• FINAL STATS   |   • VIDEO: Makena  Rietz

SEATTLE – Senior Julia DeVere distributed assists on the first two goals Tuesday in her final home game, leading the Seattle Pacific women to a 3-0 victory over Central Washington in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference soccer contest at Interbay Stadium.
 
Sophia Chilczuk started the scoring in the sixth minute with her team-leading eighth goal. Makena Rietz found the goal in the 40th minute and Kasey Reeve tallied early in the second half.
 
Freshman goalkeeper Riley Travis was credited with three saves en route to her fifth shutout. It was SPU's eighth clean sheet as a team.
 
The Falcons (12-4-1) registered their fourth consecutive win and improved their league record to 8-3-0. They climbed into third place in the GNAC standings with 24 points, one shy of co-leaders Concordia and Western Washington.

Paired with a 2-0 triumph on Sept. 22 in Ellensburg, SPU completed a sweep of the season series from Central Washington.
 
Fourth-year SPU head coach Arby Busey was pleased with his team's clinical, take-care-of-business approach, especially coming in the midst of a hectic schedule. The Falcons posted a 3-2 overtime win at Simon Fraser last Thursday followed by Saturday's 4-0 home triumph over Montana State Billings.
 
"It was a very workman-like, professional performance. We got in, got a result and got out.
 
"The girls did a good job of managing everything that was at play tonight. It's kind of a weird deal playing on a Tuesday night. Our third game in six days is a lot to ask. They managed all those things pretty well. It's tough on their bodies and tough on their minds, but they came out and put together another excellent performance."


 
CWU (4-8-4) dropped to 4-5-2 in conference play with just its second loss in the last six outings.
 
Goalkeeper Emily Thomson made three saves for the Wildcats, who were outshot by a 14-8 margin.
 
The hosts got on the scoreboard early, breaching the Central goal 5-minutes, 18-seconds into the contest.
 
DeVere served a long through ball from behind the 50 yard line deep into the offensive half. Chilczuk sprinted to the ball on the left side, 30 yards out, and beat the onrushing goalkeeper before slipping a 13-yard shot into the right side of the open goal. That was the fifth game-winning strike for the sophomore forward.
 
"It was huge," Busey exclaimed of the early goal. "It took a little bit of the edge off in terms of the stress level and certainly provided a bit of momentum for us to latch onto and continue to build through the next 84 minutes."
 
That was the first shot of the game for the Falcons, who also converted their final attempt of the first half.
 
DeVere initiated that goal as well with another long, probing pass. Rietz fielded the ball 35 yards from goal and dribbled to the edge of the box before blasting a shot that deflected off Thomson. The ball popped over the goalkeeper and gradually trickled across the goal line at 39:22. The freshman midfielder notched her second goal, both of them coming during the last three games.
 
A converted midfielder, DeVere has thrived since assuming an outside back position this season. She leads the team with seven assists after totaling three while positioned farther up the field during the previous three seasons combined.
 
"Julia is an attacking player at heart," Busey explained of her transition to defense. "We didn't even talk to her about the move before this season. We just put her on the board, said you are playing in the back and called it good.
 
"She's been amazing at finding ways to get from that spot, forward into places to help create goals for us. She's got good attacking instincts so when she gets forward from that position she gets back into familiar territory and makes really good decisions in those spaces."
 
SPU held a two-score margin at intermission despite only owning a 5-4 edge in the shot count.
 
The Wildcats best opportunity came in the fourth minute when Madison Bradley unleashed a 17-yard attempt from the right side of the box that sailed over the crossbar.
 
The only first-half shot that was on frame, but failed to find the back of the net, was the final try of the period. CWU's Jordan Engman sent a shot toward the right post with 52 seconds showing on the clock that was routinely caught by Travis with the first save of the game for either team.

 

The SPU lead stretched to 3-0 just 1:33 into the second half on a tap-in by Reeve. Claire Neder fired a hard shot near the right post that was blocked by the goalkeeper and caromed into the middle of the goalmouth. Reeve was there for the easy, seven-yard finish.
 
That simple score up for a skillful 33rd-minute effort by Reeve, who was robbed by the right post after dribbling into the right side of box and angling a firm shot.
 
A senior forward, Reeve ranks second on the squad with six goals.
 
Two quality second-half chances by the visitors failed to produce a result. The Wildcats' Bradley fired a long shot that bounded off the top of the crossbar in the 53rd minute.
 
In the 77th minute, Makinzie Packwood drilled a low, 15-yard shot in traffic that was smothered by Travis.
 
The SPU women conclude the regular season on Saturday at 16th-ranked Concordia. Kick-off is 4 p.m. in Portland, Ore. The Cavaliers won this season's first meeting, 1-0, on Oct. 11 in Seattle.
 
"We were very good in the game we played them up here and they were very good," Busey said of the earlier encounter. "I expect Concordia to be really good again. It's their Senior Day so it's going to be a day where they will bring a lot of intensity and emotion to the game and we'll have to match that."
 
The Falcons had already clinched a berth into next week's GNAC Tournament. The four-team field has been set, but the pairings are yet to be determined. The semifinal games are set for Nov. 1 at 4 and 7 p.m. with the winners advancing to the 3:30 p.m. championship game on Nov. 3.
 
Busey believes a challenging game like Saturday's will serve as a welcome tune-up for the league playoffs that also take place at Concordia's Tuominem Yard.
 
"It's going to be a really good dress rehearsal for us for the next weekend in terms of traveling down to Portland and playing against a really tough opponent with maybe a little bit less on the line this Saturday than the following weekend. That's not to say that we're going to take anything lightly. This is a strong opponent and we've got a real opportunity to go down and put in another good performance.
 
"It's a great game for this time of year. Those are the kind of games that you want now as you start looking into the postseason. That's the type of team you are going to face day-in and day-out, so it will be a really good test for us to see where we are at going into the postseason."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at Seattle Pacific 3, Central Washington 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Sophia Chilczuk (Julia DeVere), 5:18; 2, SPU, Makena Rietz (DeVere), 39:22; 3, SPU, Kasey Reeve (Claire Neder), 46:33.
 
                        1   2  --  TOTAL
Central Washington      0   0  --    0
Seattle Pacific         2   1  --    3
 
Shots – CWU 8, SPU 14.
Shots on Goal – CWU 3, SPU 6.
Saves – CWU 3 (Emily Thomson), SPU 3 (Riley Travis).
Corner kicks – CWU 3, SPU 5.
Fouls – CWU 9, SPU 6.
Offsides – CWU 0, SPU 4.
 
Records
Central Washington 4-8-4, 4-5-2 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 12-4-1, 8-3-0 GNAC
 
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Concordia (Ore.)
Saturday, Oct. 27, 4:00 p.m. PDT
Tuominem Yard / Portland, Ore.