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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 10 –
Seattle Pacific at Central Washington
4:00 p.m. PDT, CWU Soccer Field, Ellensburg, Wash.
• LiveStats:  http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal
 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12 –
(#2) Western Washington at Seattle Pacific
7:00 p.m. PDT, Interbay Stadium, Seattle, Wash.
 • LiveStats:  www.sidearmstats.com/spu/wsoc
 
Seattle Pacific seeks to climb back into first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer standings and rejoin the national rankings with a pair of wins this week. The second-place Falcons (8-2-0, 5-1-0 GNAC) visit third-place Central Washington (5-4, 4-2) on Thursday, Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. Both games last season between these teams went to overtime, resulting in a 1-1 draw in Seattle and 1-0 SPU road win. Saturday, Oct. 12 marks a rematch against second-ranked Western Washington (9-0, 6-0). Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Interbay Stadium following a 4:30 pm Falcons men's game. The Vikings women won the first meeting 2-1 on Oct. 3 in Bellingham, stopping a five-game losing streak against SPU. With two wins this week, the Falcons can guarantee at least a tie for first place as they trail WWU by three points in the GNAC standings. These Northwest rivals combined to capture the last six conference titles, with SPU claiming four and the Vikings winning twice.
 
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. For group rates call (206) 281-2085.
 


Home Sweet Home
The SPU women are undefeated in their last 18 games at Interbay Stadium. They lost just three times in their last 77 homes games with a 69-3-5 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 at home in 2011, 7-1-1 in 2010, 11-0-1 in 2009, 11-0-2 in 2008 and 15-0 in 2007.
 
GNAC Title Hunt
Seattle Pacific seeks to reclaim the GNAC regular-season championship after having its three-year streak halted in 2012. Western Washington won the league crown with a 12-2-0 mark and SPU was second at 11-1-2. The Falcons were projected by a preseason poll of the league's coaches to finish second with WWU first. SPU won eight of the 12 titles since the GNAC began sponsoring women's soccer in 2001.

Alexa Diaz became the first opponent to score a goal on No. 2 Western Washington (Oct. 3) this year, but the Falcons fell 2-1 in Bellingham. They rebounded with a 3-0 win at Simon Fraser (Oct. 5) behind a goal and assist from Hannah Huesers.
 
Throw-Ins
The Falcons blanked seven opponents, outscoring foes 20-5 this season ... Freshman forward Hannah Huesers has three goals and an assist in the last three games.
 
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.
 
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).
 
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
Central Washington (5-4-0, 4-2-0 GNAC) -- The third-place Wildcats won three of their last four games. Savanna Moorehouse and Danielle Brandli accounted for the majority of CWU's 13 goals with four goals apiece. Goalkeeper Kayla Lipston compiled a 1.10 goals against average. SPU leads the all-time series 20-2-2, getting a 1-0 overtime win at Central in the last meeting (Oct. 4, 2012) after a 1-1 draw on Sept. 22 in Seattle. The last Wildcat win over SPU was a 3-1 decision in Ellensburg in 2009.
 
Western Washington (9-0-0, 6-0-0 GNAC) -- The No. 2-ranked Vikings are undefeated in nine outings, outscoring opponents 22-2. SPU's Alexa Diaz netted the lone opposing score on WWU as the other score was an own goal. Kristin Maris leads the Vikings attack with six goals. Goalkeeper Alyssa Beauchamp has five shutouts and a 0.24 goals against average. Eleventh-year coach Travis Connell, a four-year SPU men's soccer letterman (1991-95), owns WWU's all-time mark with 130 coaching wins. The Falcons swept both games in 2012, but WWU won this year's first meeting 2-1 on Oct. 3 in Bellingham to halt a five-game series losing skid. In last season's Seattle meeting, SPU won 2-1 on Sept. 19, 2012 when Kaylie Winston scored on a header with 15 seconds left in regulation. SPU leads the all-time series 18-5-3.
 
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 190-25-16 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 visit Northwest Nazarene on Oct. 17 before a trip to Montana State Billings on Oct. 19. Following next week's road trip, the Falcons play three of their final four regular-season games at home.