Box Score             • Final Stats      |      • VIDEO: Laura Moore

TUKWILA, Wash. – Ashley Shaw converted a 73rd-minute penalty kick and then an own goal with 1:51 left to play Thursday gave Seattle Pacific a 2-1 victory over Central Washington in a semifinal game of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer tournament.
 
The third-seeded Falcons (14-5) advance to the conference championship game to play top seed Western Washington, which was a 2-1 overtime victor against Western Oregon in the other semifinal. Kick-off for Saturday's title tilt is 1 p.m. at Starfire Stadium.
 
WWU (17-1) swept the season series over the Falcons with a pair of 2-1 decisions. The Vikings won last year's conference tournament and the last two GNAC regular-season titles.
 
The tournament champion receives the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament. That is the only path for the Falcons to extend their 10-year streak of playoff appearances as they are not ranked high enough in the regional rankings to receive an at-large berth.
 


Thursday's decisive goal went into the net at 88:09 off the foot of CWU defender Jessica Haga.
 
SPU's Laura Moore set up the score after chasing down a through ball on the left side of the box. She served a low pass across the goalmouth toward teammate Josie Graybeal, but it caromed off Haga and into the left side of the goal.
 
"If that girl didn't hit it in, one of ours would have," said SPU coach Chuck Sekyra. "We had numbers in the box. That ball was going in one-way-or-another. We put them under constant pressure and knew the goals would come eventually."
 
As they did in the two regular-season meetings with SPU, both 1-0 victories, the second-seeded Wildcats (11-6-1) got an early goal. Meghan Ward gathered a loose ball just outside the top of the box. She lofted a 20-yard shot from the center into the upper right corner at 10:02 for her first collegiate goal.
 
"I didn't like our energy in the first half. We didn't have much of a rhythm," Sekyra explained. "At halftime I was very clear what we needed to do. It was so simple what we needed to do better and differently. And the kids did it and obviously they got results out of it."
 
The Wildcats maintained their 1-0 margin for 62 minutes despite facing steady pressure from the SPU offense that compiled an 11-2 shot advantage after halftime. The Falcons finally found the equalizer at 72:26 when Shaw blasted her penalty kick into the lower right of the Wildcats goal.
 
SPU was awarded the penalty try after Alexa Diaz (Burien, Wash./Kennedy HS) was tripped on the left side of the box.
 
Goalkeeper Kayla Lipston amassed eight saves for CWU, including several brilliant diving stops.
 
SPU had two quality chances late in the first half. Diaz fired a 17-yard shot from the right side that carried high and left of the target. In the 38th minute, Ali Martin's header from the center of the box was headed toward the right side of the CWU goal before Lipston dove to snag the ball near the post.
 
The Falcons most dangerous opportunity before they scored came nine minutes into the second half when Diaz sent a hard shot from the right side toward the left post. Lipston dove and tipped the ball past the post with an outstretched arm.
 
With the score tied 1-1, Central threatened late in regulation. Savanna Moorehouse had her close-range shot blocked by goalkeeper Natalie Harold and SPU defender Taylor Hauck cleared the deflection off the goal line.
 
Harold (Vancouver, Wash./Heritage HS) made one save for the Falcons, who led the total shot count by a commanding 14-4 margin.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
GNAC Tournament -- Semifinal
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Starfire Stadium / Tukwila, Wash.
 
Seattle Pacific 2, Central Washington 1
 
Scoring – 1, CWU, Meghan Ward, 10:02; 2, SPU, Ashley Shaw (pk) 72:26; 3, SPU, own goal, 88:09.
 
Shots – SPU 14, CWU 4.
Saves – SPU 1 (Natalie Harold), CWU 8 (Kayla Lipston).
Corner Kicks – SPU 11, CWU 1.
Fouls – SPU 5, CWU 14.
Offsides – SPU 1, CWU 5.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 14-5-0
Central Washington 11-6-1
 
Next SPU Women's Game
GNAC Tournament Championship
Seattle Pacific vs. Western Washington
Saturday, Nov. 9, 1:00 p.m. PDT
Starfire Stadium / Tukwila, Wash.