• Boxscore & Play-by-Play

SEATTLE – A conference championship. A shutout victory. Contributions from every senior.

Seattle Pacific could not have scripted a better scenario then the one that transpired on Senior Day at Interbay Stadium.

Senior forward Jocelyn Charette registered her third hat trick of the season and the 17th-ranked Falcons captured the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer championship with a 6-0 victory over Northwest Nazarene on the final day of the regular season.

Charette (Lakewood, Wash./Curtis HS) increased her league-leading total to 15 goals, scoring in the second, 10th and 49th minutes. She climbed into the No. 3 spot among all-time SPU scorers with 31 career goals.

“We're really excited. We knew coming in today if we won that we would be GNAC champs,” Charette said. “Since we didn't get it last year that was something missing that we wanted to regain. We were fired up for today's game and we got it done.”

Seattle Pacific (16-3-1) finished atop the GNAC standings with a 9-2-1 record and 28 points. Defending titlist Western Washington finished one point back, placing second in the conference with an 8-1-3 record.

“I'm just really proud. To get that championship back is something that was a big goal of ours,” said SPU coach Chuck Sekyra. “Our team saw the opportunity they had today and came out like a team that wanted to make sure that they got out of here with that championship trophy.”

The Falcons' sixth league title gave them an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament as they strive to defend the 2008 championship they won with a 1-0 double-overtime triumph over West Florida on Dec. 6 in Tampa, Fla.  SPU will make its seventh straight postseason appearance when the playoffs begin Thursday.

The tournament field will be announced on Monday with the top two teams in each region receiving a first-round bye and the opportunity to host the opening two rounds. SPU was listed fourth in last week's West Region rankings and needs to vault over two teams to receive a hosting berth.

SPU has won all but three of the championships since the GNAC began sponsoring women's soccer in 2001. The Falcons took home the conference trophy four straight seasons from 2002-05 and in 2007.

The championship was made possible by two extraordinary events on Thursday. First, the Falcons rallied from a 2-0 halftime deficit at Montana State Billings to win 3-2 in overtime on a golden goal by Charette. Then, Northwest Nazarene tied 1-1 at previous first-place occupant Western Washington despite being outshot 40-7.

“I thought the team picked up exactly where we left off on Thursday so I'm very proud of them and we couldn't ask for a better start to us heading into the playoffs,” Sekyra said.

The quartet of SPU seniors was honored during a presentation before the game. All four seniors contributed to the victory, including Kayla Stiegemeier (Rathdrum, Idaho) who has been injured and saw her first action of the season. She started and distributed an assist on Charette's opening goal just 1:49 into the game.

Charette took a pass from sophomore Brandi Hamre (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap HS) and dribbled through the box toward the end line before sneaking a six-yard shot inside the left post from a sharp angle.

Freshman Megan Lindsay (Spokane, Wash./Gonzaga Prep) notched the Falcons' second goal at 7:35. Lindsay made a dribbling run before sending an 18-yard shot into the lower right of the NNU goal for her sixth goal of the year.

Charette put SPU ahead 3-0 with a four-yard shot at 9:53 off a pass from sophomore Kelsey Jenkins (Kent, Wash./Kentwood HS), who had drawn the goalkeeper off her line.

Those two Falcons exchanged roles five minutes later. Charette assisted on SPU's fourth score at 14:55, a low, perfectly placed 15-yard shot that Jenkins sent across the box and just inside the left post. That was the fifth goal of the season for Jenkins.

Charette completed her hat trick with a short header at the far post at 48:44 off a corner kick from the left side by Hamre. She also had three-goal performances at home against Grand Canyon (Sept. 11) and Montana State Billings (Oct. 21).

Including one three-goal game last season, Charette has accounted for four of the 14 hat tricks in the history of SPU women's soccer.

Senior Janae Godoy (Yakima, Wash./West Valley HS) capped the scoring with her first goal of the season and her first tally since netting the golden goal in last year's national championship game. She converted a penalty kick at 57:51.

Senior Jesslyn Rahm Kellerman (Eugene, Ore.) made four saves en route to her fifth shutout of the season. She has 22 career shutouts, a figure that ranks No. 2 among all-time SPU goalkeepers.

“It was really amazing,” exclaimed Charette. “What I really enjoyed about today was that all seniors got to play and all seniors contributed to the game. It was just an awesome experience.”

Sekyra also marveled that every senior played a part in Saturday's win in what could be their final appearance at Interbay Stadium.

“Stiegemeier gets and assist on the first goal, Rahm gets a shutout, Charette gets a hat trick and Janae gets her first goal of the season. It was great,” said Sekyra, who singled out Charette for praise.

“Jocelyn is an amazing player who has been stepping up at the right time for us. This is the crunch time of the season and Jocelyn Charette is our big time player right now.”

The Crusaders (3-12-4) dropped to 1-10-1 in conference play.

Tanya Zickefoose was credited with eight saves for NNU, which was outshot 23-9.


NCAA Women's Soccer
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Interbay Stadium/Seattle, Wash.

#17 Seattle Pacific 6, Northwest Nazarene 0

Scoring -- 1, SPU, Jocelyn Charette (Kayla Stiegemeier, Brandi Hamre), 1:49. 2, SPU, Megan Lindsay, 7:35. 3, SPU, Charette (Kelsey Jenkins), 9:53. 4, SPU, Kelsey Jenkins (Charette, Janie Wurth), 14:55. 5, SPU, Charette (Hamre), 48:44. 6, SPU, Janae Godoy (pk), 57:51.

Shots – NNU 9, SPU 23.
Saves –NNU 8 (Tanya Zickefoose), SPU 4 (Jesslyn Rahm Kellerman).
Corner kicks – NNU 3, SPU 9.
Fouls – NNU 9, SPU 11.
Offsides – NNU 0, SPU 5.
Attendance -- 248.

Records –
Seattle Pacific 16-3-1, 9-2-1 GNAC.
Northwest Nazarene 3-12-4, 1-10-1 GNAC