Monday, November 7, 2016

INDIANAPOLIS – As if the first time around wasn’t exciting enough, three of the four teams that were in Burnaby, B.C. last weekend for the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships will be in Bellingham, Wash. this weekend to do it all over again for the first two rounds of the NCAA West Regional Championships.

The No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division II, Western Washington, earned the No. 1 seed in the West Region and with it the right to host two rounds of postseason action that coincidentally will feature GNAC programs exclusively. Seattle Pacific earned the No. 4 seed and Central Washington grabbed the No. 5 seed, meaning exactly a week after meeting in the GNAC Championships semifinals, the two squads will meet again in the first round of the NCAA regional tournament.

Seattle Pacific will play Central Washington on Thursday at 2 p.m. (Pacific), and the winner will play Western Washington at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

It will be the fourth meeting between the two teams which have each won one match and tied once. The Falcons won the most recent meeting with two-second half goals for a shutout victory last week. Also, just like last week, the winner of the match will face host Western Washington, which is now on a 19-match winning streak following its 3-1 victory over SPU in the GNAC championship match.

The Vikings are also on a 24-match winning streak at Harrington Field, which will be the location of the two matches. Western Washington, which is hosting West Regional matches for the fourth year in a row, will be looking to take the first steps towards what would be a third NCAA national semifinals appearance in the last four years.

Central Washington is playing in its first NCAA postseason in program history. In comparison, Seattle Pacific is the most experienced program in NCAA playoffs with 14 consecutive appearances, which is tied for most in the nation with West Chester for longest active streak.

UC San Diego will host the other half of the West Regional tournament. The No. 2-seeded Tritons will take on the winner of No. 3 Sonoma State and No. 6 Azusa Pacific for the chance to take on the winner of the three-team battle among GNAC schools in Bellingham.