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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27 –
Seattle Pacific at Western Oregon
1:00 p.m. PDT, Central High School, Independence, Ore.
 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 –
Seattle Pacific at Concordia
6:00 p.m. PDT, Tuominen Yard, Portland, Ore.
 
• Webcast & LiveStats for both games:  http://portal.stretchinternet.com/spu/
 
The regular-season concludes on the road this week for the Seattle Pacific women who have plenty to play for. They are in the NCAA playoff hunt (ranked No. 5 in the region last week) and can solidify a spot in the four-team GNAC Tournament. The third-place Falcons (8-3-4, 5-2-3 GNAC) play Western Oregon (5-10-1, 2-8-1) on Thursday, Oct. 27.The time and venue changed recently for the game that now has a 1 p.m. start at Central High School in Independence, Oregon. That is the only encounter between these teams, who had met twice every season since the SPU program was formed in 2001. With the addition of a ninth team, the GNAC is not implementing a double round-robin schedule and the Falcons play four league foes just once (Northwest Nazarene, Saint Martin's & Western Washington).  SPU closes out the regular season in Portland, Ore. with a 6 p.m. clash against Concordia (9-3-3, 4-3-3) on Saturday, Oct. 29. The Cavaliers and Falcons drew 1-1 on Oct. 6.
 
GNAC Tourney
The four-team field is taking shape for next week's 2016 GNAC Tournament at Terry Fox Field in Burnaby, B.C. League-leading Western Washington will be the top seed and second-place Central Washington has clinched a berth. Three teams are vying for the two remaining spots. Seattle Pacific and Simon Fraser are tied for third with 18 points apiece, three ahead of fifth-place Concordia's 15. The GNAC semifinals are Nov. 3 and the championship game is set for Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. The winner gets the league's automatic berth into the NCAA playoffs. SPU won GNAC Tournament titles in 2013 and 2014.
 


Fantastic Forward
Senior forward Hannah Huesers is tied for the GNAC lead with nine goals. She was the 2015 conference and West Region Player of the Year and led the league in scoring in both 2015 (14 goals) and 2014 (15). She ranks second among the school's career scoring leaders with 44 goals, five shy of the standard of 49 established by Sarah Martinez (2004-07). Huesers is tied for third among all-time Falcons with 13 career game-winning goals, a list topped by the 21 game-winners of Martinez.
 
Playoff Pursuit
Seattle Pacific seeks to return to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th straight year. The current run of 13 consecutive appearances is tied with West Chester for the longest active playoff streak among Division II women's soccer teams. The Falcons won the 2008 national championship. Last year they reached the West Region semifinal.
 
Throw-Ins
Seven Falcons have started all 15 games (Holm, Huesers, Krauss, Lancaster, Sjothun, Stinson, Willis) ... Eleven different SPU players netted at least one goal this season and 16 picked up at least one point with a goal and/or assist.

 

Last Week
Hannah Huesers and Brooke Lancaster scored goals exactly one minute apart to rally SPU to a 3-3 home tie against Montana State Billings (Oct. 22). Huesers opened the scoring en route to her ninth career multi-goal game.  Before that game, SPU allowed two penalty kicks to top-ranked Western Washington (Oct. 20) in a 4-0 home loss.
 
2016 Preview
Seven starters return from the 2015 NCAA Tournament team, including players that accounted for 23 goals for SPU, which outscored opponents 35-17. Heading the list of returnees is senior forward Hannah Huesers, the 2015 West Region Player of the Year. She netted 14 goals to claim the GNAC scoring title for the second time. Senior midfielder Emma Holm was an honorable mention All-GNAC honoree in 2015. The defense is backed by junior goalkeeper Molly Stinson who compiled seven clean sheets and an outstanding 0.81 goals against average. Adding to the talent base are six veterans that each drew at least one start last year, along with six incoming freshmen.
 
This Week's Opponents
Western Oregon (5-10-1, 2-8-1 GNAC) -- The Wolves defeated Saint Martin's 2-1 at home on Tuesday to halt a seven-game winless streak. Taylor Higa accounted for seven of WOU's 16 total goals and also tops the squad with four assists. Goalkeeer Caitlin Kastelic has two shutouts and a 2.05 goals against average. The Falcons own a 26-2-1 series lead, including a 2-0 win in the last meeting, Oct. 29, 2015 in Seattle. SPU was a 3-1 victor in its last visit to Monmouth, Ore., getting a hat trick from Hannah Huesers on Oct. 10, 2015.
 
Concordia (9-3-3, 4-3-3 GNAC) -- The fifth-place Cavaliers, from Portland, Oregon, are second-year members of the GNAC and the NCAA after previously competing in the NAIA. They are winless in their last three outings, with a tie and two losses. Gabrielle Ewing compiled four goals and three assists for an offense that is outscoring opponents by a 28-11 margin. Goalkeeper Olivia Brock helped the team post seven clean sheets with a 0.56 goals against average. SPU owns a 2-0-1 edge in the series, including a 1-1 draw in the last encounter, Oct. 6 in Seattle. They met on Nov. 5 in the GNAC Tournament semifinal in Burnaby. and the Falcons won 1-0 on a golden goal by Isabel Farrell with 1:38 left in the final overtime.

 

Coach Busey
Arby Busey is in his 11th year on the Seattle Pacific staff and his second as head coach. In 2015, he directed the Falcons to a 14-5-2 record, third-place GNAC finish (7-3-2) and GNAC Tournament finals berth. SPU advanced to the West Regional semifinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs. Busey has a 22-8-6 record as the third coach in the 16-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, and the 12-year run of Chuck Sekyra who was 209-34-20 from 2003-2014. From his assistant post from 2006-14, 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.
 
2015 Review
The Falcons fashioned a 14-5-2 overall record in 2015 and finished third in the conference standings with a 7-3-2 mark. They advanced to the GNAC Tournament championship game for the third straight season before losing 3-1 to Western Washington. The SPU women participated in the postseason for the 13th straight season. They defeated UC San Diego 2-1 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling 1-0 at WWU. A trio of graduated seniors were All-West Region honorees, Laura Moore, Shayla Page and Isabel Farrell, the 2014 GNAC Player of the Year. Junior forward Hannah Huesers led the league with 14 goals en route to 2015 GNAC Player of the Year acclaim.