Wednesday, October 29, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – With three matches remaining on the season, GNAC teams are looking to create a lasting impression for the selection committee for the NCAA tournament.

If the season ended today, three GNAC teams would be making appearances in the 2014 NCAA tournament.

Seattle Pacific is all but guaranteed a spot in the postseason with its 14-0-1 record and No. 2 ranking in the NSCAA Division II Top 25 Poll.

The Falcons have won 13 straight games while only giving up seven goals all year. Last week, SPU scored more goals than it has in a two-game span all season propelled by Stephen MacDonald’s hat-trick in a 6-0 victory over South Dakota Mines.

Seattle Pacific is ranked second in this week’s NCAA West Region Poll while the conference’s second team, Northwest Nazarene, is slotted fifth.

NNU bounced back from a 1-0 defeat against Simon Fraser with a 2-0 shutout of Western Washington at home.

Juan Perez and Alfredo Ontiveros have received back-to-back GNAC defensive Player of the Week honors after recording four shutouts in its last seven games.

Northwest Nazarene and Seattle Pacific will play one more time this season on Thursday in Nampa. A Falcon win or tie will crown SPU GNAC regular-season champions. An NNU win will boost its already impressive resume for an NCAA tournament berth and keep its chances alive for the GNAC title.

Simon Fraser might be playing its best soccer of the year right now, having won three matches in a row and five of its last six.

The Clan, moving up to sixth in the NCAA West Region poll, handed NNU its first home loss of the season last week. Jovan Blagojevic scored the games only goal as he moved into eighth place in the nation for goals per game.

SFU also has the privilege of playing its last three matches at home against Mary, South Dakota Mines and Western Washington.

Other Notes:

• The 29 goals scored in last week’s matches were the second highest conference total this season. 30 goals were scored Sept. 25 & 27.
   
• Mary has found its stride at the end of the season. The Marauders have only dropped one of its last four matches, to conference leader SPU, while scoring  seven goals in that span.
   
• Saint Martin’s halted a seven-game losing streak and won its first home match with a 5-2 win over SDSMT Saturday.
   
• MacDonald won his second consecutive GNAC offensive Player of the Week award while Northwest Nazarene claimed its second defensive Player of the Week award with Juan Perez.