SF State's men's soccer team is preparing for a grueling six-game road trip this week, beginning with a tough match against nationally ranked Seattle Pacific University on Saturday.

The Gators stunned SPU early last fall, defeating the favored Falcons 3-1 in San Francisco. Matt Pederson, Casey Posten and then-freshman Wes Whitt scored that afternoon.

"I don't want to use the word revenge, but there is definitely some redemption they [SPU] are looking for," Gator coach Joe Hunter said. "It's going to be a big challenge."

SPU — which boasts English Premier League goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann (at Reading FC) as an alumnus, and is currently ranked 22nd nationally in the Division II NCSAA/ Adidas preseason coaches poll — went to the first round of the national championships last year before being dumped by Cal State L.A.

Falcon coach Cliff McCrath is also D II's "winningest" coach, with a 590-227-88 record stretching over 48 years.

But the Gators will travel to Washington in a confident stride, having won their first two games of the season — a 3-2 defeat of Hawaii-Hilo Thursday, followed by a tight 1-0 decision over Dominican two days later.

"We are going to have to play our best game," Hunter said. "Seattle Pacific at home is a very, very difficult team. I know [McCrath] was very upset when we whooped them pretty good last year."

While Coach Hunter said that every game on the schedule is a crucial one, he admitted that the next two matches — against SPU and Western Washington two days later — are opportunities to "tune-up" his team before the first conference game on Sept. 7 against Cal State Stanislaus.

"[F]or this group here, every game is going to have to be a learning experience," Hunter said. "The sooner they get the experience under their belt, the sooner they see not only the same things over and over, but there are going to be some new wrinkles that they get to put into their collective brains, and we get to be a better team."

Among the improvements the coach would like to see is in the midfield.

"We're still lacking a little coordination," he said. "But you can see we're fairly opportunistic on the goal-scoring side and that's something I like."

This year the Gators, who have made it their goal to improve on last season by finishing above .500 and making the California Collegiate Athletic Association playoffs, are looking to develop a host of young players with an eye to the future of SF State soccer — and Saturday's game in Seattle is another chance for freshmen to gain valuable match-day experience.

The fall 2007 season sees the introduction of seven freshmen to the 25-man roster, and returning sophomores like forward Dylan Glass are expected to help nurture the burgeoning talent.

"I definitely see myself more as a leader, compared to last year when everyone was just looking down at me," said Glass. "I had a good year last year so I'm expected to have an even better year this year, as well as being a leader for the other guys coming up."

Glass, who in 2006 led the Gators in scoring with six, bagged his first goal of the season against Hawaii before adding another, the winner against Dominican.

Also on the score-sheet against Hawaii was freshman Franco Cruz and sophomore Whitt. Now in his second year as a Gator, Whitt has some experience playing on the road and after seeing the Gators finish 7-9-4 last year, appreciates the importance of a good performance away from home.

While three of last year's seven wins came against nationally ranked teams at SPU, Seattle University and Sonoma State, the Gators at times struggled on the road, needlessly dropping points in tight games against conference opposition.

"It's tough [playing away from home] but there are points there and if you can pick up points on the road, it will make your season that much easier," Whitt said.

Added fellow sophomore Glass, "We always say, a draw on the road is really a win."