Tuesday, December 16, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – The GNAC 2014 women’s soccer season featured two teams in the NCAA tournament, 12 All-West Region Players and two All-Americans.

Western Washington and Seattle Pacific headlined the GNAC’s awards as the two advanced to the NCAA tournament for the third straight year.

Western Washington went undefeated in conference play and won its third GNAC regular season title. Brianna Jones was named a third team NSCAA and Daktronics All-American and was the leader of one of the nation’s top defenses and the West Regions No. 1 seed.

Seattle Pacific had an All-American of its own in Isabel Farrell. The junior midfielder was named the GNAC tournament MVP after scoring the game-winning goal in the semifinals. The Falcons repeated last year’s feat and beat Western Washington on penalty kicks to advance to their 12th straight NCAA tournament.

Even though WWU was the No. 1 seed and host of the West Region and SPU was riding the momentum of beating WWU in the GNAC championship, both the Falcons and the Vikings fell to eventual West Region champion Cal State Stanislaus in the NCAA tournament. 

The following is a brief recap of the 2014 season for each team. Full-length analysis for each team can be found in the full report under the 'related links' section of this article.

WESTERN WASHINGTON vikings
Record: 16-1-4 overall, 11-0-3 conference
Pre-season Coaches Poll: 1st (6 first-place votes)
Conference Finish: 1st (36 points)
Stat Leaders: Goals – Catherine Miles (8); Assits – Emily Webster (5); Saves – Ashley Haden (63)
All-Conference Selections: First – Jessica Bertucci, Catherine Miles, Kim Cooper (Defensive Player of the Year), Brianna Jones; Second – Elise Aylward, Emily Webster, Ashley Haden; HM – Delanee Nilles, Katherine Miccile; Travis Connell co-Coach of the Year
All-West Region Selections: Brianna Jones, Kim Cooper, Jessica Bertucci, Ashley Haden, Catherine Miles
All-American: Brianna Jones

MONTANA STATE BILLINGS yellowjackets
Record: 11-4-2 overall, 9-3-2 conference
Pre-season Coaches Poll: T-5th
Conference Finish: T-2nd (29 points)
Stat Leaders: Goals – Alisa Sagdahl (7); Assists – Alisa Sagdahl (5); Saves – Krystal Daniels (40)
All-Conference Selections: First – Alisa Sagdahl, Haley McFarlane; Second – Katlyn Lokay, Kari Kastelic; HM – Chelsea Shuman, Jennifer Johnson; Wojtek Krakowiak co-Coach of the Year
All-West Region Selections: Haley McFarlane

SEATTLE PACIFIC falcons
Record: 12-5-3 overall, 9-3-2 conference
Pre-season Coaches Poll: 2nd (2 first-place votes)
Conference Finish: T-2nd (29 points)
Stat Leaders: Goals – Hannah Huesers (15); Assists – Isabel Farrell/Laura Moore (7); Saves – Alexa Hughes (43)
All-Conference Selections: First – Hannah Huesers, Isabel Farrell (Player, Newcomer of the Year), Laura Moore; Second – Shayla Page; HM – Alexa Diaz, Ashley Shaw
All-West Region Selections: Isabel Farrell, Hannah Huesers, Shayla Page, Laura Moore
All-American: Isabel Farrell

CENTRAL WASHINGTON wildcats
Record: 8-8-3 overall, 7-4-3 conference
Pre-season Coaches Poll: 3rd
Conference Finish: 4th (24 points)
Stat Leaders: Goals – Mackenzie Nolte (8); Assists – Hadli Farrand (4); Saves – Kayla Lipston (97)
All-Conference Selections: First – Hadli Farrand; Second – Mackenzie Nolte (Freshman of the Year); HM – Megan Ward, Abby Litka, Allie Bohnett, Kayla Lipston
All-West Region Selections: Hadli Farrand, Mackenzie Nolte

WESTERN OREGON wolves
Record: 6-8-4 overall, 4-6-4 conference
Pre-season Coaches Poll: 4th
Conference Finish: 5th (16 points)
Stat Leaders: Goals – Makana Pundyke (4); Assists – Taylor Higa (4); Saves – Amanda Rose Johnson (81)
All-Conference Selections: First – JoEllen DeLeon, Amanda Rose Johnson; Second – Mariah Konyn; HM – Makana Pundyke, Peyton Moon

NORTHWEST NAZARENE crusaders
Record: 4-11-3 overall, 3-10-1 conference
Pre-season Coaches Poll: 7th
Conference Finish: T-6th (10 points)
Stat Leaders: Goals – Nicole Nsa (5); Assist – Lexi Fesenbek (12); Saves – Daniele Ortiz (117)
All-Conference Selections: First – none; Second – Lexi Fesenbek, Ashley Cook-Cox; HM – Sarah Jenkins

SAINT MARTIN’S saints
Record: 3-13-2 overall, 3-10-1 conference
Pre-season Coaches Poll: T-5th
Conference Finish: T-6th (10 points)
Stat Leaders: Goals – Sasha Dini (5); Assists – Hanna Massee (3); Saves – Sunny De Boer (95)
All-Conference Selections: First – none; Second – Taylor Gersch; HM – Sasha Dini, Abby McFaul

SIMON FRASER clan
Record: 2-16-0 overall, 2-12-0 conference
Pre-season Coaches Poll: 8th
Conference Finish: 8th (6 points)
Stat Leaders: Goals – Olivia Aguiar (3); Assists – Devon Kollmyer (3); Saves – Priya Sandhu (76)
All-Conference Selections: First – none; Second – none; HM – Olivia Aguiar, Teagan Rae Sorokan