NW briefs: Seattle U. men get back to winning

ARCATA, Calif. — The streak of 24 matches without a loss might have ended on Sunday, but a new streak began yesterday when Seattle University topped Humboldt State 3-0 in both teams' Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener.

While the 3-0 result confirmed that the No. 2-ranked Redhawks men (2-1-0, 1-0-0 GNAC) are still one of the top teams in the NCAA Division II Far West Region, it was even more impressive considering that Bobby McAlister, the 2004 NCAA Division II player of the year, didn't play.

Freshman goalkeeper Nick Gargiulo received his first start and earned the shutout, making six saves.

Alex Chursky scored Seattle's first two goals. He converted a penalty kick in the 27th minute to make it 1-0, then scored again 12 minutes later on a breakaway off an assist from Cameron Weaver.

Adam Jensen completed the scoring in the 71st minute with an unassisted goal from a tough angle

The Redhawks play their home opener at 4 p.m. tomorrow against Cal State Bakersfield.

Other soccer

• Megan Lienhard led four different Falcons in scoring as No. 9 Seattle Pacific (2-0) rolled over Biola 5-0 in a nonconference women's soccer game, extending the Falcons' regular-season win streak to 39 games.

• Hilary Davidson scored her first goal of the season in the 73rd minute, but two first-half goals by visiting Evergreen State proved to be the difference in the Central Washington women's (1-2) 3-1 loss.

Rowers advance at worlds

For the second straight day Seattle rowers Matt Deakin, Bryan Volpenhein and Beau Hoopman were victorious at the 2005 FISA World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan, powering the U.S. directly to the finals in the men's eight-oared competition.

Deakin, a former University of Washington rower, along with Volpenhein and Hoopman, who have been training at the UW this spring, helped the U.S. boat hold off a hard-charging Italian crew, finishing in 5 minutes, 31.16 seconds.

Julie Nichols of Pocock Rowing Center also advanced, earning a berth in the semifinals of the lightweight women's double sculls with a second-place finish in her heat. Nichols and partner Renee Hykel finished 1.41 seconds behind Germany in 6:55.84.

Former UW coxswain Mary Whipple and the U.S. finished second in the women's eight to Romania and will attempt to qualify through today's repechage.

Pocock's Anna Mickelson finished third in the heats of the women's quadruple sculls, while Pocock's Sarah Hirst-Smith finished fourth in her heat of the lightweight women's quadruple sculls. Both will race in today's repechages.

Bjorn Larsen of Lake Stevens, Wash. and partner Mike Altman finished third in the first of four heats of the lightweight men's double sculls, and will race in the repechages.

Notes

• Gonzaga announced the hiring of Peter MacDonald as the head men's tennis coach.

• Sounders midfielder Kevin Sakuda was named to the United Soccer Leagues' team of the week.

• Single-game tickets for the Seattle Thunderbirds are now on sale. They can be purchased at any Ticketmaster outlet, by calling 206-628-0888 or 206-448-PUCK, online at www.seattlethunderbirds.com, or the Hockey Store at Kingsgate Ice Arena in Kirkland.

The defending U.S. Division champions open the season against the Prince George Cougars on Sept. 23 in Prince George. Seattle's home opener is Oct. 1 against the Kamloops Blazers.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.