PORTLAND, Ore. - After last year's cancellation of the fall sports seasons, Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer is set to be back in full force this fall, with Northwest Nazarene chosen in a tie for fifth in the preseason coaches poll.

Simon Fraser leads the poll with 34 points and four first-place votes, followed by defending conference champion Western Washington with 31 points and two first-place votes. Seattle Pacific takes the third spot with 21 points, Montana State Billings is fourth with 18 points, and NNU and Saint Martin's round out the poll with 11 points apiece.

The Nighthawks placed seventh in the conference in 2019, and the GNAC has since shrunk to six men's soccer programs after Concordia Portland closed in the spring of 2020. However, Western Oregon has announced that it will begin a men's soccer program in the fall of 2022, bringing the number of teams back up to seven.

During that 2019 season, NNU went 7-11 overall and 3-9 in conference play. In last year's shortened spring campaign, the Nighthawks showed improvement with a 4-2-1 record over seven matches, as well as a 2-1 upset over Division I Grand Canyon University in an exhibition match. First-year head coach John Powell took over the program this summer and will look to build off that momentum heading into the fall.

The Nighthawks return 17 letterwinners and nine starters from last year, including senior defender Lorenzo Valentini and senior forward Jake Levine. Valentini was named the 2019 GNAC Newcomer of the Year after leading NNU in three shutouts and scoring five goals. Valentini also scored three goals in 2020-21. Levine earned second-team honors for the second straight season in 2019 after finishing tied for second with nine goals. Levine scored three goals and had a pair of assists in 2020-21.

NNU will kick off the year with a pair of neutral site matches in Salt Lake City, taking on San Francisco State on Sept. 2 and Humboldt State on Sept. 4. The home opener will be the following week, hosting Westminster on Sept. 9. GNAC play gets underway the weekend of Sept. 30 and Oct. 2 when the Nighthawks host the top two teams in the preseason poll, Western Washington and Simon Fraser.

 

2021 GNAC Preseason Men's Soccer Coaches Poll
Team (1st Place Votes)	2019 Record (GNAC Finish)	Points
1. Simon Fraser (4)	11-4-1 (8-3-1, 2nd)	34
2. Western Washington (2)	13-5-1 (10-1-1, 1st)	31
3. Seattle Pacific	7-9-1 (6-6-0, 3rd)	21
4. Montana State Billings	8-9-2 (5-6-1, 4th)	18
T5. Northwest Nazarene	7-11-0 (3-9-0, 7th)	11
T5. Saint Martin's	9-8-2 (4-7-1, 5th)	11