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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24 –
Saint Martin's at Seattle Pacific
7:00 p.m. PDT, Interbay Stadium, Seattle, Wash.
• LiveStats:  www.sidearmstats.com/spu/wsoc
 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26 –
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
11:00 a.m. PDT, WOU Soccer Field, Monmouth, Ore.  
(No live game coverage)
 
Three of the final four scheduled games are at home for the Seattle Pacific women's soccer team, which makes its final push for Great Northwest Athletic Conference and NCAA Division II Tournament berths. The Falcons (10-4-0, 7-3-0 GNAC) host Saint Martin's (4-9-0, 3-7-0) on Thursday, Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in the nightcap of an Interbay Stadium soccer doubleheader with the SPU men, who play U-Mary at 4:30 p.m. The SPU women won all 13 previous meetings with the Saints. On Saturday, Oct. 26 the third-place Falcons pay a visit to Monmouth to meet fourth-place Western Oregon (8-2-4, 6-2-2). Kick-off is 11 a.m. at WOU Soccer Field where the Wolves have not lost this season, including a 1-0 win over No. 2-ranked Western Washington in their last outing.
 
GNAC Tourney
Western Washington and Central Washington have already earned tickets to the four-team GNAC Tournament, slated for Nov. 7 and 9 at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash. Seattle Pacific needs only a draw in any of its final four games to secure a spot and Western Oregon is one win from clinching a berth to the second-annual GNAC event. 
 


Playoff Pursuit
Seattle Pacific seeks to return to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the 11th straight season. The Falcons won the 2008 national championship. Last year they advanced to the West Region semifinal before losing 2-1 in double overtime at UC San Diego. SPU reached the Final Four on three occasions (2005, 2007, 2008).
 
Ticket Talk
Tickets for SPU soccer games can be purchased on game day at Interbay Stadium (3027 17th Ave. W., Seattle 98119). Ticket windows open one hour prior to kickoff. All seats are general admission and priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. SPU students and staff are admitted free. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for reduced ticket rates by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance.
 
Home Sweet Home
The SPU women lost only once in their last 16 games at Interbay Stadium and suffered just four setbacks in their last 75 homes games with a 66-4-5 mark since Sept. 30, 2006. SPU had a 45-game home unbeaten streak snapped on Sept. 30, 2010 with a 1-0 loss to Western Washington. The Falcons forged an 8-0-1 home record last year. They were 9-2-0 in 2011, 7-1-1 in 2010, 11-0-1 in 2009, 11-0-2 in 2008 and 15-0 in 2007.
 
Dynamic Defense
The Falcons have blanked eight opponents, outscoring foes 26-9 this season. Their 0.64 goals against average ranks 28th nationally. Senior goalkeeper Natalie Harold has started all but one game in goal for SPU. She compiled 34 saves, including a season-high nine at Western Washington on Oct. 3. Harold has 13 career shutouts.
 
Throw-Ins
Two Falcons have multi-goal games this season and both of them are freshmen. Hannah Huesers netted two goals vs. Northwest Nazarene (Sept. 28) and Maddie Krauss scored twice at Montana State Billings (Oct. 19). Krauss was named the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday for her two goals that came 32 seconds apart ... Sophomore Laura Moore played a role in six of SPU's 10 game-winning goals. Three of her team-leading five goals were game-winning strikes and she assisted on three others by teammates.
 
Last Week
Laura Moore scored and assisted on the game winner as SPU stopped a two-game losing streak with a 2-1 win at Northwest Nazarene (Oct. 17). The Falcons got a goal from Ashley Shaw and two from Maddie Krauss in a 3-0 win at MSU Billings (Oct. 19).
 
2013 Preview
Ten starters return from the SPU squad that reached the West Regional semifinals of the 2012 NCAA Division II Tournament. Eight of the team's top-nine scorers are back, led by junior forwards Ali Martin and Heather Young who each netted six goals last season. Primary goalkeeper Natalie Harold returns along with her entire defensive back line that produced eight shutouts and limited opponents to 0.78 goals per game. Sophomore defender Shayla Page was a 2012 first-team All-GNAC and all-region honoree.
 
2012 Review
The Falcons forged a 15-4-2 overall record in 2012 and placed second in the GNAC with an 11-1-2 mark. The SPU women participated in the postseason for the 10th straight season. They defeated BYU-Hawaii 1-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling 2-1 in double overtime at UC San Diego. Departed forward Megan Lindsay was a second-team All-American who led the team with 12 goals. Lindsay was the only starter to depart.
 
This Week's Opponents
Saint Martin's (4-9-0, 3-7-0 GNAC) -- The Saints beat Simon Fraser 2-1 at home in their last outing. Kelli Bannerman compiled over half of SMU's 13 goals with seven. Goalkeeper Gina Cardenas has two shutouts and a 1.65 goals against average. SPU won all 13 previous meetings with the Saints, including a 2-1 double-overtime decision on Sept. 29, 2012 in the last Seattle meeting. Shayla Page ended that game with 10 seconds left on the overtime clock on a header off a corner kick. The Falcons won the last meeting 1-0 on Sept. 21 in Lacey, Wash. on a goal by Heather Young.
 
Western Oregon (8-2-4, 6-2-2 GNAC) -- The fourth-place Wolves are coming off a 1-0 home upset of undefeated and second-ranked Western Washington. Makana Pundyke's eight goals lead a WOU attack that is outscoring opponents 19-5 with 10 shutouts. Goalkeeper Amanda Rose Johnson boasts a 0.33 goals against average.  SPU, which owns a 21-2-1 series lead, won 18 consecutive encounters before tying the Wolves 1-1 on Sept. 27, 2012 in Monmouth, Ore. The Falcons won last season's rematch 2-0 on Oct. 20 and were victorious in this year's first meeting, Sept. 19 at WOU. They won 1-0 on an 86th-minute goal by Heather Young.
 
GNAC Poll
The SPU women won three of the last four Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships. Last year's runner-up, SPU was selected by the GNAC coaches to again place second in their preseason poll. Western Washington was projected to repeat as league champion, receiving five first-place votes and 61 points. SPU collected the remaining three first-place tallies en route to a 58-point total. Montana State Billings was third in the preseason poll with 41 points followed by Western Oregon (35), Central Washington (34), Saint Martin's (33), Northwest Nazarene (17) and Simon Fraser (9). SPU won eight of the 12 titles since the GNAC began sponsoring women's soccer in 2001.
 
Coach Chuck Sekyra
In his 11th season, Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific to a remarkable 192-27-16 record, three Final Four appearances and the 2008 national championship. He directed seven of those teams to GNAC championships, and all 10 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 six times (2003-05, 2007, 2009, 2011) and the Regional Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2007. He received the NSCAA National Coach of the Year award in 2007.
 
Next Week
The SPU women complete the regular season with a pair of home games. The Falcons entertain Simon Fraser on Oct. 31 at 7 p.m. before capping the schedule with a 1 p.m. contest on Nov. 2 against Central Washington. That game will be preceded by a brief ceremony to honor SPU's four-player senior class: Josie Graybeal, Natalie Harold, Stephanie Harold and Kaylie Winston.