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        • NCAA Tournament Bracket

NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament -- West Regional
1st & 2nd Rounds at Orca Field; Bellingham, Wash.
(hosted by Western Washington)
 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14 –
Game 1: (6) Seattle Pacific vs. (3) Sonoma State, 7:30 pm PST
 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 –
Region Semifinal – Game 1 winner vs. (2) Western Washington, 2:00 pm PST

• LiveStats link for first two rounds: 
http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/spu.portal#
 
 
Quoting Coach Sekyra
"Sonoma is a very good team. We're excited to play someone that we haven't played before, who doesn't know us. We're excited to play somebody from the CCAA on a field that we're familiar with. It's wonderful not to have to go very far. We're certainly familiar with those surroundings, that trip, that drive and that field."
 
The Rest of the West
On the other half of the West bracket, Cal State Stanislaus (18-0-2) drew the top seed in the region and will host a second-round game against the first-round winner between No. 4 Cal State San Bernardino (11-6-3) and No. 5 California Baptist (12-5-0). The two victorious second-round teams will meet at the site of the highest remaining seed for the West Regional championship contest on Nov. 21 with the winner advancing to the Nov. 23 quarterfinals at the same venue.
 
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 2013 NCAA semifinals and championship game are scheduled for Dec. 5 and 7 at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga. Defending NCAA Division II champion West Florida is the top seed in the South Region this year. Defending West Region champion UC San Diego is not in this year's field.
 


SPU Tournament History
This marks the 11th straight playoff berth for SPU, which has a 15-8-3 record in all-time postseason games. The Falcons won the 2008 NCAA 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. Last season SPU beat BYU-Hawaii 1-0 in La Jolla, Calif. to advance to the West Region semifinal before losing 2-1 in double overtime at UC San Diego on a 104th-minute goal. The Falcons reached the Final Four on three occasions (2005, 2007, 2008), participating in the 2005 and 2008 national title games.
 
Scouting Seattle Pacific (14-5-1)
The Falcons lost just once in their last eight games, including six wins and a tie during that stretch. The draw was a 1-1 double-overtime result against Western Washington in Saturday's GNAC Tournament championship game. SPU claimed the title by virtue of a 4-1 victory in the penalty kick tiebreaker. Senior goalkeeper Natalie Harold was the tournament MVP. She helped SPU compile 10 shutouts and a 0.69 goals against average this season. Sophomore forward Laura Moore leads the attack with eight goals for the Falcons, who have outscored foes by a 38-14 margin.
 
The Opponents
Sonoma State (13-4-3) -- The California Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAA) tournament runner-up Seawolves lost 2-0 to Cal State Stanislaus in Sunday's league championship game. Sonoma is ranked 17th nationally and seeded No. 3 in the West Region. Five players have reached the five-goal mark for the Seawolves, who outscored opponents 42-17. Cara Curtin is the top scorer with nine goals while Lauren Curtin's 25 points, on eight goals and nine assists, lead the squad. Goalkeeper Allison Hadidian compiled seven shutouts and a 0.86 goals against average. SPU leads the all-time series 4-2, including wins in the last four meetings. After losing 2-1 (2001) and 1-0 (2002) at Sonoma in the first two encounters, the Falcons won 1-0 (2003) and 4-0 92005) at home, 3-2 (2006) at Sonoma and 1-0 on Aug 30, 2007 in Seattle during the most recent matchup.
 
Western Washington (17-1-1) -- The ninth-ranked Vikings won their second straight GNAC regular-season title before losing the league's tournament championship to SPU on a 4-1 penalty kick tiebreaker. Their lone loss was a 1-0 setback at Western Oregon on Oct. 19. Catherine Miles leads the Vikings attack with 14 goals while Kristin Maris, the GNAC Player of the Year, compiled 10 goals and six assists. Ashton Griffen leads the league with 11 assists. Goalkeeper Alyssa Beauchamp has seven shutouts and a 0.47 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 138 coaching wins. WWU won both regular-season meetings by matching 2-1 scores, on Oct. 3 in Bellingham and Oct. 12 in Seattle, before tying the Falcons 1-1 in the GNAC Tournament championship game. SPU leads the series 18-6-4.
 
GNAC Honors
Eight Seattle Pacific student-athletes, including first-team selection Laura Moore, were named to the All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference team announced by the league office on Nov. 5. A sophomore forward from Kentwood High School in Kent, Wash., Moore leads the Falcons with eight goals. Half of those scores were game-winning strikes and three of her four assists set up teammates for the decisive goal in a contest. Three Falcons were featured on the second team. Junior midfielder Alexa Diaz (Burien, Wash./Kennedy HS) ranks second in the league with eight assists. Sophomore defender Shayla Page (Redmond, Wash./Eastlake HS) made her second straight appearance on the all-conference team. She anchors a defense that has shut out 10 opponents. Junior forward Demi Waitley ranks third on the team with four goals and also distributed three assists. The honorable mention All-GNAC list included the SPU quartet of senior goalkeeper Natalie Harold (Vancouver, Wash./Heritage HS) and sophomore defender Taylor Hauck (Shoreline, Wash./King's HS) along with sophomore midfielders Emma Holm (Kirkland, Wash./Lake Washington HS) and Ashley Shaw (Seattle, Wash./Seattle Lutheran HS). Seven of the eight Falcons recognized by the GNAC hail from the state of Washington, with Waitley from Coronado, Calif. the lone exception. Western Washington's Travis Connell, a four-year SPU men's soccer letterman from 1991-95, was honored as the Coach of the Year.
 
Coach Chuck Sekyra
In his 11th season, Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific to a remarkable 196-28-17 record, three Final Four appearances and the 2008 national championship. He directed seven of those teams to GNAC championships, and all 11 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.
 
Falcons vs. the Field
Seattle Pacific played four games this season against opponents from the 48-team NCAA Tournament field, posting an 0-3-1 record. The Falcons tied West No. 2 seed Western Washington on Nov. 9 after losing 2-1 to the Vikings on both Oct. 3 and 10. In the season opener on Sept. 5, SPU scored first, but gave up a pair of second-half goals at UC San Diego to lose 2-1.
 
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 garnered first-team All-GNAC and all-region accolades last year.
 
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.