Thursday, November 6, 2014

TUKWILA, Wash. - A goal in the 34th minute by GNAC Player of the Year Isabel Farrell was the difference Thursday as third-seed Seattle Pacific defeated No. 2 seed Montana State Billings 1-0 in the opening game of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championships.

The Falcons advance to Saturday's 1 p.m. championship game against top-seed Western Washington which eliminated No. 4 seed Central Washington 2-1 in the second game.  The game will be a rematch of last year's title game won by SPU in a shootout.

“I’m excited,” head coach Chuck Sekyra said. “It was a good game. I thought we played well from beginning to end. It’s a tough team to break through and I’m excited for Saturday.”

Senior Alexa Diaz weaved her way through the defenders at the top of the box before she was fouled. This set up a free kick for Farrell which she placed in the upper left hand corner of the net just out of the reach of keeper Krystal Daniels.

Farrell nearly had another goal in the 40th minute on a close shot 10 yards out, but she was denied by MSUB goalkeeper Daniels who had eight saves on the night.

SPU was on the offensive the majority of the game, especially in the first half where the Falcons accumulated 11 shots. 

Seattle Pacific outshot MSU Billings 14-9 including a 9-2 advantage in shots on goal in its victory.  Molly Stinson had two saves in recording the victory for the Falcons.  MSUB keeper Krystal Daniels stopped eight shots.

SPU will take a 12-4-2 record into Saturday's game, while MSUB completed its season with a 11-4-2 record.  Both teams had identical 9-3-2 conference records.

The winner of Saturday's game earns an automatic berth in next week's NCAA West Regionals which begin Thursday.  The qualifying teams and sites will be announced by the NCAA with a web cast (ncaa.com) Monday at 4 p.m. Pacific time.