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2013 GNAC WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Starfire Stadium / Tukwila, Wash.
• Webcast & LiveStats:  http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/gnac.portal#
 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (semifinal games)
Game 1 -- (3) Seattle Pacific vs. (2) Central Washington, 4:00 p.m. PST
Game 2 -- (4) Western Oregon vs. (1) Western Washington, 7:00 p.m. PST
 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 (championship game)
Game 3 -- Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 1:00 p.m. PST
 
 
GNAC Tourney Tidbits
This is the second-annual GNAC Tournament. Western Washington defeated Montana State Billings 2-0 to win the inaugural conference postseason crown in 2012. SPU lost 1-0 to Billings in last year's semifinal round. This year's field has three of the same teams (SPU, WWU, Western Oregon) with Central Washington the lone new entry. GNAC Tournament tickets are available at the Starfire Stadium gate and priced at $9 for adults and $5 for students, children and senior citizens.
 


GNAC Honors
The GNAC All-Star Team was announced Tuesday and SPU's Laura Moore was a first-team selection. Alexa Diaz, Shayla Page and Demi Waitley were named to the second team while Natalie Harold, Taylor Hauck, Emma Holm and Ashley Shaw were honorable mention picks.
 
Playoff Pursuit
Seattle Pacific seeks to return to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the 11th straight season. The top-six teams in the West region receive Tournament invitations and the Falcons were seventh last week before losing to Central Washington. An additional hurdle is that no PacWest team was ahead of SPU and that league gets one automatic berth. The Falcons participated in the last 10 NCAA Tournaments, winning the 2008 national championship. Last year they advanced to the regional semifinal before losing 2-1 in double overtime at UC San Diego. SPU reached the Final Four three times (2005, 2007, 2008).
 
NCAA Format
The top-two teams in the West Region will host first- and second-round NCAA Division II Tournament games on Nov.14 and 16. The 48-team NCAA Division II championship field will be announced on Monday, Nov. 11 at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time via a webcast selection show on NCAA.com.
 
Throw-In
Laura Moore played a role in seven of SPU's 13 game-winning goals. Four of her team-leading eight goals were game-winning strikes and she assisted on three others.
 
Dynamic Defense
The Falcons have blanked 10 opponents, outscoring foes 35-12 this season. Their 0.67 goals against average ranks 31st nationally. Senior goalkeeper Natalie Harold has started all but one game in goal for SPU. She compiled 42 saves, including a season-high nine at Western Washington on Oct. 3. Harold has 14 career shutouts.
 
Scouting the GNAC Tournament Field
Central Washington (11-5-1, 10-3-1 GNAC) -- The second-seeded Wildcats lost just once in their last eight games. That streak started on Oct. 10 with a 1-0 home win over SPU and the Wildcats matched that winning score on Nov. 2 in Seattle to sweep the regular-season series. Danielle Brandli leads CWU with nine goals, including the game-winner in the seventh minute Saturday at SPU. Goalkeeper Kayla Lipston posted five shutouts and a 0.79 goals against average.  SPU leads the all-time series 20-4-2.
 
Western Oregon (9-3-6, 7-3-4 GNAC) -- The No. 4-seeded Wolves surrendered just eight goals in 18 games and only one of those came at home in Monmouth, Ore. Laura Moore scored in the 45th minute on Oct. 26 as SPU dealt WOU its lone home loss, 1-0. The Wolves were the only team to beat Western Washington, winning 1-0 on Oct. 19 at home. Makana Pundyke's nine goals lead a WOU attack that is outscoring opponents 22-8 with 12 shutouts. Goalkeeper Amanda Rose Johnson boasts a 0.45 goals against average.  SPU, which owns a 22-2-1 series lead, won 18 consecutive encounters before tying the Wolves 1-1 on Sept. 27, 2012 in Monmouth, Ore. The Falcons have since won the last three meetings.
 
Western Washington (16-1-0, 13-1-0 GNAC) -- The 10th-ranked Vikings won their second straight GNAC regular-season title. Their lone loss was a 1-0 setback at Western Oregon on Oct. 19. Catherine Miles leads the Vikings attack with 13 goals while Kristin Maris, the GNAC Player of the Year, compiled 10 goals and six assists. Ashton Griffen leads the league with 10 assists. Goalkeeper Alyssa Beauchamp has seven shutouts and a 0.40 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 137 coaching wins. The Falcons swept both games in 2012, but WWU returned the favor this year with matching 2-1 victories, on Oct. 3 in Bellingham and Oct. 12 in Seattle. SPU leads the series 18-6-3.
 
Coach Chuck Sekyra
In his 11th season, Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific to a remarkable 195-28-16 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 Falcons discover their postseason destiny when the 48-team NCAA Tournament field is announced on Monday, Nov. 11 at 4:30 p.m. PST online at www.ncaa.com. If invited, SPU's first-round game would be played on Thursday, Nov. 14.