• Complete Release (pdf)    |    • VIDEO: Hannah  Huesers

2016 GNAC WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Terry Fox Field / Burnaby, B.C.
• Webcast & LiveStats:  http://portal.stretchinternet.com/gnac/
 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 3 (semifinal games)
Game 1 -- (3) Seattle Pacific vs. (2) Central Washington, 4:00 p.m. PDT
Game 2 -- (4) Simon Fraser vs. (1) Western Washington, 7:00 p.m. PDT
 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5 (championship game)
Game 3 -- Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 1:00 p.m. PDT
 
Seattle Pacific begins pursuit of an unprecedented third Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament women's soccer championship this week at Terry Fox Field in Burnaby, B.C. The third-seeded Falcons' (10-3-4) opening round foe is No. 2 Central Washington (13-4-1), a team they tied 1-1 in Ellensburg in the most recent meeting. The Wildcats were 1-0 winners in Seattle in this season's first clash. The semifinal contest takes place on Thursday, Nov. 3. Kick-off is 4 p.m. followed by top-seeded and No. 1-ranked Western Washington (17-0-1) playing No. 4 Simon Fraser (9-6-1) at 7 p.m. in the nightcap. Thursday's semifinal winners square off in the GNAC championship game on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 1 p.m. The winner gets the league's automatic berth into the NCAA playoffs. SPU won two GNAC titles (2013, 2014) and Western won the other two (2012, 2015). GNAC Tournament tickets are available at the gate with cash only. Both U.S. and Canadian currency will be accepted.
 
GNAC Tourney History
This is the fifth-annual GNAC Tournament. SPU defeated Concordia 1-0 in last year's semifinals on a golden goal by Isabel Farrell with 1:38 left in the second overtime. Western Washington then beat the Falcons 3-1 in the final. SPU won back-to-back GNAC titles in 2013 and 2014 both of them with penalty-kick tiebreakers over WWU after 1-1 scorelines.  Farrell was the tournament MVP in 2014 and SPU's Natalie Harold grabbed that honor in 2013. Western defeated MSU Billings 2-0 to win the inaugural league postseason crown in 2012. SPU lost 1-0 to Billings in the 2012 semifinals. SPU and WWU are the only teams to quality for all five GNAC Tournaments.


 
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. Last year the Falcons posted a 2-1 opening-round win over UC San Diego before losing 1-0 at Western Washington in the West Regional semifinal. SPU won the 2008 national championship and advanced to the Final Four on three occasions (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. 10 and 12. The 48-team NCAA Division II championship field will be announced on Monday, Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. Pacific Time via a webcast selection show on NCAA.com.
 
GNAC Honors
The GNAC all-conference squad was released Tuesday and SPU's Hannah Huesers was a first-team selection. Kelly Gould was named to the second team while Maddie Krauss, Brooke Lancaster and Kaytlin Willis were honorable mention picks.
 
Fantastic Forward
Senior forward Hannah Huesers leads the GNAC lead with 10 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). Huesers ranks second among the school's career scoring leaders with 45 goals, four shy of the standard of 49 established by Sarah Martinez (2004-07). Huesers is third among all-time Falcons with 14 career game-winning goals, a list topped by the 21 game-winners of Martinez.

 

Throw-Ins
SPU posted a 2-0-4 record in overtime games this year. The school record of seven overtime contests came in 2005 ... Six Falcons have started all 17 games (Holm, Huesers, Krauss, Lancaster, Sjothun, Stinson).
 
Scouting the GNAC Tournament Field
Central Washington (13-4-1, 8-3-1 GNAC) -- The second-seeded Wildcats are outscoring opponents 31-17 led by the seven goals of Mackenzie Nolte. Keilin Farrand has five goals and six assists. Goalkeeper Emily Holt compiled six shutouts and a 1.00 goals against average. Central and SPU met in the 2013 GNAC semifinals and the Falcons won 2-1 on an 89th-minute own goal. The Wildcats got a win and draw this season versus SPU. They were 1-0 victors on Sept. 24 in Seattle with an 83rd-minute goal from Nolte. The Oct. 4 rematch in Ellensburg resulted in a 1-1 tie.  SPU leads the all-time series 22-6-4.
 
Simon Fraser (9-6-1, 7-5-0 GNAC) -- The Clan became a GNAC member in 2010 as the first Canadian school to join the NCAA. Annie Hamel is in her third season as head coach at SFU. Freshman Emma Pringle accounted for nine of SFU's 26 goals this season. Goalkeeper Priya Sandhu has eight shutouts and a 0.92 goals against average. SPU owns an 11-0-2 series lead, including a 2-1 win Sept. 29 in Burnaby and 3-0 victory Oct. 15 in Seattle.
 
Western Washington (17-0-1, 12-0-0 GNAC) -- The top-ranked Vikings won 17 consecutive games after tying 0-0 at Sonoma State in their season opener. They won the last five GNAC regular-season titles and are undefeated (38-0-4) in the last 42 league regular-season contests. WWU is outscoring opponents 45-5, paced by seven goals apiece from Caitlyn Jobanek and Elise Aylward. Goalkeeper Ashley Homer has 11 shutouts and a 0.24 goals against average. Travis Connell, a four-year SPU men's soccer letterman (1991-95), is in his 14th year and owns WWU's all-time mark with 195 coaching wins. The Falcons lead the all-time series 18-13-6 despite not beating Western since Oct. 27, 2012, covering a span of 12 games during which WWU went 9-0-3. The Vikings made two penalty kicks to win this season's only meeting 4-0 on Oct. 20 in Seattle. Western beat SPU 3-1 in the 2015 GNAC final and was a 1-0 victor in last year's NCAA West Region semifinal.

 

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 24-8-6 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.