November 11, 2008
NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament
First & Second Rounds at Interbay Stadium (900); Seattle, Wash.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13 -
(No. 6 seed) BYU-Hawaii vs. (3) UC San Diego, 7:00 p.m. PST
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15 -
First-round winner vs. (2) Seattle Pacific, 1:00 p.m. PST
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21 -
Third round at highest-seeded South Central Region team, TBA
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 23 -
Quarterfinals at highest-seeded South Central Region team, TBA
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5 -
Semifinals at Tampa, Fla., 1:00 p.m. & 4:00 p.m. PST
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7 -
Championship Game at Tampa, Fla., 10:30 a.m. PST
The fourth-ranked Seattle Pacific women's soccer team will play at home Saturday to start its sixth straight foray into postseason play. The Falcons (17-1-2) received the No. 2 seed in the West Region for the 48-team NCAA Division II Tournament field. Seattle Pacific, which brings a 12-game undefeated streak into the postseason, received a first-round bye and will await its opponent for a 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15 second-round matchup. Third-seeded UC San Diego (14-3-4) and No. 6 BYU-Hawaii (14-4) will play a first-round contest Thursday, Nov. 13 in Seattle. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Interbay Stadium where the winner will play SPU on Saturday.
Streaking SPU
Seattle Pacific enters the postseason with a 12-game unbeaten streak. The Falcons won their last six games by a combined 27-2 score. "We're playing the best soccer we've played all year right now," says Coach Chuck Sekyra. "We're tested and ready. The last five or six games have just been unreal."
Ticket Talk
Tickets for NCAA Tournament games can be purchased at the gate on game day and are $7 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. Interbay Stadium is located just off the Dravus Street exit of 15th Avenue Northwest, at 3027 17th Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98119.
Tournament Format
The NCAA Division II Tournament is a single-elimination playoff starting with a 48-team field divided into eight, six-team regions. All games will be played on the campus of a participating school with two sites per region. The two second-round winning teams from the West Region will travel to the site of the highest remaining seed from the South Central Region for a third-round clash on Nov. 21. The winner earns a berth in the Nov. 23 regional final. The 2008 semifinals and championship game are scheduled for Dec. 5 and 7 at Pepin Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
Tournament History
Seattle Pacific has a 7-5-2 all-time record in NCAA Tournament play with all seven wins coming during the last three years. The Falcons advanced to the championship game in 2005 and were national semifinalists last season. This marks the fourth year SPU has served as a postseason host, having parlayed the previous three into a 5-1-2 playoff record at Interbay Stadium. Last year, the Falcons outscored three opponents by a combined 9-0 tally en route to three NCAA Tournament home victories.
Falcons vs. the Field
The Falcons played four games this season against opponents from the 48-team NCAA Tournament field, registering a 2-1-1 record. SPU defeated San Francisco State (1-0) and Cal State Dominguez Hills (3-2 ot) while getting a tie and loss in two meetings with Western Washington.
Terrific Teague
Senior midfielder
Meredith Teague (Redmond, Wash./Bellevue Christian) was named the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and West Region player of the year. She leads Seattle Pacific with 32 points on 12 goals and eight assists. Teague's 32 career assists are five more than any player in SPU history and her 23 goals rank No. 5 on the career charts. Her numbers this year include six game-winning goals and five game-winning assists. So of SPU's 17 victories, Teague has factored into the deciding goal in 11 of them. "She is probably the most consistent player I've ever coached," Falcons coach
Chuck Sekyra said. "She just never makes mistakes."
Home Sweet Home
Seattle Pacific has not lost at Interbay Stadium since a 1-0 setback against Seattle University on Sept. 30, 2006. The Falcons posted a 27-0-2 home record since then, including a perfect 15-0 mark last year. They have a 10-0-2 home record this season. SPU rode the home field advantage to the national semifinals last season, winning three games at Interbay Stadium before losing 2-0 to Franklin Pierce in Orange Beach, Ala. SPU is 5-1-2 in all-time home playoff games.
The Opponents
UC San Diego (14-3-4) -- The 19th-ranked Tritons are outscoring opponents by a 33-12 margin. Natasha Belak-Berger leads the attack with 12 goals. Goalkeeper Jess McGovern has 10 shutouts and a 0.55 goals against average. The series is tied 1-1 with both meetings coming in the postseason. UCSD won 3-0 at home in 2006 and SPU was a 2-0 home victor in 2005.
BYU-Hawaii (14-4) -- The Pacific West champion Seasiders are making their playoff debut. Emily Mearns paces the offense with eight goals and nine assists. Goalkeepers Becky Ploeger and Scottie Prince combined for nine shutouts and a 1.00 goals against average. SPU and BYU-Hawaii have never met in soccer.
Super Seniors
The 2005 arrival of four players who are now seniors ushered in a unprecedented era of success for SPU soccer. In the four years prior to their arrival SPU was good, with a 57-17-7 record, but had never won a playoff game. Since
Claire Grubbs,
Shannon Oakes,
Meredith Teague and
Katie Taylor arrived, the Falcons have been great, posting a 77-8-6 record. In that span, SPU shut out 53 opponents, qualified for every NCAA Tournament, advanced to the championship game their freshman season (2005) and was a national semifinalist last year. Opposing coaches have noticed, showering the SPU senior quartet with awards. Teague is the 2008 conference and regional player of the year. Grubbs was a 2007 All-American. Oakes is a three-time All-GNAC selection. Taylor was a second-team all-conference pick this year.
Dynamic Duo
Junior
Jesslyn Rahm (Eugene, Ore.) and sophomore
Maddie Dickinson (Vancouver, Wash.) have split time in goal for SPU, combining for 14 shutouts. Dickinson allowed four goals in 939 minutes (0.38 GAA) and Rahm four in 919 minutes (0.39 GAA). The Falcons recorded lengthy scoreless stretches of 488 and 393 minutes this year.
Throw-Ins
Junior
Janae Godoy was named the GNAC Player of the Week on Nov. 10, the fourth time a Falcon won the award, including
Meredith Teague twice and Amanda Johnson ... The stingy SPU defense shut out 14 opponents and surrendered just eight goals while the offense produced 58 scores ... SPU outshot every opponent, compiling a 391-118 advantage ... Seven different SPU players have recorded a multiple-goal game, including
Mallorie Gerstmann (Oct. 18) and
Jocelyn Charette (Oct. 29) who had hat tricks ... Meredith Teague's 32 career assists are five more than any player in SPU history. She had a single-season record 16 last year.
Coach Sekyra
Since taking over in 2003, just the third year of the program,
Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific teams to a record of 113-11-10. He directed four of those teams to GNAC championships, and all six of his squads participated in the NCAA tournament. His Falcons advanced to the 2005 championship game and reached the semifinals last season. Sekyra was a steady defender on the Falcon men's teams that won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1985 and 1986. Sekyra served as an assistant men's coach at Seattle Pacific in 1998 and 1999 under Cliff McCrath, then was an assistant coach at Washington for three years before being named head coach of the Falcon women in 2003. While Sekyra's players have garnered numerous conference, regional and national honors, he has collected a few, as well. Sekyra was named GNAC Coach of the Year in 2003, '04, '05 and '07 and earned Regional Coach of the Year honors in both 2005 and 2007. He received the NSCAA National Coach of the Year award in 2007.