SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific men's soccer team starts its 2021 postseason journey in Los Angeles, California. The Falcons received the ninth seed of Super Region 4 for the 40-team NCAA Division II Tournament field that was announced Monday.
The Falcons (12-3-2) earned an NCAA berth by virtue of winning their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship since 2015.
"The boys are excited about this," exclaimed SPU interim head coach
Kevin Sakuda. "They worked hard all year and now it's just about trying to be our best going into Thursday and continuing to do the things that we've been good at all year long."
The first round features a matchup between SPU and No. 8 seed Colorado State Pueblo (14-5-2) on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. That game will be played at University Stadium on the Cal State LA campus where the host and top-seeded Golden Eagles play the winner on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
Pueblo was the runner-up of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament. The Thunderwolves are making their NCAA playoff debut.
"I don't know a ton about them yet, so we'll watch a lot of film," Sakuda said. "We just need to continue to focus on being our best and winning the day. That will be our approach for sure.
"We'll prepare and watch film, but at this point everyone we play is going to be a challenge. You get into the tournament because you've shown quality throughout the year."
Cal State LA (14-2-2) won both the California Collegiate Athletic Association regular season and tournament titles.
Saturday's second-round victor meets the winner of a second-round matchup between No. 4 Colorado Mesa (16-3-1) and No. 5 Colorado School of Mines (14-4-1).
TITUS GRANT INTERVIEW
Midwestern State (16-2-1) drew the No. 2 seed in the Region 4 and will await the first-round winner between No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona (12-4-3) and No. 10 Biola (11-6-0) in Wichita Falls, Texas. That second-round winner clashes with the team that advances from a second-round encounter between No. 3 Azusa Pacific (12-2-2) and No. 6 West Texas A&M (13-4-0).
The third round will be played on Dec. 2 and the quarterfinals on Dec. 4 at the site of the highest remaining seed.
The 2021 NCAA semifinals and championship game are scheduled for Dec. 9 and 11 at Switchbacks FC Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The Falcons, who return to the playoffs after a five-year absence, will make their 36th all-time NCAA appearance. They have five national championships to their credit (1978, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1993).
"I was fully aware when I stepped into this how much tradition there is in this program," Sakuda said. "You have a deep alumni base who has done some pretty impressive things and deeply care about the success of the program.
"We try not to put too much pressure on ourselves, but we're fully aware every time we step on a field what wearing an SPU jersey represents."
SPU outscored opponents 37-18 and got six shutouts this season from goalkeeper
Lars Helleren. Senior forward
Alex Mejia leads the GNAC with 14 goals.
2021 NCAA DIVISION II MEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
Super Region 4 – Los Angeles Region Pairings
University Stadium / Los Angeles, Calif.
(regional seeding)
First Round -- Thursday, Nov. 18
(9) Seattle Pacific vs. (8) Colorado State Pueblo, 6:00 p.m. PST
Second Round -- Saturday, Nov. 20
First-round winner vs. (1) Cal State LA, 6:00 p.m. PST
