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NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
3rd & 4th Rounds at SEU Soccer Field; Austin, Texas (hosted by St. Edward's)
( LiveStats for All Games: www.stedwards.edu/ustat/womens_soccer.php )

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 18 --
South Central Championship: (1) St. Edwards vs. (2) Central Missouri
9:00 a.m. PST (11:00 am CST)

West Region Championship: (1) Seattle Pacific vs. (3) UC San Diego
12:00 p.m. PST (2:00 pm CST)

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 20 --
Winners play in Quarterfinals at 11 a.m. PST (1:00 p.m. CST)

The ninth-ranked Seattle Pacific women's soccer team (16-1-2) continues its pursuit of the 2010 NCAA Division II title with a West Regional championship clash against No. 12 UC San Diego (16-2-3) on Thursday, Nov. 18. Kick-off is noon Pacific Time (2 p.m. Central) at SEU Soccer Field in Austin, Texas, following the South Central Region championship game at 9 a.m. Pacific. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Falcons advanced to the Sweet 16 by virtue of a 2-0 triumph over Montana State Billings on Nov. 13 in Seattle. Host St. Edward's (16-2-1), the top seed in the South Central region, meets No. 2 seed Central Missouri (19-0) in the site's other third-round matchup. The winners remain in Austin for the quarterfinals, Saturday, Nov. 20 at 11 a.m. PST (1 p.m. CST), vying for a trip to the Final Four in Louisville, Ky.

Live Coverage
There will be no webcast of these NCAA playoff games. Fans can follow the Austin Region games via LiveStats at: http://www.stedwards.edu/ustat/womens_soccer.php

Quoting Coach Sekyra
“It's been a really good rivalry. UC San Diego is a great program and it's always going to be a good game. In order to win the national championship you have to beat great teams, so I'm excited about the matchup. We are peaking at the right time. We are playing our best soccer of the season right now and that's what you always dream about as a coach. This is healthiest we've been and the best we've played all year and you couldn't ask for a better time to have it happen. This team is so fun to travel with and we like going to other people's fields. We talk about taking our game to wherever we go and our kids like that challenge.”

NCAA Opening Weekend Recap
Junior Kelsey Jenkins perfectly placed a 23-yard free kick into the upper right corner in the 35th minute and Brandi Hamre converted a late penalty kick for an insurance goal, giving Seattle Pacific a 2-0 second-round home victory over Montana State Billings on Nov. 13 at Interbay Stadium. The Yellowjackets had beaten Cal State L.A. 1-0 in the opening round. Jenkins father, Tommy, was a first-division English player with Southampton (1969-72) and later played with the original Seattle Sounders (1976-79) of the NASL. The Falcons avoided the fate of two No. 1 seeds that fell in the second round; Columbus State (Southeast) and Rollins (South). Six of the 16 second-round contests went to penalty-kick tiebreakers, including the St. Edward's-Abilene Christian clash that ended 1-1 after overtime.

Fast Facts
• Senior goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson, the 2010 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, has a current streak of 343:07 scoreless postseason minutes. She has posted three straight playoff shutouts, including 108 minutes against West Florida in the 2008 NCAA title game.

• The Falcons outscored opponents 27-6 during their current nine-game winning streak.



SPU Tournament History
This marks the eighth straight playoff berth for SPU, which has a 13-5-3 record in all-time postseason games with all 13 wins coming during the last six tournaments. The Falcons won the 2008 championship with a 1-0 double-overtime triumph over top-ranked and undefeated West Florida. Janae Godoy scored the golden goal in the 108th minute. SPU advanced to the Final Four in three of the previous five years, playing in the 2005 and 2008 title games. This is the fourth trip to the Sweet 16 for the Falcons, who have a 3-0 record in all-time third-round games and are also 3-0 in NCAA quarterfinal appearances.

Tournament Format
The NCAA Division II Tournament is a single-elimination playoff starting with a 48-team field divided into eight, six-team regions. The semifinals and title game are scheduled for Dec. 2 and 4 at Frazier Stadium in Louisville, Ky. Defending NCAA Division II champion Grand Valley State is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region.

The Opponents
UC San Diego (16-2-3) -- The 12th-ranked Tritons meet Seattle Pacific for the fourth time in NCAA Tournament play, the first at a neutral site. Thursday's matchup pits a pair of former national champions as SPU won in 2008 and San Diego is a two-time champion (2000 & 2001) and the last back-to-back NCAA Division II titlist. The UCSD attack is led by the nine goals of Anette Ilg and eight from Sarah McTigue. Ellen Wilson scored both playoff game-winning goals for the Tritons, including a 15th-minute strike in a 1-0 second-round win at BYU-Hawaii. Goalkeeper Kristin Armstrong compiled 12 shutouts and a 0.56 goals against average. SPU owns a 2-1 series edge, with all three meetings coming in the postseason. The Falcons won the most recent encounter, a 3-1 decision in Seattle during the second round of the 2008 playoffs. The Tritons won 3-0 at La Jolla in 2006 and SPU was a 2-0 home victor in 2005.

St. Edward's (16-1-2) -- The host Hilltoppers escaped the second round with a 4-3 penalty-kick tiebreaker decision over Abilene Christian after the teams were tied 1-1 through regulation and overtime. SEU advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second straight season, the third time overall. The Hilltoppers are outscoring opponents 46-10 led by the dynamic duo of Kelly Servage and Janae Averett, who netted 12 and 11 goals, respectively. The goalkeeping tandem of Troi Jorgensen and Claire Tilton combined for 11 shutouts and a 0.51 goals against average. The Falcons and St. Edward's have never played against each other in women's soccer.

Central Missouri (19-0-0) -- The Jennies are the second seed in the South Central Region despite being undefeated and ranked No. 2. They advanced to the regional final with a 3-1 second-round win over Truman. A balanced CEMO attack that outscored opponents 55-8 features 10 players with more than two goals. Carly Stanley leads the team with eight goals. The Jennies defense blanked 14 opponents, anchored by goalkeeper Brooke Cooley and her 0.32 goals against average. SPU has never before met Central Missouri in women's soccer.

Early Exit
The Falcons were eliminated last year in a first-round NCAA game played in La Jolla, Calif. They battled Chico State to a scoreless tie through regulation and two, 10-minute overtimes before falling 4-3 in the penalty-kick tiebreaker. That was SPU's first opening-round ouster since a 2-1 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills in its inaugural NCAA appearance in 2003. “Our team all year has played with a little bit of a chip on their shoulder after that loss last year. I think that's why we're sitting No. 1,” said Coach Chuck Sekyra.

Super Shot Stopper
Senior Maddie Dickinson was named the 2010 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year and was the league's first-team goalkeeper. She has a school-record 28 career shutouts, eclipsing the previous standard of 25 established by Jennifer Hull from 2001-04. Dickinson has surrendered just nine goals in 1753 minutes this season. The product of Skyview High School in Vancouver, Wash. was the Sept. 14 GNAC Athlete of the Week. She currently leads the GNAC with a 0.46 goals against average. Dickinson put together a school-record scoreless streak of 1,012-minutes, 12-seconds from 2008-09 that included a 1-0 double-overtime win over West Florida in the 2008 NCAA Division II title game. She currently has three straight playoff shutouts and a streak of 343:07 scoreless postseason minutes.

Magnificent Megan
Sophomore forward Megan Lindsay was one of two unanimous picks to the first-team All-GNAC squad. She led SPU and ranks No. 2 among conference scorers with 11 goals and also has five assists. Lindsay netted a goal in four of the last five games, amassing six during that span. She is extremely accurate as 46 of her 62 shots went directly on goal.

Throw-Ins
SPU has a perfect 8-0-0 record in road games this season and is 1-0-0 at neutral sites ... The Falcons have not lost a game when they scored first (15-0), led at halftime (11-0) or scored more than one goal (15-0) ... SPU outshot opponents 288-154 and doubled the shots-on-goal tally with a 161-71 advantage.

Potent Offense
Sophomore forward Megan Lindsay leads an SPU attack that has outscored opponents by a combined 47-9 tally. She netted 11 goals, including six during the final four games of the regular season. Junior Brandi Hamre is the top playmaker with nine assists. SPU netted multiple goals in 15 of its 19 games this season.

Poll Patter
The Falcons vaulted five spots, to No. 9, in the final regular-season rankings (Nov. 9). They opened the season at No. 17 in the NSCAA poll and climbed as high as No. 5 (Sept. 28). SPU was No. 1 in last year's preseason poll and sustained that spot for five weeks.

Conference Honors
Senior goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson received the Defensive Player of the Year award and was one of four SPU first-team selections on the 2010 Great Northwest Athletic Conference squad announced Nov. 9. Falcons collected two other conference awards as forward Kellie Zakrzewski was named the Freshman of the Year and midfielder Kendall Thoreson was the Newcomer of the Year. Zakrzewski was the only freshman on the first-team All-GNAC squad. Thoreson, a Northwestern transfer, was an honorable mention all-league pick. Also among the 11 first-team all-stars were SPU sophomores Megan Lindsay and Brittany Langdon. Falcons Brandi Hamre, Kelsey Jenkins, Taylor Sawyer and Andrea Chan were second-team selections while Becca Woods and Janie Wurth received honorable mention acclaim.



Coach Chuck Sekyra
In his eighth season, Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific to a remarkable 150-15-14 record, three Final Four appearances and the 2008 national championship. He directed six of those teams to GNAC championships, and all eight of his squads participated in the NCAA tournament. His Falcons advanced to the 2005 championship game. Sekyra was a defender on the SPU men's soccer teams that won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1985 and 1986. He served as an assistant men's coach at SPU in 1998 and 1999 under Cliff McCrath, then was an assistant women's coach at Washington for three years before being named head coach of the SPU women in 2003. Sekyra was named GNAC Coach of the Year five times (2003-05, '07, '09) and the Regional Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2007. He received the NSCAA National Coach of the Year award in 2007.

Upcoming Schedule

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2 --
National Semifinals at Louisville, Ky., TBA

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4 --
National Championship at Louisville, Ky., 9:00 a.m. PST (12 p.m. EST)