Wednesday, October 22, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. – Seattle Pacific, Northwest Nazarene and Simon Fraser are included in the first NCAA West Region rankings of the year.

SPU makes the list as the No. 2 team. The Falcons earned the No. 3 ranking in the nation in the NSCAA Top 25 on Tuesday.

Northwest Nazarene comes in at fifth with a 10-2-1 overall record.

Simon Fraser, which has won three of its last four matches, is tied for eighth.

The NCAA West Region rankings decide who will earn berths to the NCAA tournament. There are no automatic qualifiers in the West Region, so the top six teams in the Final NCAA West Regional rankings will be invited to compete.

Simon Fraser earned the fourth seed in the tournament last year while Seattle Pacific grabbed the sixth and final seed.

SPU is back in the rankings this year with a 12-0-1 record, sitting in first place in the GNAC.

Northwest Nazarene historic season continues. Being ranked for the first time ever earlier this season, the Crusaders take their 7-1-1 conference record into the final five games of the season.

Simon Fraser holds a 6-4-2 overall record, winning four of the six matches after the fourth week of conference play.

Montana State Billings and Western Washington still have time to make a push into the rankings with five matches remaining.

MSUB went 1-1 last week in the Dakotas while Western Washington also went 1-1, beating Saint Martin’s before losing to SPU.

The Clan and the Yellowjackets meet on Saturday with regional hopes on the line, but SFU must travel to second-place NNU first in one of its toughest road trips of the season.

Other Notes:

• Seattle Pacific broke the school record with an 11-game win streak on Saturday. The previous record was held by the 1991 Falcons team.

• Mary snapped a six-game losing streak last week with a win against Montana State Billings and a tie versus NNU.

• The NCAA championships start November 13.
   
• Stephen MacDonald was chosen as the offensive GNAC Player of the Week and Alfredo E. Ontiveros was selected as the defensive Player of the Week.