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NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Tournament -- West Sub-Regional
1st & 2nd Rounds at Harrington Field; Bellingham, Wash. (hosted by WWU)
• Webcast & LiveStats for first two rounds:  http://portal.stretchinternet.com/wwu/
 
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13 –
Game 1: (5) Seattle Pacific vs. (4) Cal State Stanislaus, 7:00 pm PST
 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 15 –
Game 2: Region Semifinal – Game 1 winner vs. (1) Western Washington, 1:00 pm PST
 
They're going back to Bellingham. The Seattle Pacific women's soccer team will participate in the postseason for the 12th consecutive year and the playoff journey begins the same place as last year. SPU is the West Region's No. 5 seed in the 48-team NCAA Division II Tournament field. The Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament champion Falcons (12-4-3) have a first-round clash against No. 4 seed Cal State Stanislaus (13-4-1) on Thursday, Nov. 13. Kick-of is 7 p.m. at Harrington Field hosted by No. 1 seed Western Washington (16-0-4), which plays the winner on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m.
 
The Rest of the West
On the other half of the West bracket, Cal State L.A. (16-1-3) drew the No. 2 seed in the West Region and will host a second-round game on Saturday against Thursday's first-round winner between No. 3 Cal Poly Pomona (13-5-1) and No. 6 Point Loma (12-3-1). The two victorious second-round teams from the West will meet in a regional championship clash on Nov. 20 at the site of the highest remaining seed from the South Central Region. The West Region champion advances to the Nov. 22 national quarterfinals at the same venue.
 


Quoting Coach Sekyra
"Stanislaus was ranked third early in the season and they are a very good team. We're really excited to play someone who doesn't know us as well and who we haven't played before. Obviously it's a little bit different story on Saturday if we win and play Western. We're very familiar with each other. They have earned the right to host and I hope we get a chance to play them. But this time of year is about us, defending and attacking and being in a good rhythm. It's bringing everything we have and enjoying playing together again. This is a second season for us and we're going to make the most of it."
 
Tournament Format
The NCAA Division II Tournament is a single-elimination playoff starting with a 48-team field divided into eight, six-team regions. The 2014 NCAA semifinals and championship game are scheduled for Dec. 4 and 6 at Frazier Stadium in Louisville, Ky. Defending NCAA Division II champion Grand Valley State is the No. 2 seed in the Midwest Region this year. Western Washington is the defending West Region champion.
 
SPU Tournament History
This marks the 12th straight appearance for SPU, which has a 16-9-3 record in all-time postseason games. The Falcons won the 2008 NCAA championship with a 1-0 double-overtime triumph over top-ranked and undefeated West Florida. Last season they defeated Sonoma State 1-0 in the first round before losing 2-0 at Western Washington in the regional semifinal. The Falcons reached the Final Four on three occasions (2005, 2007, 2008), participating in the 2005 and 2008 national title games.
 
Scouting Seattle Pacific (12-4-3)
The Falcons are undefeated over their last five games with four wins and a tie during that stretch. The draw was a 1-1 double-overtime result against Western Washington in Saturday's GNAC Tournament championship game. SPU claimed the title by virtue of a 5-4 victory in the penalty kick tiebreaker. Sophomore forward Hannah Huesers leads the league with 14 goals, including five game-winning strikes for the Falcons, who have outscored foes by a 37-14 margin. The offense also features junior midfielder Isabel Farrell, the 2014 GNAC Player of the Year. She compiled eight goals and seven assists. The SPU defense blanked six foes and allows just 0.71 goals per game.
 
Throw-Ins
SPU boasts a 16-9-3 record in all-time NCAA Tournament games, including an 8-1-2 record in its playoff openers. The Falcons lone first-round loss came in their inaugural postseason appearance, a 2-1 setback against Cal State Dominguez Hills in 2003 … Chuck Sekyra directed the Falcons into the NCAA Tournament in each of his 12 seasons as head coach. He registered his 200th SPU victory on Sept. 18 with a 4-1 home win over Simon Fraser.
 
This Week's Opponents
Cal State Stanislaus (13-4-1) -- The fourth-seeded Warriors won their first eight games and spent two weeks in the No. 3 spot of the national rankings. All four of their losses came during California Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAA) play and they finished seventh in the standings. Stanislaus makes its third NCAA playoff appearance, all of them under Coach Gabriel Bolton. The Warriors were eliminated from the 2013 tournament by a 1-0 second-round loss to Cal State San Bernardino. CSUS has outscored opponents 39-13 led by the 13 goals of Jade Poon. Goalkeeper Chelsea Lewandowski compiled six shutouts and a 0.81 goals against average. SPU won the only previous meeting with a 7-1 victory over Stanislaus on Sept. 1, 2007 in Seattle.
 
Western Washington (16-0-4) -- The 12th-ranked Vikings are the No. 1 seed in the West Region. They won their third straight GNAC regular-season title with an undefeated 11-0-3 mark. Western lost the last two GNAC Tournament championship games to SPU on penalty kick tiebreakers. WWU captured the 2013 West Region title and advanced to the national semifinals. The Vikings surrendered just six goals this season as goalkeeper Ashley Haden has racked up 15 shutouts and a 0.29 goals against average. Catherine Miles paces the offense with eight goals. Twelfth-year coach Travis Connell, a four-year SPU men's soccer letterman (1991-95), owns WWU's all-time mark with 157 coaching wins. The Falcons lead the all-time series 18-8-6 despite not beating Western since Oct. 27, 2012. Since that game the Northwest rivals met seven times, all during the last two seasons, with WWU posting four wins and the teams drawing three times.  They tied 1-1 on Sept. 20 in Seattle during this season's first meeting and the Vikings were 1-0 victors on Oct. 23 in Bellingham. In the Nov. 8 GNAC championship game they tied 1-1 through two overtimes before the Falcons were declared victors by virtue of a 5-4 shootout decision.

 

Dynamic Duo
SPU is the highest scoring team in the conference with 37 goals. Of those scores, 22 came from the prolific pair of Hannah Huesers (14) and Isabel Farrell (8), who rank first and second among GNAC scoring leaders. Huesers is tied for fifth on SPU's single-season scoring list with Meredith Teague, whose 14 goals in 2008 helped her earn the National Player of the Year award for the NCAA Division II champion Falcons. The school record of 17 goals was established in 2003 by Shannon Lovejoy and equaled in 2007 by Sarah Martinez, who also ranks No. 3 with 16 scores in 2005. Huesers also trails No. 4 Jocelyn Charette, who notched 15 goals in 2009. Farrell is a transfer from Washington who was the GNAC Player and Newcomer of the Year.
 
GNAC Honors
The GNAC All-Star Team was announced Nov. 4 and SPU's Isabel Farrell was honored as both the Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Joining her on the first team were teammates Hannah Huesers and Laura Moore. Shayla Page was a second-team selection while Alexa Diaz and Ashley Shaw were honorable mention picks.
 
Coach Chuck  Sekyra
In his 12th season, Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific to a remarkable 209-33-20 record, three Final Four appearances and the 2008 national championship. Sekyra posted his 200th win on Sept. 18, 2013 with a 4-1 home victory over Simon Fraser. He directed the 2014 and 2013 units to the GNAC Tournament title. Seven of Sekyra's SPU squads won GNAC regular-season championships and all 12 of his teams participated in the NCAA Tournament. His Falcons advanced to the 2005 championship game. Sekyra was a defender on the SPU men's soccer teams that won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1985 and 1986. He served as an assistant men's coach at SPU in 1998 and 1999 under Cliff McCrath, then was an assistant women's coach at Washington for three years before being named head coach of the SPU women in 2003. Sekyra was named GNAC Coach of the Year six times (2003-05, 2007, 2009, 2011) and the Regional Coach of the Year in 2005 and 2007. He received the 2007 NSCAA National Coach of the Year award.
 
2014 Preview
Nine starters return from the 2013 GNAC Tournament champions, including first-team All-West Region forward Laura Moore who topped SPU with eight goals. Also back is Shayla Page, a two-time all-region defender who helped the team blank 11 opponents and compile a 0.72 goals against average. The top-nine goal producers return from last season's Falcons, who outscored foes 39-16. Alexa Diaz is back after distributing a team-leading eight assists in 2013. A trio of All-GNAC midfielders returns in senior Demi Waitley and juniors Emma Holm and Ashley Shaw. Senior Alexa Hughes takes over primary goalkeeping duties after not surrendering a goal in 180 minutes during 2013. Junior Isabel Farrell, a transfer from Washington, adds a dynamic midfield presence.
 
2013 Review
The SPU women registered a 15-6-1 overall record in 2013, won GNAC Tournament championship and participated in the postseason for the 11th straight season. They beat Sonoma State 1-0 in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament before falling 2-0 at Western Washington. The Falcons had a 10-4-0 conference record, finishing third in the GNAC standings. Graduated goalkeeper Natalie Harold was the GNAC Tournament MVP and defender Josie Graybeal is the only other departed starter. SPU outscored foes 39-16 led by the eight goals of Laura Moore and six from Hannah Huesers. The defense had 11 shutouts.