• Complete Release (pdf)    |   • NCAA Tournament Bracket (pdf)
     • VIDEO: Brooke  Holland   |    • Shayla Page feature story

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT – WEST REGIONAL
1st & 2nd Rounds at Harrington Field; Bellingham, Wash.
• Webcast & LiveStats for first two rounds:  http://portal.stretchinternet.com/wwu/
 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12 –
Game 1: (5) Seattle Pacific vs. (4) UC San Diego, 7:00 pm PST
 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 14 –
 Game 2: Region Semifinal – Game 1 winner vs. (1) Western Washington, 1:00 pm PST
 
Another playoff berth, another trip to Bellingham. The Seattle Pacific women's soccer team participates in the postseason for the 13th consecutive year and the playoff journey starts the same place as last two years. SPU is the West Region's No. 5 seed in the 48-team NCAA Division II Tournament field. The Falcons (13-4-2) have a first-round clash against No. 4 seed UC San Diego (15-5-1) on Thursday, Nov. 12. Kick-of is 7 p.m. at Harrington Field hosted by No. 1 seed Western Washington (18-1-1), which meets the winner on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. UCSD won the last two NCAA meetings with SPU (2012, 2010).
 
Quoting Coach Busey
"Certainly when you match up against UC San Diego, who has got all of the championships that they do at the various levels, it's going to take your very, very best. We're going to have to be at our best to hope to get a result there. When you throw Western Washington in there, that is epic. Big soccer tournaments always label a group of death and this could be it. You look at these three programs with great traditions, very long legacies and proud programs that have been extremely successful in the Tournament. So it's going to take everything that we've got to advance one game, let alone two."


 
The Rest of the West
On the other half of the West bracket, Azusa Pacific (15-2-0) drew the No. 2 seed in the West Region and will host a second-round game on Saturday against Thursday's first-round winner between No. 3 Sonoma State (12-2-3) and No. 6 Point Loma (14-4-0). The victorious second-round teams from the West will meet in a regional championship clash on Nov. 19 at the site of the highest remaining seed. The West Region champion advances to the Nov. 21 national 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 2015 NCAA semifinals and championship game are scheduled for Dec. 3 and 5 at UWF Soccer Complex in Pensacola, Fla. Two-time defending NCAA Division II champion Grand Valley State is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region this year. Cal State Stanislaus won the 2014 West Region title.
 
SPU Tournament History
This marks the 13th straight appearance for SPU, which has a 16-10-3 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. Last season they lost 2-1 in double overtime to eventual West Region winner Cal State Stanislaus. The Falcons reached the Final Four on three occasions (2005, 2007, 2008), participating in the 2005 and 2008 national title games.
 
NCAA Notables
The Falcons run of 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is tied for the longest active streak among Division II women's soccer teams. West Chester has also a participated in the playoffs every season since 2003 … SPU boasts an 8-2-2 record in its playoff openers. The Falcons 2-1 double-overtime loss last year versus Cal State Stanislaus was their first opening-round defeat since their inaugural postseason appearance in 2003.

 

Scouting Seattle Pacific (13-4-2)
The fifth-seeded Falcons had a four-game winning streak halted by a 3-1 loss to Western Washington in the GNAC Tournament championship game (Nov. 7). SPU lost just once to a non-nationally ranked team. The offense is outscoring opponents 33-15 paced by the league-leading 14 goals of junior forward Hannah Huesers, the 2015 GNAC Player of the Year. The offense also features senior midfielders Laura Moore (5 goals/5 assists) and Isabel Farrell (4 goals/4 assists), the 2014 GNAC Player of the Year. The SPU defense blanked nine foes and allows just 0.76 goals per game.
 
Scouting the NCAA West Region Field
UC San Diego (15-5-1) -- Thursday's matchup pits a pair of former national champions as SPU won in 2008 and San Diego is a two-time titlist (2000 & 2001). The Tritons won their last six games, capped by a 3-2 victory over Cal State Stanislaus in the CCAA championship game. UCSD missed the NCAA Tournament in 2014 for only the third time in 29 years under head coach Brian McManus. The Tritons are outscoring opponents 40-18 led by the dynamic duo of Mary Reilly (11) and Katie O'Laughlin (10) that combined for 21 goals. Goalkeeper Kelci Brodsky compiled nine shutouts and a 0.84 goals against average. SPU won the last meeting 2-1 on Sept. 4 in Seattle, halting a four-game losing streak versus UCSD, which owns a 5-3 series lead.
 
Western Washington (18-1-1) -- The second-ranked Vikings are the No. 1 seed in the West Region. They won their fourth straight conference regular-season crown with an undefeated 11-0-1 mark and then defeated SPU 3-1 in Saturday's GNAC Tournament championship game. Western is outscoring opponents 51-10, sparked by 10 goals from Catherine Miles and nine from Gabriela Pelogi. Goalkeeper Ashley Haden registered eight shutouts and a 0.44 goals against average. Travis Connell, a four-year SPU men's soccer letterman (1991-95), is in his 13th year and owns WWU's all-time mark with 175 coaching wins. The Falcons lead the all-time series 18-11-6 despite not beating Western since Oct. 27, 2012, covering a span of 10 games during which WWU went 7-0-3. Western won this year's first meeting 1-0 on Oct. 23 in Seattle on a goal in the 49th minute by Caitlyn Jobanek. The Vikings were 3-1 victors on Oct. 17 in Bellingham and posted another 3-1 win on Nov. 7 in the championship game of the GNAC Tournament at Burnaby, B.C.
 
Coach Arby Busey
Arby Busey is in his 10th year on the Seattle Pacific staff and his first as the interim head coach. He served the previous nine seasons as an assistant to Chuck Sekyra, who resigned in January after compiling a 209-34-20 record in 12 seasons. Busey has a 13-4-2 record as the third coach in the 15-year history of the program. That list includes the two-year stint of inaugural coach Bobby Bruch, who posted a 21-14-3 mark from 2001-02. From his assistant post since 2006, Busey helped the Falcons to an impressive 95-30-12 record and playoff appearances each season. SPU won the 2008 NCAA Division II championship and reached the 2007 national semifinals during his tenure. He is a 1993 graduate of Villanova and was the Idaho head coach from 2002-04.

 

GNAC Honors
The GNAC All-Star Team was released Nov. 3 and SPU's Hannah Huesers was honored as the Player of the Year. Isabel Farrell, Laura Moore and Shayla Page were also first teamers. Taylor Hauck and Emma Holm were honorable mention picks.
 
Throw-Ins
The SPU roster features two GNAC Player of the Year award recipients. Hannah Huesers won that award this season and Isabel Farrell was the 2014 honoree ... Huesers leads the GNAC and ranks 26th nationally with 14 goals. She is SPU's No. 4 all-time scorer with 35 career goals ... Three of the Falcons four losses this season came against No. 2 Western Washington ... SPU has an 11-0-0 record when scoring first ... Laura Moore is tied for the GNAC lead with four game-winning goals ... Shayla Page earned All-GNAC acclaim all four years.
 
2015 Preview
Seven starters return from the 2014 GNAC Tournament champions, including the league's Player of the Year and its leading scorer. Senior midfielder Isabel Farrell took home the league's top individual honor last year along with the Newcomer of the Year award, after transferring from Washington. She compiled eight goals and seven assists. Junior forward Hannah Huesers topped all GNAC scorers with 15 goals in 2014 and five of those were game-winning strikes. Those two were joined on the first-team all-league squad by senior midfielder Laura Moore, who tallied four goals and seven assists for the Falcons. Returning players accounted for 32 goals last season, helping SPU outscore opponents by a 38-16 margin. The stingy SPU defense features second-team All-GNAC selection Shayla Page, a senior. Sophomore goalkeeper Molly Stinson took over the starting job for the final five games in 2014 and forged two shutouts and a 0.48 goals against average. Adding to the talent base are six veterans that each drew at least one start last year along with eight incoming freshman and Northern Arizona transfer Maddie Sjothun.
 
2014 Review
The Falcons fashioned a 12-5-3 overall record in 2014 and tied for second in the GNAC with a 9-3-2 mark. They captured their second straight GNAC Tournament championship with a tiebreaker triumph over regular-season winner Western Washington after the teams tied 1-1. SPU made its 12th consecutive NCAA playoff appearance, but fell 2-1 in double overtime to Cal State Stanislaus in the opening round. Four starters departed from that squad, including midfielders Demi Waitley and Alexa Diaz along with defender Arden Matro. Goalkeeper Alexa Hughes started the first 15 games in 2014 before being replaced by Molly Stinson. SPU outscored foes 38-16 led by the 15 goals of GNAC leader Hannah Huesers and eight from league MVP Isabel Farrell.