• COMPLETE RELEASE (pdf)   |   • VIDEO: SYDNEE  SMITH

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5 –
Seattle Pacific at (#3) Western Washington
5:00 p.m. PDT, Harrington Field, Bellingham, Wash.
 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7 –
Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
12:00 p.m. PDT (1:00 p.m. MDT), NNU Soccer Field, Nampa, Idaho
 
• Webcast & LiveStats for both games:  http://portal.stretchinternet.com/spu/
 
A pair of soccer road battles against teams in the top-half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference table await the Seattle Pacific women this week, beginning with a clash against defending national champion Western Washington. The second-place Falcons (6-3-0, 4-1-0 GNAC) visit Harrington Field on Thursday, Oct. 5 for a 5 p.m. matchup with undefeated and third-ranked WWU (9-0-0, 5-0-0). The Vikings have not lost to SPU since a 1-0 decision on Oct. 27, 2012 in Bellingham, posting a 10-0-3 series record since then. On Saturday, Oct. 7 at noon Pacific Time (1 p.m. Mountain) the Falcons complete their four-game road trip in Nampa, Idaho against fourth-place Northwest Nazarene (6-4-0, 3-2-0). SPU owns a 30-2 series lead, including a 1-0 win over the Crusaders on Oct. 23 in Seattle.
 
Clash of the Titlists
Both Seattle Pacific and Western Washington have captured an NCAA Division II women's soccer national championship. The Falcons claimed the 2008 crown, defeating West Florida 1-0 on a golden goal by Janae Godoy. Western won the 2016 title with a 3-2 victory over three-time defending champion, Grand Valley State.
 
Throw-Ins
Eight of nine Falcons games have been decided by one-goal margins ... Kasey Reeve leads the team with six goals, including four game-winning strikes ... SPU has been starting slow in games this season (outscored 7-4 in first halves), but finishing fast (11-4 advantage in second halves) ... Four of this season's six wins were of the come-from-behind variety ... While the scoring load has been shared by just six Falcons, 13 have set them up. Claire Neder and Maddy Booster both have two assists and the others each have one.
 
Brace Yourself
Three different Falcons have produced a two-goal game this season, two of them in the same contest. Both Julia DeVere and Simone Herzberg scored twice in a 4-1 home win over Saint Martin's (Sept. 21). Kasey Reeve got her brace in the season-opening 3-2 victory over Chico State (Aug. 31), helping SPU rally from a two-goal deficit.
 


Playoff Pursuit
Seattle Pacific seeks to return to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the 15th straight year. The Falcons won the 2008 national championship and advanced to the Final Four on three occasions (2005, 2007, 2008).Their current run of 14 consecutive playoff 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.
 
2017 Preview
Six starters return from last year's playoff team, including goalkeeper Molly Stinson. The senior shot-stopper set a school single-season record with 106 saves in 2016 while compiling a fine 0.96 goals against average. A trio of defensive starters return to the back line that recorded nine shutouts; Kaytlin Willis, Maddie Sjothun and Asia Cayetano. SPU outscored opponents 31-20 last season, but just 11 of those goals return and the Falcons lost their top-two scorers, Hannah Huesers (13) and Maddie Krauss (4). Heading the list of SPU's offensive returnees is junior midfielder Brooke Lancaster, who contributed two goals and three assists in 2016. Also netting a pair of goals last year were returnees Megan Moore, Kasey Reeve and Julia DeVere. Senior Simone Herzberg is back in her midfield post after topping the team with four assists.
 
This Week's Opponents
Western Washington (9-0-0, 5-0-0 GNAC) -- The defending national champion Vikings are undefeated and ranked No. 3. They have a 33-game winning streak and blanked six of their last seven opponents. Western won the last five GNAC regular-season titles and haven't lost to a league foe since Oct. 13, 2013, a span of 58 games (52-0-6 record). The Vikings won their last 27 home games. WWU is outscoring opponents 32-3, paced by the nine goals of Gabriela Pelogi. Goalkeeper Ashley Homer has five shutouts and a 0.24 goals against average. Travis Connell, a four-year SPU men's soccer letterman (1991-95), is in his 15th year and owns WWU's all-time mark with 211 coaching wins. The Falcons lead the all-time series 18-14-6 despite not beating Western since Oct. 27, 2012, covering a span of 13 games during which WWU went 10-0-3. The Vikings swept SPU in 2016, winning 4-0 on Oct. 20 in Seattle and 3-1 on Nov. 5 in the GNAC Tournament final that was moved to Bellingham due to fog in Burnaby, B.C.
 
Northwest Nazarene (6-4-0, 3-2-0 GNAC) -- The fourth-place Crusaders lost 3-0 at Simon Fraser in their last outing. They are outscoring opponents 17-10 led by four goals from Rikki Myers. NNU defeated the Falcons 1-0 on Sept. 24, 2015 to halt a 27-game series losing streak and post their first win over SPU since their inaugural meeting in 2001. SPU won the last three meetings, including a 1-0 decision on Sept. 23 in Seattle on a 49th-minute goal by Kasey Reeve, to increase its all-time series advantage to 30-2.

 

Coach Busey
Arby Busey is in his 12th year on the Seattle Pacific staff and his third as head coach. In 2016, he directed the Falcons to an 11-5-4 record, third-place GNAC finish (7-2-3) and GNAC Tournament finals berth. SPU advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the 14th consecutive season. Busey has a 21-13-6 record at SPU, a ledger that doesn't include 10 wins from 2015 that were vacated due to the use of an ineligible player. He is the third coach in the 17-year history of the program, including 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 where he had an 8-40-7 record.
 
2016 Review
The Falcons fashioned an 11-5-4 overall record in 2016 and placed third in the GNAC with a 7-2-3 mark. They advanced to the GNAC Tournament championship game for the fourth straight season before losing 3-1 to eventual national champion Western Washington. SPU participated in the postseason for the 14th straight season, falling 2-1 in the first round to Central Washington. Graduated forward Hannah Huesers netted 13 goals to lead all GNAC scorers for the third straight season.
 
Next Week
The SPU women return home briefly to host Central Washington at Interbay Stadium on Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. They hit the road again for a 1 p.m. game at Saint Martin's on Oct. 14 before closing out the regular season with a three-game homestand.