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PORTLAND, Ore. – Karli White and Emily Bunnell each scored a second-half goal Thursday, leading second-seeded Western Washington to a 2-0 victory over No. 3 seed Seattle Pacific in the semifinal round of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Tournament at Tuominen Yard.
 
"I'm really proud of the effort that our kids gave today and thought that it was a great GNAC playoff game that lived up to its billing between two teams that see their way here on a consistent basis," SPU coach Arby Busey said of these Northwest rivals, who are the only teams to participate in all six GNAC Tournaments.
 
"The score today reflects that they were two goals better than us. Credit to Western, they did put it in the net twice."
 
The 12th-ranked Vikings (16-1-0) advance to a GNAC championship-game meeting with top seed Concordia on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers (15-2-1) were 3-0 victors over Northwest Nazarene in the other semifinal contest.
 
The loss ends the Falcons' (10-7-0) season and stops their run of consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances at 13. They had participated in the playoffs every season since 2004, tying for the nation's longest active streak.


 
Despite a 6-0 shot advantage, Western was kept off the board during a scoreless first half.
 
The Falcons finally got their first shot 57 seconds after the halftime break, an attempt by freshman Sophia Chilczuk that was saved by Ashley Homer. That was the only save required by the Vikings goalkeeper as her team outshot SPU 16-4 and had a 6-1 advantage on attempts directly on goal.
 
WWU broke the deadlock with its initial second-half shot and it came off a set piece. White was fouled by SPU defender Madison Ibale on the right side, 30 yards from the goal. Emily Webster served the subsequent free kick into the box and Emily Nelson flicked it toward the goal with her head. White was at the goal line for a tap-in at 50:53.
 
"Today it wasn't a corner kick, but it was a re-start nonetheless, a free kick that kind of did us in," Busey described. "I don't fault our kids at all. The effort, the focus and the concentration was there.
 
"Sometimes good offense beats good defense. They do a really good job set pieces, staying active and they put kids in good spots. They're clinical with their opportunities."

 

Defender Kaytlin Willis nearly netted an equalizer in the 62nd minute. She moved forward from her back line for an SPU corner kick that bounded loose in the box. Willis found it 15 yards from the goal in the left side of the box and drove a hard shot that caromed off the underside of the crossbar, but didn't breach the goal line.
 
"That could have been the moment that turned it for us" said Busey. "We had some sustained pressure, a good five or ten minutes where we were putting it on them. That would have been a nice crescendo to that pressure and given us an opening to claw our way back into the game.
 
"But unfortunately it didn't bounce our way. They did what champions do, they came and put the nail in the coffin on us later in the second half."
 
Western notched an insurance goal at 78:08 off a cross from the right side delivered by Taylor Hallquist. Gabriela Pelogi re-directed the ball toward the goal and Bunnell was there for an easy finish a foot from the line near the right post.
 
That was the only goal this season that the Vikings managed against SPU from the run of play. They posted a pair of 1-0 victories during the regular season and both scores were initiated by corner kicks.

 

Senior goalkeeper Molly Stinson stopped four shots for the Falcons. She completes her career as the school's all-time leader with 278 saves. Stinson also owns the marks for saves in a season (106 in 2016) along with the single-game standard (13 on Oct. 29, 2016).
 
"Molly in net just cleaned up everything behind us," Busey said of his second-team All-GNAC goalkeeper. "We talk about our young back line and she's had as much to do with it as our coaching staff as far as bringing those guys along. Her leadership back there really helped be the glue along that back line."
 
Busey was referring to SPU's starting defense that returns intact next season. Willis, a junior, is the only upperclassman in the quartet that includes freshman Ibale along with sophomores Asia Cayetano and Megan Nielsen.
 
Those defenders join a stellar core of young players that will return in 2018. Eight of the Falcons top-nine point producers return, including Kasey Reeve, who topped the team with 10 goals. The junior forward was one of six SPU players to receive All-GNAC honors this week and five of them will be back.
 
"It's hard to think of the future in these moments because you are thinking more in terms of the players who are moving out," said Busey. "Certainly those kids in the back have really grown together. It's neat to see the bonds they have forged and how stout they've been over the last few weeks of the season. They've really come together and learned how to play off each other and been formidable."
 
SPU was blanked Thursday for just the fourth time this season and three of those came at the hands of the Vikings.
 
The Falcons did put the ball in the back of net in the third minute of action, but would-be scorer Megan Moore was judged to be offside on the play and the goal was disallowed.
 
Thursday's game marked the end to six Falcons' careers. Joining Stinson in the senior class are Maddy Booster, Simone Herzberg, Brooke Holland, Brooke Pingrey and Maddie Sjothun.
 
"It's a sad day for us that we couldn't continue things for those guys. We were all really motivated to extend their stay with us," said Busey. "They've proven so valuable over the last four years.
 
"It's such an amazing group of women. We got a different kind of work rate about us than we've had in past years. They led us to that place. It sucks for all of us now, especially them, who won't be able to put the uniform on again. But I know in my heart that those guys have put us in a really good spot, a good launch point for us to move forward."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
GNAC Tournament -- Semifinal
Thursday, Nov. 2, 2017
Tuominen Yard / Portland, Ore.
 
(#12) Western Washington 2, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Scoring – 1, WWU, Karli White (Emily Nelson, Emily Webster), 50:53; 2, WWU, Emily Bunnell (Gabriela Pelogi, Taylor Hallquist), 78:08.
 
                        1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific         0   0  --    0
Western Washington      0   2  --    2
 
Shots – SPU 4, WWU 16.
Shots on goal – SPU 1, WWU 6.
Saves –SPU 4 (Molly Stinson), WWU 1 (Ashley Homer).
Corner kicks – SPU 1, WWU 9.
Fouls – SPU 11, WWU 9.
Offsides – SPU 1, WWU 1.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 10-7-0
Western Washington 16-1-0