SEATTLE – The Seattle Pacific University women's soccer team plays their final regular season home match against Western Washington on Thursday at 7 p.m. before traveling to Simon Fraser for a 5 p.m. match on Saturday.
QUOTABLE
"We will look to continue to play well this week with two amazing opportunities," head coach Arby Busey said. "We showed our resilience last week. We'll likely need more of that this week. Both our opponents have already qualified for the GNAC Tournament. It will be like the postseason starting early for us. We are excited about the challenge presented, and feel it will be great to play two tough opponents as we prepare."
IT'S A GNAC TOURNAMENT PREVIEW
The Falcons take on two teams that have already qualified for the GNAC Tournament that starts on Nov. 14. SPU enters the weekend second in the GNAC standings, with the Red Leafs sitting one spot behind them in third. The Falcons and Red Leafs could meet again five days after the regular season finale in the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament.
GNAC TOURNAMENT TICKETS
Tickets to the 2024 GNAC Women's Soccer Championships are now available for advance purchase at www.GNACtickets.com.
All tickets to the championship must be purchased through this ticket portal, whether purchased in advance or at the competition venue on game day. There will be no cash sales at the site.
This year's championships will be held Nov. 14-16 at Interbay Stadium in Seattle, Wash., and are hosted by Seattle Pacific University. The semifinal games on Thursday, Nov. 14 will be at 4 p.m. (PT) and 7 p.m. (PT) The semifinal winners will meet in the championship game on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. (PT).
HOW THEY GOT THERE
The Falcons visited Central Washington last Thursday, where a late goal from Nora Patterson punched the Falcons ticket to the GNAC tournament as they beat the Wildcats 2-1.
SPU's 2-1 victory over CWU sends the Falcons to the GNAC Tournament for the 12 time in program history. The Falcons have never missed a GNAC Tournament.
A DELAY WAS NO PROBLEM
A lengthy lightning delay hindered the early parts of the match between the Falcons and the Northwest Nazarene last Saturday. Once it was over, the Falcons stormed back from down 1-0 to beat the Nighthawks 3-1.
SPU tied the game in the 20th minute. Ashlyn Valdovinos took a corner kick that hummed into the box. Andie Buckley slashed through the middle to score for the Falcons. The goal was Buckley's second in three games and her third of 2024.
With the game tied at 1-1, the Falcons drew a penalty in the box that set up another scoring chance. Lauren Snedeker stepped forward to take and make the penalty kick. The goal gave the Falcons a lead they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game.
Taylor Krueger added to the SPU lead in the 58th minute of the match. She turned on the jets down the left sideline before turning toward the middle of the box. She fired from 12 yards and put a dart into the right side of the net. SPU gained a 3-1 advantage and went on to take the game by that score.
ABOUT WESTERN WASHINGTON
The Vikings clinched their 10th regular season GNAC title last week. They are now tied with the Falcons for the most women's soccer regular-season titles since the conference was founded in 2001. They're 10-0-2 in conference play and have gone 11-2-4 overall. WWU has won eight straight matches and has outscored opponents 22-2 during that stretch. The Vikings claimed the GNAC Team of the Week award earlier this week and Krysten McGuffey and Olivia Connell swept the GNAC Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week awards.
ABOUT SIMON FRASER
The Red Leafs have gone 7-3-2 in GNAC play and tout an 11-3-2 overall record. They've outscored opponents 35-12 in 2024. Five players have scored four or more goals. Isabella Muzzolini leads the team with six goals and is tied with Dariella Lopez for a team-high four assists. Sarah Lowen has made 14 starts in goal and has a 9-3-2 record with five shutouts.
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