Saturday, October 29, 2016

PORTLAND – Following an overtime victory for Seattle Pacific in the final regular-season match in the GNAC, the four teams and their seeding have been determined for the 2016 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships hosted at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C., on Nov. 3-5.

The GNAC regular season champion for a fifth time, Western Washington, will be the No. 1 seed after being the first team since Seattle Pacific in 2007 to have a perfect record in conference play during the regular season.

Central Washington went 9-2-1 in GNAC play and will be the No. 2 seed. The Wildcats will play No. 3 seed Seattle Pacific in the first semifinal. The Falcons defeated Concordia 1-0 in the final match of the regular season in the GNAC to clinch their spot as the No. 3 seed.

Host Simon Fraser clinched a spot in the GNAC Championships for the first time in program history with a 3-1 victory over Northwest Nazarene in the season finale. Simon Fraser, seeded No. 4, will officially be the visiting team when it hosts top-seeded Western Washington.

The first semifinal between Central Washington and Seattle Pacific will be played on Thursday at 4 p.m. (Pacific) at Terry Fox Field, while the second semifinal will be played at 7 p.m., between Western Washington and Simon Fraser.

Each of the past three GNAC Championships finals have been played between Western Washington and Seattle Pacific with the Falcons taking the first two in penalty kicks before the Vikings won last year, 3-1.

When Central Washington opens the tournament against Seattle Pacific, it will be the third time the two teams have met this season. Central Washington won the first meeting 1-0 on an 83rd-minute goal by Mackenzie Nolte. In Ellensburg, another Nolte goal was matched by a goal from Seattle Pacific’s Hannah Huesers less than a minute into the second half to force the eventual tie.

The second semifinal features two teams that met only once this year, on Sept. 24 at the tournament site. Western Washington won that match 1-0 with a first-half goal. Since then, Simon Fraser has gone 3-1 on its home field with three shutout victories and an overtime loss to Montana State Billings.

Seattle Pacific’s Huesers is one of the most experienced players in the tournament. The reigning GNAC Player of the Year played in six GNAC Championship matches in her career and has 45 career goals, which leads all active players and is tied for second-most conference history.

On the other end of the spectrum is Simon Fraser’s Emma Pringle, who has made experience seem unimportant this year. She scored each of the Clan’s first four goals this season and tallied five game-winning goals this year. Pringle tallied nine goals, which is the second most in the conference behind Huesers.

Central Washington this year has been led by the offensive duo of Nolte and Keilin Farrand, who have combined for 12 goals and eight assists. In the first two weeks of October, the pair won consecutive GNAC Offensive Player of the Week honors.

Western Washington’s defense was the key to its run to the NCAA Division II semifinals last year. This year, the Vikings defense, under the leadership of goalkeeper Ashley Homer, has been even better with a team goals against average of 0.31. Reigning GNAC Championships MVP Caitlyn Jobanek has recorded two goals and two assists in her career in the tournament. She and Elise Aylward each have seven goals this season, while Gabriela Pelogi has tallied five goals and six assists.