Tuesday, November 1, 2016

PORTLAND -- In the 100th minute of Seattle Pacific season finale at Concordia, senior forward Hannah Huesers scored her GNAC-record tying 10th career game-winning goal to send SPU back to the GNAC Championships for the fifth time in as many years.

Six hours earlier, Simon Fraser booked its spot in the tournament for the first time in conference history with a 3-1 win against Northwest Nazarene.Experience has not been an issue for the Clan so far this year with two freshmen combining for 11 goals and six assists this year.

The Clan will play the tournament’s most experienced team. Western Washington is unbeaten in the tournament with a 6-0-2 record, falling in penalty kicks to Seattle Pacific in 2013 and 2014. Last year, though, the Vikings returned the favor against SPU, winning 3-1 in the championship match.

Western Washington became the first team since Seattle Pacific in 2007 to finish the regular season with a perfect conference record. The Vikings enter the tournament with a 17-match winning streak and a 42-match unbeaten streak against conference opponents.

Central Washington secured its spot in the tournament early and had the best start to a season in program history with five consecutive wins. The Wildcats secured the No. 2 seed with a 1-0 road victory against Saint Martin’s.

Central Washington and Seattle Pacific tied 1-1 in their only meeting. Western Washington and Simon Fraser also met only once as the Vikings defeated the Clan 1-0. On Monday, the six teams that advance to the NCAA West Regional will be announced in the selection show at 3 p.m. (Pacific).

GNAC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

OFFENSE
Hannah Huesers, Seattle Pacific
F • 5-10 • Senior • Lake Stevens, Wash.
Huesers had a goal and an assist in two wins to lead the Falcons to a berth in the GNAC Championships. She had an assist in Thursday’s 2-0 win at Western Oregon and had the golden goal in the 100th minute that secured SPU’s berth in the conference tournament.

Also Nominated: Emily Webster (Western Washington), Hayley Warren (Montana State Billings), Sydney Kuehn (Northwest Nazarene), Bobbi Eckler (Concordia).

DEFENSE
Molly Stinson,Seattle Pacific
GK • 6-0 • Junior • Woodinville, Wash.
Stinson finished with 20 saves in two shutout victories last week. She had seven saves in a 2-0 win over Western Oregon on Thursday and had a school record 13 saves in Saturday’s 1-0 overtime win over Seattle Pacific, helping the Falcons clinch a GNAC Championships berth.

Also Nominated: Kari Kastelic (Montana State Billings), Daniele Ortiz (Northwest Nazarene), Olivia Brock (Concordia).

GNAC MILESTONE TRACKER

Hannah Huesers (SPU) - The Falcon scored the game-winning goal in overtime against Concordia to send Seattle Pacific to the GNAC Championships. It was Huesers’ 10th career game-winning goal in a conference match, tying the record set by two other Falcons. The senior now has 45 career goals, which is tied for second most in the GNAC record books and four shy of the all-time record. She also has 99 career points, needing one more to become the eighth GNAC player ever to reach 100. Huesers also became the 15th player in GNAC history to take 200 career shots. In conference matches only, she has scored 32 goals and recorded 71 points. Huesers surpassed Western Washington graduate Catherine Miles (2012-15) in both categories to rank third in goals scored and fourth in points for conference matches only.

Ashley Homer (WWU) - In just her first year in the GNAC, Homer is already looking to put her name in the record books as she looks to break a record that has stood for more than a decade. In 2003, Seattle Pacific’s Jennifer Hull allowed just six goals in 1,781 minutes. This year, Homer has allowed just four goals in 1,483 minutes between the posts. Homer’s has the No. 2 goals against average in the nation at 0.24. Homer has received a lot of help from her defense. She has only had to make 1.35 saves per match, which is less than half of any starting goalkeeper in the conference.

Olivia Brock (CU) - Brock finished her career as the GNAC’s all-time leader in save percentage with a .896 save percentage in her two years in the GNAC. She also finished her career with a .527 goals against average, which ranks fifth in conference history.

Western Washington - The Vikings finished the regular season with a 12-0 record in conference play, which is the first perfect record in the GNAC since Seattle Pacific went 14-0 in 2007. The Vikings are unbeaten in their last 42 conference matches and have scored a goal in 31 consecutive matches against conference opponents. The records for those categories are 47 and 36 respectively, which were both set by Seattle Pacific in 2006. Including playoff matches, the Vikings now have a 34-match unbeaten streak against West Region opponents. The Vikings will be looking to return to the GNAC Championship match for a fifth time in the tournament’s five years of existence.

SEMIFINAL # 1: No. 2 CENTRAL WASHINGTON vs. No. 3 SEATTLE PACIFIC

SERIES HISTORY (SPU Leads 23-6-4)
• The Falcons and Wildcats tied in their most recent meeting 1-1 after Central Washington defeated the Falcons 1-0 on the road. They also tied 1-1 in their only meeting last year.
• Mackenzie Nolte scored the lone goal in CWU’s 1-0 win off a low shot to the left corner from 10 yards out in the 83rd minute, breaking the scoreless tie.
• Keilin Farrand  assisted Nolte for the first goal of the second meeting in the sixth minute. Just 41 seconds into the second half, Hannah Huesers scored the equalizer from 20 yards out. Both goalkeepers made six saves in 110 minutes. Central Washington had a 20-14 shots advantage overall and a 4-2 shots advantage in overtime.
• In 2014, the two teams met twice with each team winning 1-0. In 2013, they met three times as Central Washington swept the season series before Seattle Pacific won 2-1 in the GNAC Championships.
• In the 10 meetings since 2012, Central Washington has four wins, Seattle Pacific has three wins and three matches have ended in draws. The overall combined score of those 10 matches is 8-7 for Central Washington.

SEATTLE PACIFIC
• Seattle Pacific swept its trip to Oregon to clinch its spot in the GNAC Championships for a fifth time in as many years.
• Hannah Huesers scored her conference-best 10th goal of the season in the 100th minute against Concordia. Seattle Pacific needed a win or draw to clinch a spot in the GNAC Championships.
• Seattle Pacific won 10 matches this year, marking the 15th consecutive year that the program has won at least 10 matches. In the previous 14 years, the Falcons have won at least 12 matches.
• In the five-year history of the tournament, Seattle Pacific has reached the tournament all five years. The Falcons won the tournament on penalty kicks in both 2013 and 2014. In 2015, Western Washington defeated SPU in the championship match 3-1.

CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington clinched a spot in the tournament on Oct. 20 shortly after the team’s 2-0 win against Northwest Nazarene. The Wildcats defeated Saint Martin’s 1-0 in the regular season finale to secure the No. 2 seed.
• The Wildcats won all of their first five matches this season, which was a program record for best winning streak to start a season. The streak ended against No. 5 UCSD with a 3-2 overtime loss.
• Central Washington defeated Sonoma State 1-0 in the second match of the season. The Seawolves are ranked No. 3 in the West Region.
• The Wildcats had an eight-match unbeaten streak during the conference season, which included sweeps against Western Oregon and Montana State Billings.
• Central Washington is back in the tournament for a third time in four years. In both previous trips to the GNAC Championships, the Wildcats lost 2-1 in the semifinals. Last year, the Wildcats were eliminated from contention on the final day of the regular season.

SEMIFINAL # 2: No. 1 WESTERN WASHINGTON vs. No. 4 SIMON FRASER

SERIES HISTORY (WWU Leads 11-0-2)
• Western Washington won the only meeting this year with Simon Fraser 1-0 at Terry Fox Field, which is where the GNAC Championships are being held.
• Elise Aylward scored the only goal in the 26th minute, chesting a pass from Gabriela Pelogi into the goal. It was one of her four game-winning goals this year. Simon Fraser had three opportunities to tie the match in the second half, but Ashley Homer saved all three.
• Simon Fraser joined the conference in 2010 and tied Western Washington in both matches 0-0. Since then, Western Washington has won 11 consecutive matches against the Clan and still has not given up a single goal, outscoring SFU 36-0. The 1-0 win in September was the fourth time in the series history that the Vikings won by that score.

SIMON FRASER
• Simon Fraser clinched a spot in the GNAC Championships in the final day of the regular season with a 3-1 win against Northwest Nazarene.
• The Clan won six of its last nine matches to end the regular season despite falling in overtime twice to Montana State Billings.
• Pringle scored the game-winning goal against Concordia in the 85th minute on Oct. 20. She came through again for the Clan with a goal against Western Oregon for a 1-0 victory two days later, which proved to be enough to secure a spot in the GNAC Championships.
• Monpreet Heer scored two goals and assisted on two others against Western Oregon. Her six points stands as the GNAC single-game high for 2016.
• This is the first time in program history that the Clan has reached the GNAC Championships.

WESTERN WASHINGTON
• Western Washington is the 2016 GNAC regular season champion for an unprecedented fifth consecutive year. It is the sixth overall in program history. Seattle Pacific has the most all-time GNAC titles with eight.
• The Vikings won their only meeting with Simon Fraser 1-0, which was also played on Terry Fox Field.
• Western Washington is unbeaten in eight matches at the GNAC Championships.
• In the 4-1 win against Central Washington on Oct. 22, the Vikings claimed their 23rd consecutive home victory, breaking the all-time GNAC record set by Seattle Pacific in 2004.
• Western Washington earned the No. 1 ranking in the NSCAA poll for the first time in program history on Oct. 11 and has remained at No. 1 ever since.
• Western Washington has won or tied its last 34 matches against West Region opponents, including 1-0 wins against Seattle Pacific and Azusa Pacific last year to win the NCAA West Regional tournament.
• Since tying Sonoma State in the season-opener, Western Washington has won 17 straight contests, earning the second best winning percentage in the nation.
• Goalkeeper Ashley Homer has helped the Vikings record 14 shutouts in 18 matches, which is the third best shutout percentage in the nation. Meanwhile, her 0.24 goals against average ranks second in Division II and is on pace to break the single-season GNAC record set in 2003 by Jennifer Hull for SPU.