Thursday, November 14, 2019

SEATTLE – There’s no place like home.

Playing for the first time in front of its home crowd in the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships, Seattle Pacific put on a record-setting show as the No. 2 seeded Falcons beat No. 3 seed Western Oregon, 4-1, in the championship’s semifinals Thursday night at Interbay Stadium.

The Falcons received goals from freshman Chloe Gellhaus, junior Claire Neder, sophomore Makena Rietz and junior Sophia Chilczuk to tie the tournament record for goals in a match. Seattle Pacific also tied the record for assists in a match with four and also surpassed the record for shots with 26.

The win for Seattle Pacific (12-7-0) sets up a showdown with No. 1 seed Western Washington in the championship final on Saturday at 1 p.m. It will be the fifth time in championships history that the Falcons and Vikings will meet in the final.

Both teams put on an impressive offensive display. Seattle Pacific outshot Western Oregon 26-19 while the Wolves owned a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Western Oregon (10-6-3) pushed forward to control the offense in the opening minutes of match. Alyssa Tomasini had a nice early look at the goal from the top of the 18-yard box in the third minute, but Seattle Pacific goalie Riley Travis was well-positioned for her first save of the match.

Both teams battled from endline to endline before the Falcons took control of the offensive momentum in the 24th minute. Good ball movement in the midfield by Chilczuk and Ava Giovanola opened up Gellhaus, who struck from nearly 25 yards out to the upper left corner for her seventh goal of the season.

Gellhaus set up the Falcons’ second goal four minutes later when she was pulled down in the box and SPU awarded the penalty kick. Neder scored her sixth goal of the season with the slow-roller to the left side.

Seattle Pacific made another push to the goal in the final minute of the half. Western Oregon appeared to have the ball cleared out to kill the half when Rietz banged a 22-yard one-timer off the crossbar, which fell to the inside of the goal line and allowed the Falcons a 3-0 halftime lead. It was Reitz’s second goal of the year.

The Falcons kept the offensive pressure on in the second half and Chilczuk broke through in the 57th minute, slipping the ball through on the right side off of the assist by Sierra Smith.

The Falcons’ 26 shots surpassed the record of 24 set on three different occasions, most recently by Western Washington against Simon Fraser in 2016. The 12 total points eclipsed the record of 10 set by Western Washington against Montana State Billings in 2015.

Western Oregon goalkeeper Alex Qualls finished with six saves in the loss. Tomasini led the Wolves with six shots while Chilczuk had nine for the Falcons.