2021 GNAC WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Harrington Field / Bellingham, Washington
       • Buy Tickets:  www.gnactickets.com
       • Webcast for all games:  https://www.youtube.com/gnacsports
       • LiveStats for all games:  https://wwuvikings.com/sidearmstats/wsoc/summary
 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11 (semifinal games)
Game 1 -- (4) Simon Fraser vs. (1) Seattle Pacific,  4:00 p.m. PST
Game 2 -- (3) Northwest Nazarene vs. (2) Western Washington,  7:00 p.m. PST
 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13 (championship game)
Game 3 -- Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2,  1:00 p.m. PST
 
Top-seeded Seattle Pacific seeks to claim the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament title for the first time since 2014 when the four-team event is conducted this week at Harrington Field in Bellingham, Washington. The opening-round foe for the fourth-ranked Falcons (15-1-1) is No. 3 seed Simon Fraser (5-10-2), a team they shut out twice this season.  That semifinal contest takes place on Thursday, Nov. 11 at 4:00 p.m. as the opener of a doubleheader capped by host and No. 2-seed Western Washington (13-3-3) playing No. 3 Northwest Nazarene (10-4-3) at 7:00 p.m. Thursday's semifinal winners square off in the GNAC championship game on Saturday, Nov. 13 at 1:00 p.m. The victor gets an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament. SPU, winner of titles in 2013 & 2014, and WWU are the only two schools to qualify for every GNAC Tournament.
 
Year        Championship Game Score:  Tournament Venue;  SPU result
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
2017       Western Washington 1, Concordia 0 (2ot):  Portland, OR;  SPU 2-0 semifinal loss to WWU
2018       Concordia 2, Western Washington 1 (ot):  Portland, OR;  SPU 2-0 semifinal loss to Concordia
2019       Western Washington 2, Seattle Pacific 1:  Seattle, WA
 
Playoff Pursuit
Seattle Pacific seeks to return to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 2018. They did not receive a berth in 2019 and no playoffs were conducted in 2020. The Falcons qualified for the playoffs every season from 2003-2016. They won the 2008 national championship and advanced to the Final Four three times (2005, 2007, 2008). Currently tops in the region, SPU was last the West Region No. 1 seed in 2010. The 56-team NCAA bracket is announced Nov 15 at 3:30 p.m. PST and play begins Nov. 18.

About SPU (15-1-1)
Fourth-ranked SPU outscores opponents 54-7 (48-6 vs GNAC) with 11 clean sheets. The Falcons feature forward Sophia Chilzcuk, who tops the GNAC with 25 points on six goals and 13 assists, the second-highest assist total in the nation. GNAC Player of the Year Makena Rietz leads the league with 10 goals from her midfield position. Freshman of the Year Lauren Forster tallied nine goals and Defensive Player of the Year Madison Ibale had two. Fourteen different players netted a goal, 10 of them with more than one. Backed by first-team All-GNAC goalkeeper Riley Travis with her seven shutouts and 0.42 goals against average is a defense that yields less than a goal per game (0.41).
 
Falcons Fast Facts
• Unbeaten for the last 11 games, SPU has not had a longer streak since the 2008 squad went undefeated over its final 17 games (16-0-1) en route to the national championship
 
• The Falcons captured their ninth GNAC regular-season title and their first since 2011
 
• SPU is outscoring opponents 54-7 and ranks No. 2 nationally in assists per game (2.88)
 
The GNAC Field
No. 4 seed Simon Fraser (5-10-2) -- Simon Fraser was formerly called the Clan but does not currently have a nickname while deciding on a new moniker. Reigning GNAC Offensive Player of the Week Giuliana Zaurini tops Simon Fraser with four goals. Goalkeepers Kelsey Fisher and Nicole Anderson combined for four shutouts and a 1.30 goals against average. SPU won the last four encounters to claim a 16-1-2 advantage in the all-time series. The Falcons forged a 2-0 victory on Oct. 7 in Seattle and won 3-0 on Oct. 23 in Burnaby, B.C. behind two Makena Rietz goals.
 
No. 2 seed Western Washington (13-3-3) -- The 13th-ranked Vikings are unbeaten in their last three games (2-0-1). Western is outscoring opponents 36-11 topped by the nine goals of Jenna Killman. Goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx has eight shutouts and a 0.60 goals against average. Travis Connell, a four-year SPU men's soccer letterman (1991-95), is in his 18th year and owns WWU's all-time mark with 278 coaching wins. The Falcons won the last three meetings, including a 1-0 overtime result on Oct. 9 in Seattle that Claire Neder ended with a 95th-minute golden goal. SPU won the rematch 3-0 on Oct. 21 in Bellingham, halting Western's 32-game home winning streak. The all-time series is even at 21-21-7.
 
No. 3 seed Northwest Nazarene (10-4-3) -- The third-place Nighthawks had a nine-game unbeaten streak stopped by a 3-2 home loss to SPU on Saturday (Nov. 6). NNU outscored opponents 26-19 and nine of those goals were scored by the Falcons, including a 6-0 win on Oct. 25 in Seattle. SPU owns a commanding 34-3-0 advantage in the all-time series.  Madison Grande leads the Nighthawks with nine goals. Goalkeeper Alexis Montoya compiled seven shutouts and a 0.82 goals against average.
 
 

Coach Busey
2021 GNAC Coach of the Year Arby Busey is in his 16th year on the Seattle Pacific staff , his seventh as head coach. In the abbreviated 2020-21 season, he directed the Falcons to an 8-0-1 record and No. 5 final ranking. Busey has a 72-32-10 record at SPU, a mark 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 in 2018. From his assistant post from 2006-14, Busey helped the Falcons to an impressive 95-30-12 record, playoff appearances each season and the 2008 NCAA Division II championship.
 
2020-21 Recap
Coach Arby Busey returns all 11 starters from last season's squad that outscored opponents 39-7. The Falcons forged an 8-0-1 record in the shortened 2020-21 campaign and were ranked No. 5 in the final national poll. Sophia Chilczuk led all NCAA Division II players in assist average (1.0 per game) and was fourth in goals (1.25) The team ranked No. 2 in goals per game (4.33).