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NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament -- West Portland-Regional
1st & 2nd Rounds at Tuominem Yard; Portland, Oregon (hosted by Concordia)
•Webcast & LiveStats for first two rounds:  https://portal.stretchinternet.com/cuportland/

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8
First Round Game 1: (6) Sonoma State vs. (3) Western Washington, 11:00 am PST
First Round Game 2: (7) Seattle Pacific at (2) Concordia-Portland, 2:00 p.m. PST
 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10
West Region Semifinal – Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 2:00 p.m. PST
 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15
West Region Championship (at site of highest South Central Region seed)
 
We meet again! The Seattle Pacific women's soccer team returns to the playoffs after a one-year absence with a first-round game on Thursday in Portland, Oregon. The Falcons (12-5-2) are seeded No. 7 among the seven West Region squads in the 56-team NCAA Division II Tournament field. They will meet the host and No. 2 seed Concordia (14-1-3). SPU and the 11th-ranked Cavaliers clash for the fourth time this season. They meet on Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. Pacific Time at Tuominem Yard on the Concordia campus. The winner advances into the second round to play Thursday's victor between No. 3 seed Western Washington (16-3-1) and No. 6 Sonoma State (11-4-4), who play at 11 a.m. in Portland. That West Regional semifinal is slated for Saturday at 2 p.m. Thursday marks the third encounter in the last 13 days between Concordia and SPU, which faces the Cavaliers for the third consecutive contest. They tied 1-1 on Oct. 27 in the final regular-season game and Concordia won 2-1 on Nov. 1 in the GNAC Tournament semifinals. Those games were played in Portland.

 

Quoting Coach Arby Busey
"It's such an honor to represent our institution in the NCAA Tournament and it's something that we've been fortunate and blessed to do quite frequently. But last year was kind of a pause in that and allowed us to really reflect on how special it is to get here. This group made it a goal of theirs, the second that we didn't qualify last year, to make sure that we got back in."  On Concordia: "You don't get to pick your opponents so you're just happy to play anybody that they put in front of you. It's obviously two opponents that know each other very well after playing each other a few times recently. In some ways those games go out the window because this one's different. This is an NCAA Tournament game, there's a bit more on the line in this one."
 
About Seattle Pacific (12-5-2)
Seventh-seeded SPU had a five-game unbeaten streak halted with a 2-1 loss at Concordia in the GNAC Tournament semifinals on Nov. 1. The Falcons feature GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Julia DeVere, a senior outside right back who leads the team with seven assists and has four goals. Senior forward Kasey Reeve has six goals to her credit, fueling an SPU attack that outscores opponents 39-17. A second-team All-GNAC pick, junior midfielder Megan Moore, compiled three goals and six assists. The Falcons defense surrenders less than one score per game (0.87 goals against average), backed by freshman goalkeeper Riley Travis, a second-team All-GNAC honoree. Travis collected a school-record 16 saves in her second collegiate start, Sept. 6 at Chico State. SPU will be without leading scorer Sophia Chilczuk (8 goals/3 assists), a first-team all-conference selection and the 2017 Freshman of the Year. The sophomore forward injured her leg in a collision with the Concordia goalkeeper on Oct. 27.
 


The Rest of the West
For the second season in a row, UC San Diego (17-2-1) drew the West Region's top seed and will have a bye before hosting a second-round game against Thursday's first-round winner between No. 4 Point Loma (15-1-1) and No. 5 Chico State (10-1-6). The two victorious second-round teams from the West will meet in the regional championship match on Nov. 15 at the site of the highest remaining seed from the South Central region. The West Region champion advances to the Nov. 17 national quarterfinals.
 
Scouting the 2018 NCAA Tournament Field
No. 2 seed Concordia (14-1-3) -- The 11th-ranked Cavaliers finished second in the league standings and then won the GNAC Tournament with a 2-1 overtime result over Western Washington. The Cavaliers are unbeaten in their last five outings, the only non-win was a 1-1 draw with SPU on Oct. 27 in Portland. CU is out-scoring opponents 36-11 led by seven goals apiece from Kyra Radcliffe and Gabrielle Ewing. Goalkeeper Rose Hauser has a 0.83 goals against average while participating in three of the team's nine shutouts. SPU is winless in the last four meetings with the Cavaliers and the series is tied 3-3-2. The Falcons were blanked 1-0 by Hauser on Oct. 11 in Seattle and Gabrielle Ewing got the CU game-winner in the 62nd minute. On Oct. 27, a 25-yard strike to the upper left corner by SPU's Julia DeVere evened the score in the 79th minute of a 1-1 tie in Portland. In the GNAC semifinals on Nov. 1 at Concordia, the hosts won 2-1. Thursday marks their fourth clash this season and third encounter in the last 13 days.
 
No. 6 seed Sonoma State (11-4-4) -- The California Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAA) tournament runner-up Seawolves lost 3-1 to UC San Diego in Sunday's league championship game. Sonoma is seeded No. 6 in the West Region. Sonoma scored only 24 goals, but does it with defense, surrendering just 13 goals in 19 games. Goalkeeper Kristen Spear compiled nine shutouts and a 0.65 goals against average. Molly Murphy's four goals pace the attack. SPU leads the all-time series 5-2, including wins in each of the last five meetings. After losing 2-1 (2001) and 1-0 (2002) at Sonoma in the first two encounters, the Falcons won 1-0 (2003) and 4-0 (2005) at home, 3-2 (2006) at Sonoma, 1-0 (2007) at home and 1-0 on Nov. 14, 2013 in Bellingham, Wash. during the most recent matchup in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
 
No. 3 seed Western Washington (16-3-1) -- The 16th-ranked Vikings won the GNAC regular-season title and forward Dayana Diaz was voted the league's Freshman of the Year. Western had a seven-game winning streak snapped, and 13-game undefeated run, with a 2-1 overtime loss to Concordia in Saturday's GNAC championship game. WWU outscores opponents 40-11, paced by seven goals each from Diaz and Gabriela Pelogi. The Vikings blanked half (10) of their opponents led by six clean sheets from goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx, who boasts a 0.50 goals against average.  Travis Connell, a four-year SPU men's soccer letterman (1991-95), is in his 16th year and owns WWU's all-time mark with 236 coaching wins. The all-time series is tied 18-18-6 despite the Falcons not beating Western since Oct. 27, 2012, covering a span of 17 games during which WWU went 14-0-3. The Vikings won this season's only previous meeting, 4-0, on Oct. 4 in Bellingham.
 
Tournament Format
The NCAA Division II Tournament is a single-elimination playoff starting with a 56-team field divided into eight regions. The 2018 NCAA semifinals and championship game are scheduled for Nov. 29 and Dec. 1 at Highmark Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa. Defending champion Central Missouri, which beat runner-up Carson-Newman on penalty kicks after tying the final 1-1, is a No. 3 seed in the Central Region.
 
SPU Tournament History
Seattle Pacific will participate in the playoffs for the 15th time in the last 16 seasons. A 14-year postseason streak was halted last year when an NCAA bid was not extended. The Falcons have a 17-12-3 record in all-time postseason games. They won the 2008 national championship with a 1-0 double-overtime triumph over top-ranked and undefeated West Florida on a Janae Godoy golden goal, and also advanced to the Final Four in 2005 and 2007. SPU's last NCAA appearance, on Nov. 10, 2016, resulted in a 2-1 first-round loss to Central Washington.

 

Dynamic Defender
SPU senior Julia DeVere was named the 2018 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year. The product of Squalicum High School in Bellingham, Wash. is new to the position. A three-year midfielder with the Falcons, she was moved to the backline prior to this season. Despite being positioned at outside right back, DeVere managed impressive production at the offensive end of the field. She ranks second among Falcons with 15 points. That figure includes four goals and a team-leading total of seven assists that rank her fifth among GNAC players. DeVere was twice this season named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week. She was one of seven unanimous first-team selections by the league's coaches, joining teammate Sophia Chilczuk. Both Falcons were honorable mention all-conference picks in 2017.
 
Throw-Ins
It has been feast or famine for the Falcons, who netted at least two goals in each of their 12 wins, but were shut out in four outings and held to one goal in the three other non-wins ... The Falcons posted a 1-1-2 record in four overtime contests this year ... Four players have started all 19 SPU games; defenders Julia DeVere, Asia Cayetano and Megan Nielsen along with midfielder Sydnee Smith ... Fourteen different Falcons netted at least one goal ... DeVere tops SPU with seven assists, the highest total by a Falcon since Isabel Farrell and Laura Moore each had seven in 2014. The last SPU player with more than seven assists was Alexa Diaz with eight in 2013.
 
Coach Busey
Arby Busey is in his 13th year on the Seattle Pacific staff and his fourth as head coach. In 2017, he directed the Falcons to a 10-7-0 record and third-place GNAC finish (8-4-0). He has a 37-21-8 record as the third coach in the 18-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. Busey's ledger doesn't include 10 wins from 2015 that were vacated. SPU participated in the NCAA Tournament in Busey's first two seasons at the helm. In 2015, he directed the Falcons to the West Regional semifinals. 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.