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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24
Seattle Pacific at (#10) Western Washington
7:00 p.m. PDT, Harrington Field, Bellingham, Wash.
     • Webcast:  https://www.youtube.com/user/WWUVikingsAthletics
     • LiveStats:  https://wwuvikings.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
 
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26
Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
11:00 a.m. PDT (12:00 pm. MDT), Yellowjacket Soccer Field, Billings, Mont.
     • Webcast & LiveStats:  http://portal.stretchinternet.com/spu/
 
A treacherous trip concludes the road portion of Seattle Pacific's regular-season schedule. The second-place Falcons (8-5-0, 6-1-0 GNAC) visit league-leading Western Washington on Thursday, Oct. 24. Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Harrington Field. The 10th-ranked Vikings (11-2-0, 7-0-0) are undefeated in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, outscoring opponents by a 32-1 margin. WWU has not lost to SPU since a 1-0 home defeat on Oct. 27, 2012, posting a 14-0-3 series record since then. After the short, 89-mile trip north to Bellingham the Falcons embark on their longest GNAC trip, an 818-mile trek to Montana. SPU clashes with MSU Billings on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. Pacific Time (noon Mountain Time). The Yellowjackets (4-6-2, 3-4-0) are winless in their last eight meetings with SPU.
 
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 Grand Valley State. They are the dominant GNAC schools, combining to win 15 of the 18 regular-season crowns, SPU with eight titles and WWU seven.
 
Top-10 Foes
SPU's last win over a top-10 ranked opponent was a 1-0 double-overtime decision over No. 2 West Florida on Dec. 6, 2008 in the NCAA championship game. The Falcons are winless in 17 encounters since then with an 0-15-2 record versus top-10 teams.
 
Falcons Fast Fact
Senior midfielder Megan Moore has a point in three consecutive games with one goal and three assists during that span. She scored a golden goal 1-minute-54-seconds into the Falcons 1-0 overtime win at Central Washington on Oct. 19. Moore's pass set up Chloe Gellhaus for the game-winner in a 3-1 home win versus Saint Martin's (Oct. 17).
 


Player of the Week
Freshman midfielder Chloe Gellhaus, who became SPU's first multi-goal scorer in a game this season, received the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week award Monday. She tallied two goals against Saint Martin's on Oct. 17. Gellhaus got the 60th-minute game-winner with a 20-yard shot inside the left post. Ten minutes later, she capped the scoring in a 3-1 home victory. Gellhaus gathered a loose ball and dribbled 20 yards before lofting a 26-yard shot off the underside of the crossbar. In the 1-0 overtime victory on Oct. 19 at Central Washington, she initiated a play that produced Megan Moore's golden goal. Gellhaus is tied for the SPU lead in goals (4), points (9) and game-winning goals (2).
 
Working Overtime
Four Falcons games have gone into overtime and none of them required the second OT session, each ending with early golden goals. Three of them finished within two minutes and the other went 6:23. SPU has a 2-2-0 record in those overtime contests with Claire Neder and Megan Moore getting golden goals in its wins.
 
2019 Season Preview
Six starters return from the NCAA playoff team that outscored opponents 40-19 in 2018. There are holes to fill as less than half (18 of 40) of last year's goals were netted by returnees. The Falcons lost their second- and third-leading scorers in Kasey Reeve (7 goals) and Julia DeVere (4), the GNAC Defender of the Year. Heading the list of returnees is second-team all-region forward Sophia Chilczuk, who led SPU with eight goals in 2018. Megan Moore was third-team all-region with three assists and midfield mate Claire Neder chipped in three goals and three assists. The senior duo of Megan Nielsen and Asia Cayetano returns after starting every game last season on the back line. Sophomore goalkeeper Riley Travis posted a 1.08 goals against average in 2018.
 
This Week's Opponents
(#10) Western Washington (11-2-0, 7-0-0 GNAC) -- The 10th-ranked Vikings won their last seven games, all of them GNAC contests, by a combined score of 32-1. The lone goal allowed in league play came in Saturday's 2-1 home win versus Simon Fraser. Overall, Western is outscoring opponents 38-4 led by the six goals of Zoe Milburn. Karli White has four goals and a team-leading seven assists. Goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx has six shutouts and a 0.31 goals against average. Just three foes have scored on WWU. On Sept. 25, Colorado Mines became the only team to net two goals. Travis Connell, a four-year SPU men's soccer letterman (1991-95), is in his 17th year and owns WWU's all-time mark with 249 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 last season's lone meeting, 4-0 on Oct. 4, 2018 in Bellingham. That was their 10th consecutive victory over SPU.
 
Montana State Billings (4-6-2, 3-4-0 GNAC) -- The Yellowjackets lost their last two, and four of their last five, games after opening GNAC play with two wins. Billings has been outscored by a combined 24-12 count. Four players share team-high scoring honors with two goals apiece, including Alexa Iacolucci who also tops MSUB with three assists. Goalkeeper Erinn Harder compiled four shutouts and a 1.60 goals against average. The Falcons, own a 21-4-2 series lead, outscoring MSUB 58-15 all-time. SPU posted a 6-0-2 record in meetings since the Yellowjackets last win on Sept. 27, 2014 in Billings, including a sweep of two encounters last season. The Falcons were 2-1 victors on Oct. 6, 2018 in Billings and then won the Oct. 20 rematch in Seattle by a 4-0 score.
 
Coach Busey
Arby Busey is in his 14th year on the Seattle Pacific staff and his fifth as head coach. In 2018, he directed the Falcons to a 12-6-2 record and a third-place tie in the GNAC standings (8-3-1) en route to an NCAA Tournament berth. He has a 45-28-8 record at SPU, a ledger that doesn't include 10 wins from 2015 that were vacated due to the use of an ineligible player. SPU advanced to the NCAA Division II playoffs in Busey's first two seasons at the helm and again last year. From his assistant post from 2006-14, Busey helped the Falcons to an impressive 95-30-12 record and playoff appearances each year. SPU won the 2008 NCAA Division II championship and reached the 2007 national semifinals. He is a 1993 graduate of Villanova and was the Idaho head coach from 2002-04 where he had an 8-40-7 record.
 
GNAC Tournament
Seattle Pacific's Interbay Stadium will host the 2019 GNAC Women's Soccer Tournament. Semifinal games are slated for 4 and 7 p.m. on Nov. 14 with the winners meeting in the championship game on Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. The champion receives the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
2018 Season Review
The SPU women returned to the NCAA playoffs in 2018 after a one-year absence. The Falcons fashioned a 12-6-2 overall record and tied for third in the GNAC standings with an 8-3-1 mark. They outscored opponents 40-19 led by the eight goals of Sophia Chilczuk. Departing seniors accounted for 22 goals with seven of them from Kasey Reeve and four from All-American defender Julia DeVere, who topped the team with seven assists. DeVere was voted the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year.