for just their school and combine the two teams the next day. With the NWC schools, you have complete stats the same day. What a deal!

And the conference must have found a deal to get teams into the Ontario Sheraton. In the hour I was actually on the property I saw the Pacific Lutheran volleyball team and the Whitman women's soccer team. Whose next??? Perhaps we should contract the Sheraton to be a conference host hotel (attention Matt Newman...).

Some news and notes from the World of Pacific Athletics...
VOLLEYBALL: Four matches for the Boxers at the Pacific Coast Classic. Pacific faces Chapman this afternoon and the host Sagehens this evening. Tomorrow it's over to the other side of campus and a rematch with UC Santa Cruz, followed by a meeting with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Very hot here in the Southland. Too warm even for Keleigh Kremers, who is used to that "dry Texas heat, y'all!" Caitlin Gollehon, however, predicts that freshman Kelsy Takashima will have a great match because of the sweat she has built in pre-match warm-ups in the non-air-conditioned Voekele Gymnasium. We shall see soon.

The wireless connection here at Pomona will not allow me to access our Web servers back in Forest Grove, so Web updates (such as stats) will have to wait until this evening. We will, however, be able to post stories on the site not long after the conclusion of our matches.

MEN'S SOCCER: In their season opener on Thursday, Pacific looked incredible for the first 45 minutes against Warner Pacific. The defense was incredibly tight. At one point, the backline managed to knock down a Knights' flurry that gave them three looks at the net, yet not a shot. Danny Williams' first half goal was well played and a credit to the team's passing ability.

But a full match is a 90-minute affair. I don't know if the Boxers got tired or complacent, but the defense was not as tight in the second half as it was in the first. After the free kick goal by the Knights in the 68th minute, Warner Pacific picked up a lot of confidence and quickly parlayed it into the game-winner. If the Pacific defense can learn to play a full 90, this team will be very good.

The Boxers will play a match against an alumni squad on Sunday afternoon and return to action on Monday against LaVerne. This will be the Boxers' first ever meeting in men's soccer with the Panthers, who made it to the SCIAC's postseason tournament in 2007, are 1-0-0 on the year and play NAIA member William Jessup this afternoon.

CROSS COUNTRY: Tim Boyce's first full season at the helm begins on Saturday. The Boxers open the season at the Whitman Invitational in Walla Walla. The races will be short course affairs, with the men running 6,000 meters and the women racing 4,000 meters. Even though this year's NWC Championships will be run in Walla Walla, this race is not on the conference course at Veterans Memorial Golf Course. It is, instead, being run at Ft. Walla Walla Park, where I ran my first ever conference XC race for the Boxers back in 1994 (won't divulge my time...wasn't all that great anyway).

The Boxers will be a building team once again. The Boxers return just three runners who competed last fall: All-American Kelsey Owens, Whitney Nelson and Casey Nishimura. The men do, however, return a couple of runners who took last season off in Adrian Shipley (NWC track qualifier in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters) and Dylan Taylor.

The full Pacific cross country season preview will be posted later today on GoBoxers.com (wrote it on the plane this morning while I was free to move about the country, but the FTP limitations keep me from posting from the Pomona campus).

That's all from the Southland as we come up to a half hour before first serve. Go Boxers!

Men's Soccer: PGE Park Game Is A No Go

After looking forward to playing their first match ever in Portland's premiere soccer venue, the Pacific men's soccer team will have to wait for another opportunity.

Pacific's scheduled Sept. 4 match at PGE Park against Warner Pacific has been moved back to Forest Grove's Lincoln Park Stadium. Start time has also been moved back one hour to 4:00 p.m.

The match was going to be Pacific's first ever on the same pitch that the Portland Timbers call home. Pacific's head men's soccer coach, Jim Brazeau, is also the Timbers' goalkeepers coach and assistant coach Jim Rilatt is also on the staff.

The bad news is that the match will make for some last-minute drives down the Sunset Highway for Brazeau and Rilatt and for your local neighborhood SID, who is the official scorer for the Timbers. The Timbers have a 7 p.m. match at PGE Park against the Charleston Battery.