SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University women's soccer team enters postseason play as the top seed in this weekend's Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament. It all starts on Thursday when the Falcons face Simon Fraser at 7 p.m. in Ellensburg, Wash.
QUOTABLE
"We'll need to be at our best on Thursday. Simon Fraser has been a tricky opponent for us in both matches. They are very organized defensively and have some dangerous attacking players to deal with. We have been extremely consistent throughout the season and found solutions in almost every game we've played. Solutions are harder to come by this time of year, especially in conference, against familiar opponents, so we will need to be at our best." – head coach Arby Busey
GNAC ALL-CONFERNCE TEAM
The GNAC announced its women's soccer postseason awards on Tuesday afternoon, where the Falcons were represented well, with 12 total awards highlighted by three specialty awards.
Head Coach Arby Busey was named GNAC Coach of the Year, Sophie Beadle was the GNAC Player of the Year, and Taylor Krueger earned GNAC Newcomer of the Year.
Beadle is accompanied by Jacqueline Blakeley, Lauren Snedeker, and Marissa Bankey as First Team All-GNAC members. Mercedes Cullen has been superb in goal for the Falcons and has earned Second Team All-GNAC honors. Krueger is joned by Lauren Forster, Chloe Gellhaus, and Kathryn Nyone as GNAC Honorable Mentions.
A REGULAR SEASON TO REMEMBER
The Falcons to a 12-2-5 overall record, including a spotless 9-0-5 in conference play. SPU captured its 10th GNAC women's soccer title with consistent quality throughout 2023. They closed out the regular season leading the conference with 95 points, 36 goals, 1.89 goals per game, and 23 assists.
Signature wins came on Sept. 16 when they beat then second-ranked Colorado School of Mines 2-1 on the road. Most recently, the team secured the conference title with a 2-0 shutout of Western Washington last Thursday.
The Falcons amassed six GNAC weekly awards, including Team of the Week honors on Sept. 23. SPU swept the weekly awards twice. 15 Falcons earned GNAC All-Academic Honors, led by Maya Parman's 4.0 GPA.
BEST IN WEST
The NCAA announced its latest version of their regional rankings on Tuesday. SPU topped the list with its 12-2-5 overall record. Point Loma followed in second with a 10-3-1 record. CSU Los Angeles was in third with a 9-1-8 record.
UNITED SOCCER COACHES NATIONAL TOP 25 POLL
The United Soccer Coaches announced its national top 25 poll on Tuesday. The Falcons moved up four spots and are now ranked 16th in the nation. The Vikings have joined SPU as the only GNAC school mentioned in the poll. WWU is receiving votes in the USC National Top 25 poll.
ABOUT THE RED LEAFS
Simon Fraser beat our Northwest Nazarene by two points for the final spot in this weekend's GNAC Tournament. The Red Leafs meet the Falcons in the semifinal round after the two teams played each other five days ago. The Falcons took down the Red Leafs 2-1 on Oct. 12 and settled for a 1-1 draw most recently.
The Red Leafs tied with NNU for the second-fewest goals allowed in the GNAC at .88 per match. They've averaged 4.38 saves per match with seven shutouts in 16 matches. Sarah Loewen was in goal for all seven shutouts and leads the conference in saves per match (4.38).
SFU has scored 1.06 goals per game, the sixth most in the GNAC. Their offense has been connected, as they've averaged an assist per game. Kat Cartier leads the group with 12 points on the year and is tied for third in the conference with five goals in 2023.
ABOUT THE WOLVES
Western Oregon secured a spot in the GNAC Tournament as the third seed with 20 points. SPU played WOU twice in October. The Falcons and Wolves played to a 2-2 tie on Oct. 7. The Wolves were ranked 24th in the country at the time. Then on Oct. 19, the two teams played to a 1-1 draw in Monmouth, Ore.
The Wolves are tied with the Vikings with the second-most goals in the conference with 22. WOU has dished out 22 assists, second most in the conference. Chloe Smith is the standout player for the Wolves. She's scored five goals in 2023 and leads the GNAC in points per game with .92.
ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Western Washington challenged the Falcons for the regular season title into the final weekend of the year. SPU took last Thursday's match 2-0 after a 1-1 draw with the Vikings on Sept. 23 in Seattle.
The Vikings defend well and have allowed the fewest goals in the conference with .68 per game. They've posted 11 shutouts in 2023. Nine of those shutouts were credited to First Team All-GNAC goalkeeper Clair Henninger.
WWU scored 1.16 goals per game and averaged 3.26 points per game. Both are the third-best in the conference. Morgan Manalili leads the offense charge. She's scored six goals and averages .79 points per game. Both rank second in the GNAC behind Blakeley of SPU.
