SEATTLE -- Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion Seattle Pacific will play at home Saturday to start its 16th foray into the women's soccer playoffs. The fourth-ranked Falcons (17-1-1) received the No. 1 seed in the West Region for the 56-team NCAA Division II Tournament field that was announced Monday.
 
SPU, which brings a 13-game unbeaten streak into the postseason, received a first-round bye and will await its opponent for a 2:00 p.m. second-round matchup on Nov. 20.
 
Fourth-seeded Sonoma State (14-5-0) and No. 5 Hawaii Hilo (12-3-0) will play a first-round contest on Thursday, Nov. 18 in Seattle. Kick-off is 1:00 p.m. at Interbay Stadium where the winner will play SPU on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
 
PacWest Conference co-champion Hilo is making its NCAA playoff debut while Sonoma is participating for the eighth time in the last nine years.
 
Tickets for NCAA Tournament games hosted by Seattle Pacific can be purchased in advance online at:  www.spufalcons.com/tickets
 
Tickets will also be available at the gate on game day and are $10 for adults and $7 for students and senior citizens. Interbay Stadium is located just off the Dravus Street exit of 15th Avenue, at 3027 17th Avenue West, Seattle, WA  98119.
 
The Falcons last hosted playoff games in 2010 on their way to an appearance in the West Region title game. In 2008 they parlayed the home field advantage into a national championship run.
 
"Playing in familiar surroundings, sleeping in familiar surroundings, eating in familiar surroundings are all huge advantages of playing at home," said SPU coach Arby Busey. "Getting a bye is big this time of year. Everybody's got bumps and bruises and the extra day of rest can make a massive difference in terms of getting healthy and getting right.
 
"So, all those things factor into the hosting situation being a really big advantage for those teams that are getting the opportunity to do that."
 
SPU boasts a perfect 7-0-0 record this season at Interbay Stadium and won the last 14 games at its home field.

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GNAC runner-up Western Washington (14-4-3) drew the No. 2 seed in the West Region and will host a second-round game against the first-round winner between No. 3 Point Loma (13-1-1) and No. 6 Cal State East Bay (11-5-4).
 
"Our group is confident coming in. We've got the top-two seeds coming out of our conference, which really shows the depth and the rigor that we had to come through to achieve what we achieved," Busey said. "It doesn't get any easier this weekend. We've got two teams that were regular-season champions of their conference as well and they've been tested. Sonoma is a team that has been in-and-around these types of games for a long time so it's not going to be an environment that they're uncomfortable in. Hawaii Hilo is new to the party, but that gives you so much energy and so much confidence to be part of something like this.
 
"So, we'll have our hands full. The West is really strong and really deep and it builds a belief in you that if you survive to get through the region, there's something within your team that could take you to some really high places."
 
The West Region's two second-round winners will meet at the site of the highest remaining seed from the South Central Region for a third-round clash on Dec. 2 with the victor advancing to the Dec. 4 quarterfinals. The top two seeds in the South Central are Dallas Baptist and UC Colorado Springs.
 
The 2021 NCAA semifinals and championship game are scheduled for Dec. 9 and 11 at Switchbacks FC Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
 
The SPU women have advanced to the Final Four on three occasions, including 2008 when they won the national title with a 1-0 overtime win over previously undefeated West Florida.
 
This year's Falcons captured their ninth GNAC championship with a 12-1-1 league ledger.
 
GNAC Player of the Year Makena Rietz paces the SPU attack with a league-leading 12 goals. Senior forward Sophia Chiczuk leads the nation with 17 assists, a school-record figure.
 
The SPU defense blanked 12 opponents anchored by GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Madison Ibale. Goalkeeper Riley Travis compiled eight clean sheets and a 0.43 goals against average.
 
Seattle Pacific has a 17-13-3 all-time record in NCAA Tournament play and advanced to the championship game in 2005 and 2008.
 
The last time the Falcons participated in the playoffs was 2018 and they lost 2-1 as a seventh seed at No. 2 Concordia-Portland. SPU was a bubble team in 2109 and didn't receive a postseason invitation in 2019 and the NCAA Tournament was not contested in 2020 due to the COVID outbreak.
 
"We missed out on the last NCAA Tournament and it's been a goal of the women in this program to get back," Busey said. "To arrive in this moment in the way that we have is a testament to the character that's in this group."
 
Defending NCAA Division II champion Grand Valley State (18-1-2) is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest Region. The Lakers won the 2019 national title with a 1-0 overtime victory over Western Washington.
 
2021 NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN'S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
West Region Pairings
 
Seattle, Wash. (regional seeding)
Nov. 18, 1:00 p.m. -- (5) Hawaii Hilo vs. (4) Sonoma State
Nov. 20, 2:00 p.m. -- winner vs. (1) Seattle Pacific
 
Bellingham, Wash. (regional seeding)
Nov. 18, 1:00 p.m. -- (6) Cal State East Bay vs. (3) Point Loma
Nov. 20, 2:00 p.m. -- winner vs. (2) Western Washington