DALLAS, Texas –
Sophie Beadle earned a first-half penalty kick and scored shortly after halftime Thursday to spark a 2-1 West Region championship game win over 13th-ranked Western Washington, propelling No. 4 Seattle Pacific into the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Division II women's soccer tournament at Patriot Field.
Beadle was fouled in the box by WWU goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx in the 12th minute.
Claire Neder converted the ensuing penalty kick to forge a 1-0 lead the Falcons would carry into halftime.
Neder initiated the second score and
Chloe Gellhaus was also credited with an assist on the goal that proved to be necessary. Beadle received the ball in the right side of the box and finished a shot off the left post in the 52nd minute. That was the eighth goal of the season for the sophomore forward.
The Falcons (19-1-1), who claimed their fourth West Region title, are one win away from their fourth trip to the Final Four. They remain in Dallas to play on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time (1:00 p.m. CST) against host Dallas Baptist (19-3-0). The fifth-ranked Patriots were 1-0 victors over UC Colorado Springs on Thursday in the South Central Region championship game.
"We have to give Western credit because they ask so much of us and our game has been raised by the opportunity to play them four times," said SPU coach
Arby Busey. "We feel confident moving forward, having beaten that team four times, that we can now beat anybody."
Top-seeded SPU continued a late-season hot stretch, extending its unbeaten streak to 15 games with 10 straight wins and a 14-0-1 record during that span. The Falcons reached the 19-win mark, their highest total in a season since their 2008 national championship team finished with a 22-1-2 record. That title squad also defeated WWU in a regional final at a Midwest venue (Kirksville, Mo.).
SOPHIE BEADLE GOAL
Western Washington (15-5-3) saw its season end, but not without a fight. The No. 2 seed Vikings ramped up the offensive pressure and got a 72nd-minute goal to cut their deficit in half. Jenna Killman's 14th goal broke a tie atop the Great Northwest Athletic Conference scoring leaderboard with SPU's
Makena Rietz, who has 13.
Killman nearly netted an equalizer with just under 10 minutes to play. Her 15-yard volley toward the right post was destined for the goal before diving goalkeeper
Riley Travis managed to get a hand on it, brushing it away from danger.
ANOTHER STRONG START
As they have done in past encounters with WWU, the Falcons applied potent pressure early. In each of the two previous meetings that approach delivered a goal within the opening 92 seconds. It took a bit longer Thursday.
SPU did attempt the first shot, a first-timer by Rietz just 37 seconds into the contest that went wide of the right post.
Tera Ziemer got the Vikings first shot, an 11-yard try from a crowded box in the seventh minute that was easily collected by
Riley Travis near the left post.
Five minutes later, the Falcons benefitted from the pressing of its forwards on goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx.
From the left side of the box,
Sophia Chilczuk charged at Dierickx, who had the ball at her feet. Beadle sprinted into the right side of the box and poked the ball away from the goalkeeper, who slid and fouled the Falcons forward. The referee signaled for a penalty kick.
Neder stepped to the 12-yard spot at 11:35 and delivered a strike into the left side of the goal to put SPU up 1-0. That was her fifth goal of the season and the 22nd of her career.
ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL, EXCEPT THE SCORE
The halftime shot count was even at 7-7 and each team sent four attempts directly on frame.
The teams were also level in second-half attempts, at six apiece with four on goal for the Falcons and three from WWU.
Goalkeepers Travis and Dierickx each registered six saves.
Beadle's goal at 51:48 proved to be her fourth game-winning strike. Neder picked the ball off a defender's foot on the left flank and fed Gellhaus in the center, just outside the box. Gellhaus spun and slotted a pass to the right side of the box for Beadle, who delivered an 11-yard shot from a sharp angle that evaded a sliding defender and Dierickx. The ball nicked off the inside of the left post before nestling in the Vikings goal.
"Sophie was involved in both goals today," Busey said. "She's such a hard-working kid and has a ton of belief that hard work is going to pay off. So often, she does make those plays. All of a sudden, she gets home on things that don't look possible. That combination of belief and hard work pays huge dividends."
Rather than surrender, the Vikings chose to battle even harder. They were finally rewarded with a goal.
Makenzie Burks served a long free kick from the right sideline near midfield that bounded past the SPU defense and into the box. Killman won the race to the ball and directed a shot into the left side of the goal at 71:19.
After Travis prevented Killman's 81st-minute attempt from breaching her goal, the Vikings generated two more late opportunities. They were denied both times. Tera Ziemer shot wide right in the 81st minute and an 84th-minute attempt by Grace Eversaul was saved by Travis.
"It was a little touch-and-go for a few moments after they scored. We expected that kind of situation to occur when playing the caliber of team as Western Washington," Busey described. "They made it really hard and really challenging for those last 15 or 20 minutes, they put a lot of pressure on us. We got a great save or two from the goalkeeper. That's what it takes to advance at this level in this tournament, especially against that kind of opponent."
RILEY TRAVIS SAVE
FOURTH TIME'S A CHARM
Thursday marked the fourth meeting this year between SPU and Bellingham-based Western Washington, which are located 78 miles apart. The GNAC rivals traveled nearly 1,700 miles, to Dallas, Texas, to play for the West Region championship.
The Falcons won all four meetings, but Thursday conceded its first goal to their rivals. They had tallied 10 unanswered goals this season before Western got on the board late in the game.
Killman's goal halted Western's 408-minute, 37-second scoring drought versus the Falcons, dating to last season.
SURVIVE AND ADVANCE
The quarterfinal winner between SPU and Dallas Baptist earns a berth to the Final Four at Wiedner Field in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The semifinals are set for Dec. 9 and the championship game is Dec. 11.
Busey's team has less than 48 hours before kick-off to prepare for Saturday's immense matchup. But he hopes his Falcons will take a moment to appreciate what they've already achieved before focusing on the next step. They beat a WWU team that made its sixth straight regional final appearance, won the 2016 NCAA championship and was the national runner-up in 2019.
"It's good for all of us to kind of pause and look back and see what we've accomplished. Because that is Goliath that we just beat today. Western has won the regional final, or been in and around it for a long time.
"Their ability to lean on that experience caused us some issues for sure late in that game. You started to see their pedigree come out. It really challenged us and it feels that much better knowing who we beat and how hard it was to beat them."
SPU POST-GAME PRESS CONFERENCE
COLLEGE WOMEN'S SOCCER
NCAA Division II Tournament
West Region Championship Game
Thursday, December 2, 2021
Patriot Field / Dallas, Texas
(#4) Seattle Pacific 2, (#13) Western Washington 1
Scoring – 1, SPU,
Claire Neder (pk), 11:35; 2, SPU,
Sophie Beadle (
Chloe Gellhaus, Neder), 51:48; 3, WWU, Jenna Killman (Makenzie Burks), 71:19.
1 2 TOTAL
Western Washington 0 1 - 1
Seattle Pacific 1 1 - 2
Shots – WWU 13, SPU 13
Shots on Goal – WWU 7, SPU 8.
Saves – WWU 6 (Natalie Dierickx), SPU 6 (
Riley Travis).
Corner Kicks – WWU 4, SPU 3.
Fouls – WWU 4, SPU 4.
Offsides – WWU 2, SPU 1.
Records
Western Washington 15-5-3
Seattle Pacific 19-1-1
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
NCAA Division II Tournament -- Quarterfinal
(#4) Seattle Pacific vs. (#5) Dallas Baptist
Saturday, December 4, 11:00 a.m. PST (1:00 p.m. CST)
Patriot Field / Dallas, Texas
