Wednesday, October 23, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. – Both Western Washington and Seattle Pacific appeared in the first official NCAA West Region women’s soccer rankings, released Wednesday. The Vikings checked in at No. 3 in the poll, while SPU was listed as the No. 6 team.

The NCAA West Region poll will eventually determine the three at-large bids for the regional playoff. The champions from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Pacific West Conference, and the California Collegiate Athletic Association will each earn an automatic bid, and the remaining three spots will be filled by the top three teams in the west region poll that have not earned automatic bids.

Amongst GNAC teams, Western Washington and Central Washington have clinched berths for the conference postseason tournament. The three-match event will run Nov. 7-9 at the Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, Wash., with the champion earning an automatic bid to the regional tournament. 

NCAA West Region – 1. Cal State Stanislaus (12-0-2); 2. Sonoma State (8-2-3); 3. Western Washington (12-1-0); 4. UC San Diego (5-5-4); 5. Hawaii Hilo (8-3-1); 6. Seattle Pacific (10-4-0); 7. Cal State San Bernardino (9-4-2); 8. Cal State L.A. (7-4-3); 9. Cal Poly Pomona (5-4-5); 10. CSU Monterey Bay (6-6-2). (Note: Records represent matches against Division II opponents). 

WWU Falls in National Rankings

Despite just its first loss of the 2013 season, WWU fell 10 spots in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America national rankings, landing at No. 12 in the latest poll released Tuesday. The Vikings (12-1-0, 9-1-0 GNAC) had been ranked at No. 2 in the NSCAA poll for three weeks before dropping out of the top-10 with a 1-0 loss to Western Oregon on Saturday.

WWU was the runner up in last season’s West Region tournament, falling to UC San Diego in double overtime of the finals. SPU fell to UCSD in the 2012 West Region tournament as well.