Saturday, November 1, 2014

PORTLAND, Ore. - The field is set for the third annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championship tournament.

The tournament begins Thursday in Tukwila, Wash., at the Starfire Sports Complex.

Thursday's first game at 4 p.m. will match second-seed Montana State Billings versus defending champion and No. 3 seed Seattle Pacific.

Thursday's second game at 7 p.m. will send three-time regular-season champion and defending NCAA Division II West Regional chaampion Western Washington up against No. 4 seed Central Washington.

Thursday's two winners will play Saturday at 1 p.m. with the winner earning the GNAC's automatic berth in the NCAA West Regionals, which begin Thursday, Nov. 13.

Montana State Billings secured the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament Saturday with a 3-2 double overtime win at Northwest Nazarene.  Seattle Pacific, meanwhile, won the No. 3 seed with a 1-0 shutout victory at Central Washington.

MSUB and SPU actually ended up tied for second in the final GNAC regular-season standings, but the Yellowjackets earned the No. 2 seed based on their regular-season win and tie against the Falcons.

Last year, SPU was also the No. 3 seed going into the tournament.  The Falcons beat Central Washington 2-1 in the semifinals and then battled to a 1-1 draw with Western Washington in the championship game before winning the shootout 4-1 to secure the conference's automatic berth.

GNAC Women's Soccer Championships (Nov. 6-8 at Starfire Sports Complex, Tukwila, WA):  Thursday - #3 Seattle Pacific (11-4-2, 9-3-2) vs. #2 MSU Billings (11-3-2, 9-3-2); #1 Western Washington (14-0-3, 10-0-3) vs. #4 Central Washington (8-7-3, 7-4-3). Saturday - Championship game, 1 p.m.