SEATTLE – Sophia Chilczuk scored a goal Thursday and added two assists to her league-leading total, sending fourth-ranked Seattle Pacific to a 6-1 women's soccer victory over Central Washington that clinched the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season championship.
 
The Falcons (14-1-1) improved to 11-1-1 in league play to forge a 34-point total and secure their first regular-season title since 2011. Second-place Western Washington has 28 points with one left to play for both teams. This is SPU's ninth GNAC championship in the 20 years the conference has sponsored women's soccer.
 
"It's great for the girls. They've worked really hard all season long," SPU coach Arby Busey said of the regular-season crown. "It's a wonderful way to finish up our home regular season tonight. We scored a bunch of goals and did a great job start-to-finish this year, both at home and on the road, to earn this championship."
 
Seattle Pacific hasn't lost in the last nine games (9-0-1), the program's longest unbeaten streak in 10 seasons. The Falcons finished their home slate with a perfect 7-0-0 record at Interbay Stadium.
 
SPU will be the top seed for the GNAC Tournament that will be conducted next week at Western Washington's Harrington Field in Bellingham. The semifinals are slated for Thursday, Nov. 11 and the championship game is 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13.
 
SOPHIE BEADLE INTERVIEW

Chilczuk initiated the opening goal with a pass to Sophia Beadle, who fed Makena Rietz for an eighth-minute strike. That was the ninth goal of the season for Rietz, who has netted SPU's first goal seven times and five of them came inside the opening 18 minutes.
 
Just over five minutes later, Chilczuk reached a short Wildcats goal kick and headed it to the right side of the box where Beadle finished from 13 yards.
 
That was the 13th setup of the season for Chilczuk, a figure that leads all GNAC playmakers and is the highest total for a Falcon since Jocelyn Charette distributed 15 assists in the SPU's 2008 national championship season.
 
"You see her numbers this year are almost skewed completely in reverse as to what they've been in the past in terms of goals and assists," Busey said. "Sophia's dealt with all the attention that she gets from opponents by serving other people.
 
"That's who she is as a person and shows great maturity. Being a goal-scorer is such a great feeling and something you constantly chase and crave. For her to turn provider so many times this year is a testament to who she is as a person."
 
Chilczuk got a goal of her own in the 32nd minute with a near-post flick from a left-side cross from Lauren Forster. That was her fifth goal of the season and the 35th of her career, ranking her fifth among all-time SPU scorers. Chilczuk pushed her career assist mark to 30, the second-highest total in school history behind only the 34 dished out by Meredith Teague from 2005-08.
 
The 35 goals and 30 assists equal exactly 100 career points, making Chilczuk the fifth player in SPU women's soccer history to reach that impressive milestone.
 
Forster scored an unassisted goal in the 35th minute after intercepting a poor Wildcats back pass, giving the hosts a 4-0 advantage they would take into halftime. That score helped Forster keep pace with Rietz with nine goals apiece. They are not only for the team lead, but also top all GNAC scorers.
 
The first-half shot count was 15-2 in favor of the Falcons.
 
Central spoiled the shutout just 30 seconds into the second half on a goal by Sophia Keenan. She put a first-time finish into the SPU goal from four yards after a right-side cross from Sydney Lowe.
 
SPU answered 48 seconds later with a goal by Jacqueline Blakeley off assists from Ally Veenhuizen and Emmy Moore. Blakely breached the goal line for the third time.
 
JACQUELINE BLAKELEY GOAL

The Wildcats nearly found a second goal, in the 60th minute. Mackenzie Packwood spun and shot low from 11 yards, but it was blocked by a defender and carried inches wide of the right post.
 
Mia Mahaffey capped the scoring in the 84th minute with a goalmouth tap-in off a feed from Falcons teammate Abbie Anderson. That was the sophomore forward's first score of the season.
 
Riley Travis started in goal for SPU and stopped four shots before giving way in the 67th minute to Kaitlynn Knocke who collected one save.
 
CWU's Liz Canton played between the posts for the first half before being replaced at intermission by Megan Fox. They combined for nine saves.
 
The Wildcats had a 10-8 edge during the second half to narrow the final shot count to 23-12 for SPU.
 
NEXT GAME
The Falcons conclude their regular-season schedule on Saturday in Nampa, Idaho. Kick-off is 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time at third-place Northwest Nazarene.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, November 4, 2021
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
at (#4) Seattle Pacific 6, Central Washington 1
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Makena Rietz (Sophie Beadle, Sophia Chilczuk), 7:43; 2, SPU, Beadle (Chilczuk), 12:58; 3, SPU, Chilczuk (Lauren Forster), 31:57; 4, SPU, Forster (unassisted), 34:41; 5, CWU, Sophia Keenan (Sydney Lowe), 45:30; 6, SPU, Jacqueline Blakeley (Ally Veenhuizen, Emmy Moore), 46:18; 7, SPU, Mia Mahaffey (Abbie Anderson), 83:28.
 
                        1   2   TOTAL
Central Washington      0   1  -  1
Seattle Pacific         4   2  -  6
 
Shots – CWU 12, SPU 23.
Shots on Goal – CWU 6, SPU 16.
Saves – CWU 10 (Liz Canton 7, Megan Fox 2, Team 1), SPU 5 (Riley Travis 4, Kaitlyn Knocke 1)
Corner Kicks – CWU 2, SPU 11.
Fouls – CWU 9, SPU 5.
Offsides – CWU 2, SPU 3.
 
Records
Central Washington 4-13-0,  3-10-0 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 14-1-1,  11-1-1 GNAC
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
(#4) Seattle Pacific at Northwest Nazarene
Saturday, November 6, 1:00 p.m.
NNU Soccer Field / Nampa, Idaho