Monday, November 11, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. - Four-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference Champion Simon Fraser earned the No. 4 seed to the 2013 NCAA Division II West Regional Tournament, while Seattle Pacific grabbed the No. 6 and final seed.

SFU and SPU will be joined by four other teams in the West Regional tournament, including No. 1 seed Cal State Los Angeles, No. 2 seed UC San Diego, No. 3 seed Cal State Chico, and No. 5 seed Cal Baptist.

SFU will match up with Cal Baptist in the first round at 7 p.m. Pacific time, playing at the site of the host team Cal State Los Angeles. SPU takes on CSU Chico at noon on Thursday in round one play in San Diego. Both second-round matches are set for 7 p.m. Pacific time on Saturday.

The third round and quarterfinals will be played next weekend, and the semifinals are set for Dec. 5 with the championship match scheduled for Dec. 7. The semifinals and finals will be played at Blanchard Woods Park in Evans, Ga.

SFU, amongst the top of the NCAA in every major offensive category, was last ranked No. 2 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America top-25. The Clan peaked at No. 1 for a three-week stretch, and never fell outside of the top-10 this season. Head coach Alan Koch has earned GNAC Coach of the Year honors in each of the team's three seasons in the conference, and he led last year's team to the Division II Final Four. This season, SFU posted a record of 15-2-1, including a mark of 11-2-1 in GNAC play.

SPU, coached by six-year veteran and October GNAC Coach of the Month Mark Collings, enters the postseason with a 2013 record of 12-3-3, including 10-1-3 in GNAC play. The Falcons' only conference loss came at the hands of Simon Fraser, and SPU is one of just two teams to have beaten the Clan all season.