Saturday, November 3, 2012

TUKWILA, Wash. - Top-seeded Western Washington (16-3-0) will play third-seeded Montana State Billings (13-5-1) today at the Starfire Sports Complex with the winner earning an automatic berth in the NCAA West Regionals beginning next Thursday.

Kickoff is at 2 p.m.  Tickets are $9 for adults and $5 for students.  Parking at the Starfire Sports Complex will be $5.

The game will be available on GNAC TV which is powered by Stretch Internet. Handling play-by-play will be Sebastian Moraga.

The WWU-MSUB winner will join the PacWest champion, the California Collegiate Athletioc Association champion and three at-large teams in the six-team regional.  The at-large qualifying teams and the two host sites for the regional will be announced Monday with a web cast at www.ncaa.com. 

Western Washington 2, Western Oregon 0

Top-seed Western Washington advanced to the championship game of the first Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer tournament with a 2-0 victory over Western Oregon Thursday at the Starfire Sports Complex.  MSUB qualified for the title game with a 1-0 shutout of Seattle Pacific.

“We were a little tight maybe because of the moment at the beginning of the game, but that worked itself out quickly,” said WWU coach Travis Connell (10th year, 117-58-19).

WWU opened the scoring in the 13th minute as forward Kristin Maris (Jr., Issaquah) scored from the top of the penalty area for her team-leading eighth goal of the season.

“Maris was a real force tonight. She was very energetic, covered a lot of ground, got to a lot of balls and scored a good goal. She helped us get through that first part of the game," Connell said.

WOU, which finished 8-10-1, lost to the Vikings for the third time in as many meetings this season, all by 2-0 scores.

Midfielder Delanee Nilles (Fr., Poulsbo/North Kitsap) added an insurance marker for WWU in the 70th minute, scoring her fifth goal of the season off an assist from Catherine Miles (Fr., Anacortes).  It was the team-leading seventh assist of the year for Miles.

Viking goalkeeper Jamie Arthurs (Sr., Richland), the GNAC Player of the Year, had four saves, preserving the shutout with a pair of stops off Nikki Caudill in the 85th minute.

The shutout was a school and GNAC-record 15th of the season and 38th of her career for Arthurs, who entered the game leading the NCAA II nationally in goals against average at 0.28.

“Delanee (Nilles) scored a great goal in the second half and Jamie (Arthurs) was her usual steady self in the back. She had to make one really nice save and she was excellent on crosses all day. It was an efficient performance for us.”

WWU got the tourney’s No.1 seed by winning the regular-season GNAC title with a 12-2 record.

MSU Billings 1, Seattle Pacific 0

Sophomore Jessie Mancilla netted her first collegiate goal in the 66th minute lifting Montana State Billings to a 1-0 victory over No. 2 seed Seattle Pacific in Thursday's second game.

Jaucelyn Richter initiated the scoring play with a hard shot from the left side of the box that caromed off the right post. Mancilla raced to the ball and quickly deposited a seven-yard shot into the right side of the goal at 65:36.

Mancilla's goal came on one of only three second-half shots for Billings, which was outshot 11-3 after halftime.

Ali Martin had two quality opportunities to score early in the second half. She received a cross from the left side and headed it just wide of the left post in the 49th minute.

Martin had another header to the left side in the 59th minute. This one was denied by a diving deflection from MSUB goalkeeper Aiko Johnson.

Natalie Harold stopped three shots for the 22nd-ranked Falcons (14-3-2), who had their nine-game winning streak snapped. They lost for the first time in the last 14 games.

 Johnson made five saves for the Yellowjackets, who were outshot by a 16-12 margin for the game.