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2017 GNAC WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Tuominen Yard / Portland, Oregon
•Webcast & LiveStats:  http://portal.stretchinternet.com/gnac/
 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2 (semifinal games)
Game 1 -- (3) Seattle Pacific vs. (2) Western Washington, 4:00 p.m. PDT
Game 2 -- (4) Northwest Nazarene vs. (1) Concordia, 7:00 p.m. PDT
 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4 (championship game)
Game 3 -- Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 1:00 p.m. PDT
 
Seattle Pacific begins pursuit of a third Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament championship this week at Tuominen Yard in Portland, Ore. The third-seeded Falcons' (10-6-0) opening-round foe is No. 2 Western Washington (15-1-0), a team that won the two regular-season meetings by similar 1-0 scorelines. This will be the fifth straight season SPU clashes with the Vikings in the conference playoffs, but the first time that encounter hasn't happened in the championship game. The semifinal contest takes place on Thursday, Nov. 2. Kick-off is 4 p.m. followed by top-seeded Concordia (14-2-1) playing No. 4 Northwest Nazarene (11-6-0) at 7 p.m. in the nightcap. Thursday's semifinal winners square off in the GNAC championship game on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m. The winner gets the league's automatic berth into the NCAA playoffs. SPU has won two GNAC titles (2013, 2014) and Western won the other three (2012, 2015, 2016). GNAC Tournament tickets are available at the gate and are discounted by purchasing in advance at EventBrite.com
 
Clash of the Titlists
Seattle Pacific (2) and Western Washington (3) have monopolized all five previous GNAC Tournament titles. They each 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.


 
GNAC Tourney History
Seattle Pacific and Western Washington are the only two teams to participate every year since the conference began hosting a championship in 2012.
Year     Championship Game  (Tournament Venue)
2012     Western Washington 2, MSU Billings 0  (Tukwila, WA), SPU 1-0 semifinal loss to  MSUB
2013     Seattle Pacific 1, Western Washington 1 -- SPU 4-1 PK tiebreaker  (Tukwila, WA)
2014     Seattle Pacific 1, Western Washington 1 -- SPU 5-4 PK tiebreaker  (Tukwila, WA)
2015     Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1  (Burnaby, BC)         
2016     Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1  (Bellingham, WA)
 
About Seattle Pacific (10-6-0)
Third-seeded SPU won four of its last five games. Kasey Reeve's 10 goals represent one-third of the total for the team that is outscoring opponents 30-17. Four other Falcons each scored four times (Sohia Chilczuk, Julia DeVere, Simone Hezberg, Mickayla Mury). Freshman Claire Neder tops the team with four assists. The SPU defense surrenders just over one goal per game (1.03), backed by senior goalkeeper Molly Stinson, the school-record holder with 274 career saves.

 

Throw-Ins
Thirteen SPU games were decided by one-goal margins ... Three Falcons started all 16 games (Megan Nielsen, Molly Stinson, Kaytlin Willis) ... Four different Falcons have produced a two-goal game this season (Julia DeVere, Sophia Chilczuk) with Simone Herzberg and Kasey Reeve doing it twice. Reeve had a hat trick at Saint Martin's (Oct. 14).
 
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).
 
Scouting the GNAC Tournament Field
Western Washington (15-1-0, 11-1-0 GNAC) -- The defending national champion Vikings had a 39-game winning streak halted Saturday with a 2-0 home loss to Concordia. WWU outscores opponents 50-6, paced by the 14 goals of Gabriela Pelogi. Goalkeeper Ashley Homer has eight shutouts and a 0.34 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 217 coaching wins. The Falcons lead the all-time series 18-16-6 despite not beating Western since Oct. 27, 2012, covering a span of 15 games during which WWU went 12-0-3. The Vikings won both meetings this season by a 1-0 scoreline. These rivals met in the last four GNAC finals, the Falcons won the first two (2013-14) and the Vikings the last two (2015-16). WWU won last year's GNAC Tourney with a 3-1 win over SPU in a game moved to Bellingham due to fog in Burnaby, B.C.
 
Concordia (14-2-1, 11-0-1 GNAC) -- The top-seeded Cavaliers are third-year members of the GNAC and the NCAA after previously competing in the NAIA. They are undefeated in 13 consecutive games and won their last 11 outings, including a 2-0 road win Saturday that stopped Western Washington's 39-game winning streak. Gabrielle Ewing leads CU with eight goals and seven assists. Goalkeeper Anna Miller compiled eight shutouts, a 0.43 goals against average and a 12-0-1 record. SPU owns a 3-1-1 edge in the series, but lost the last meeting 2-1 on Sept. 28 in Portland on an 87th-minute goal by Megan Myers. The Cavaliers are making their second GNAC Tournament appearance, having lost in double overtime to Seattle Pacific in the 2015 semifinals.
 
Northwest Nazarene (11-6-0, 8-4-0 GNAC) -- The fourth-seeded Crusaders are making their GNAC Tournament debut after winning three of their last four games. Half (14) of their 28 goals came from the duo of Madi Taylor and Rikki Myers, who each have seven. Goalkeeper Daniele Ortiz has eight shutouts and a 0.88 goals against average. SPU leads the series 30-3 and the teams split two encounters this season. A 49th-minute Kasey Reeve goal provided a 1-0 win on Sept. 23 in Seattle for the Falcons, who lost the rematch 1-0 on Oct. 7 in Nampa, Idaho when Madi Taylor netted a golden goal 54 seconds into the first overtime.
 
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 25-16-6 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.