GAME 12: PACWEST CONTEST
vs. Academy of Art
Wednesday, Oct. 19 •  7:30 p.m.
Ramirez Field • Fresno, Calif.
Live Stats • Game Notes

GAME 13: PACWEST CONTEST
vs. Holy Names
Saturday, Oct. 22 •  7:30 p.m.
Ramirez Field • Fresno, Calif.
Live Stats

SCHEDULE NOTES
After this week, the 'Birds make their final road trip of the season with a pair of league matches against California Baptist and Concordia. FPU hosts Hawaii Hilo on Nov. 3 and will celebrate Senior Day on Nov. 5 against Hawaii Pacific to wrap up the regular season.
 
PACWEST STANDINGS
As of October 17, Fresno Pacific currently sits in seventh place in the PacWest Conference standings. Academy of Art is 13th, while Holy Names is in 14th place.  
 
ABOUT FRESNO PACIFIC (5-5-1, 3-3-1)
After dropping both contests of last week's Southern California road swing, the Sunbirds have now been blanked in three consecutive games and are 0-3-1 in their last four. The Blue and Orange hope to get back on track this week, as a pair of wins could propel them as high as fourth in the PacWest. Mariah Montoya and Amber Rodriguez are tied with one another for the team lead in shots, while Rodriguez is tied with Sassy Weigant and Alyssa Nakaguchi for best on the squad in scores. Summer Hammond has handled all 1018 minutes in the net and has posted a saves-to-goals allowed ratio of 48 to 11.  
 
ABOUT ACADEMY OF ART (1-10-1, 1-5-0)
The Urban Knights enter Wednesday's matchup having been shut out in each of their last four contests. Most recently, Art U fell 2-0 to Dominican on Sunday afternoon, with the Penguins outshooting their hosts 21-7. Four different players share the team lead in scores, though goals have come at a premium for the Urban Knights to this point. Maggie Alikpala-Wilson and Morgan Wirz have split time in the net, but the latter has tallied 65 saves in eight starts this season.
 
SERIES HISTORY: SUNBIRDS VS URBAN KNIGHTS
Fresno Pacific claims a 4-0-1 record in the all-time series, including three consecutive shutouts from 2012-2014. The lone tie between the two squads came in San Francisco in 2008, when the Sunbirds battled from behind to finish with a 2-2 draw.
 
ABOUT HOLY NAMES (1-10-1, 1-7-0)
Holy Names dropped PacWest contests to Point Loma and Azusa Pacific last week after being outscored by a total of 6-0. Courtney Okazaki has found the net three times this season to lead the Hawks, while Vanessa Amaral has tallied 68 saves to anchor the goalkeeper position. 
 
SERIES HISTORY: SUNBIRDS VS HAWKS
The Sunbirds have never lost to Holy Names, claiming a 9-0-1 record in the all-time series. A 2-1 road victory last season saw Rachelle Schiller pull FPU even in the 51st minute, and Alyssa Nakaguchi earned the game-winner 21 minutes later.  

HEAD COACH ROB PODEYN
Rob Podeyn joined the FPU staff in 2015 as head women's soccer coach. In his first season with the team, he guided a team that had finished 6-8-2 the previous year to a record-breaking season that saw the team lead the league in shots on goal while tying for the best record in program history. 
 
Podeyn began his coaching career after a successful seven-year professional playing career as a goalkeeper. He played collegiately at Long Island-C.W. Post (1984-1987) where he was an NCAA Division II All-American while leading his team to the NCAA quarterfinals as a senior. That year, Podeyn led the nation in save percentage (.893) and ranked fifth in the nation in saves with 107. He went on to spend seven seasons with the Long Island Stars of the American Soccer League, earning league MVP honors twice while setting a league record of 973 consecutive shutout minutes.
 
He holds an overall career coaching record of 109-98-20, including a 9-6-2 mark in his first season at FPU. He holds a bachelor's degree in English from Dowling College and a master's of education from William Woods University. Podeyn teaches in the university's kinesiology department, focusing primarily on the areas of sport psychology and leadership.
 
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