NAMPA, Idaho – The fourth-ranked Seattle Pacific women tallied two early scores Saturday afternoon, but needed a 57th-minute goal from Sophia Chilczuk to close out the regular season with a 3-2 Great Northwest Athletic Conference win over Northwest Nazarene at NNU Soccer Field.
 
Chilczuk raced to steal a slow back pass to the goalkeeper and found the goal on a first-time flick with the outside of her right foot that slipped inside the right post. That goal proved necessary as the Nighthawks notched a second score, with 38 seconds remaining, by Madison Grande.
 
That was the 13th career game-winning goal for Chilczuk and her second this season.
 
SPU posted a 15th victory, its highest regular-season total since the 2011 team won 16 games before adding a playoff win en route to a 17-3-0 final record. The current squad hasn't lost in the last 10 games (10-0-1), since Sept. 30, for the program's longest unbeaten streak in 10 seasons.
 
The Falcons (15-1-1), who clinched the conference regular-season championship with Thursday's 6-1 home win over Central Washington, completed the campaign with a 12-1-1 league ledger. That is their most GNAC victories since the 2011 SPU squad went 13-1-0.

SOPHIA CHILCZUK GOAL

Third-place NNU (10-4-3) finished with an 8-3-2 conference record. The Nighthawks were much more competitive than in the first meeting, a 6-0 SPU triumph on Sept. 25 in Seattle. They became the first team to score more than one goal against the Falcons, who had surrendered just five scores all season entering the game.
 
Both teams advance to next week's GNAC Tournament to be conducted at Harrington Field in Bellingham, Washington. The top-seeded Falcons square off with fourth seed Simon Fraser on Thursday at 4:00 p.m.
 
FIRST HALF SUMMARY
A collision at the top-right of the NNU box between goalkeeper Alexis Montoya and Falcons forward Sophie Beadle led to a stoppage that initiated the opening goal. SPU had possession in the box, but the referee halted play in the 12th minute to tend to the injured goalkeeper.
 
Montoya left the game and was replaced by backup Ariel Kotte, who was immediately tested. Since the Falcons had the ball when play stopped, they were awarded a drop ball in that corner of the box. The referee dropped the ball, and 3.8 seconds later it was in the back of the net.
 
After the ball took one bounce off the drop, Chloe Gellhaus volleyed a high-arching cross toward the goalmouth. Beadle beat the goalkeeper to the ball and quickly tucked a four-yard shot into the right side of the Nighthawks goal at 11:35.

SOPHIE BEADLE GOAL

Exactly four minutes later, SPU struck again. Chilczuk got a shot off in a congested 6-yard box that was saved, but not gathered, by Kotte. The ball was softly cleared by an NNU defender, but only to as far as the 12-yard spot where Makena Rietz one-timed a left-footed laser into the upper-left corner at 15:35.
 
While Rietz didn't notch the team's opening goal, as she has done seven times this season, she did strike early. The senior midfielder boasts a GNAC-leading 10 goals and six of those were scored inside the opening 18 minutes of a game.
 
NNU halved its deficit at 31:40 on a breakaway goal by Ashley Parton. She beat a Falcons defender to a through ball from Alejandra Jaramillo and make a quick move to get past goalkeeper Riley Travis before slotting a 14-shot into the open goal.
 
That 2-1 margin held into halftime for SPU, which had an 8-2 shot advantage to that point.
 
SECOND HALF SUMMARY
Chilzuk's goal at 56:43 stretched the lead to 3-1. That was the sixth goal of the season for the senior forward. She ranks fifth among all-time SPU scorers with 36 career goals.
 
The Nighthawks closed within one goal at 89:22 when Grande received a lined crossing pass from Matisyn Ohlson three yards outside the box. Grande took one long touch to push the ball in front of her and away from an SPU defender before sending a 12-yard shot beneath the onrushing Travis and into the center of the goal.
 
The hosts did not get an opportunity for an equalizer as SPU ran out the final 38 seconds on the clock.
 
The visitors were on the positive side of a 17-5 shot advantage. They also led 12-3 in shots directly on goal. NNU proved efficient in that category, getting goals on two of its three shots on frame.
 
MAKENA RIETZ GOAL

GNAC TOURNAMENT
The top-seeded Falcons head to Bellingham for the GNAC Tournament. They face a semifinal matchup with fourth seed Simon Fraser on Thursday at 4:00 p.m. SPU swept the regular-season series, beating Simon Fraser 2-0 in Seattle on Oct. 7 and 3-0 in Burnaby, B.C. on Oct. 23.
 
The other semifinal matchup features host and second-seeded Western Washington versus third seed Northwest Nazarene in the 7:00 p.m. nightcap of the tournament doubleheader.
 
The GNAC championship game is slated for 1:00 p.m. on Saturday in Bellingham.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Saturday, November 6, 2021
NNU Soccer Field / Nampa, Idaho
 
(#4) Seattle Pacific 3, at Northwest Nazarene 2
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Sophie Beadle (Chloe Gellhaus), 11:35; 2, SPU, Makena Rietz (unassisted), 15:35; 3, NNU, Ashley Parton (Alejandra Jaramillo), 31:40; 4, Sophia Chilczuk (unassisted), 56:34; 5, NNU, Madison Grande (Matisyn Ohlson), 89:22.
 
                        1   2   TOTAL
Seattle Pacific         2   1  -  3
Northwest Nazarene      1   1  -  2
 
Shots – SPU 17, NNU 5.
Shots on Goal – SPU 12, NNU 3.
Saves – SPU 1 (Riley Travis), NNU 9 (Alexis Montoya 1, Ariel Kotte).
Corner Kicks – SPU 3, NNU 2.
Fouls – SPU 10, NNU 4.
Offsides – SPU 5, NNU 0.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 15-1-1,  12-1-1 GNAC
Northwest Nazarene 10-4-3,  8-3-2 GNAC
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
GNAC Tournament
Simon Fraser vs. (#4) Seattle Pacific
Thursday, November 11, 4:00 p.m.
Harrington Field / Bellingham, Wash.