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Seattle Pacific sits atop the GNAC standings with 20 points heading into the fifth week of the conference slate and will face Western Oregon in a key match up on Thursday. Related Links
Wednesday, October 18, 2023 PORTLAND, Ore. – The standings remain packed heading into the fifth week of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer season as undefeated Seattle Pacific leads the way ahead of Western Washington and Western Oregon. The No. 22 Falcons extended their unbeaten streak to nine matches last week while remaining unbeaten in conference play to sit atop the conference standings with 20 points. This week sees three of the top four teams in the conference on the road with the Wolves the only one of that group at home. Western Oregon will play host to the Falcons on Thursday for the second match between the two sides this season after a 2-2 draw in Seattle on Oct. 7. The Wolves will wrap up their week hosting Montana State Billings on Saturday. Central Washington will host Simon Fraser on Thursday before facing Western Washington on Saturday. Northwest Nazarene will play host to the Vikings on Thursday and the Red Leafs on Saturday. Meanwhile, Saint Martin’s will return home to face the Yellowjackets on Thursday and the Falcons on Saturday.
The Vikings come into the week on their own four-match unbeaten streak after winning their last four contests against GNAC competition. Last week, WWU had its offense firing on all cylinders as it took a 3-1 win over Montana State Billings on Thursday and a 2-1 win over Simon Fraser on Saturday. The victories kept Western Washington within three points of SPU and three points ahead of third-place Western Oregon (7-2-3, 4-2-2). Seattle Pacific will hit the road this week as it faces Western Oregon on Thursday and Saint Martin’s (3-3-6, 1-2-5) on Saturday. The Falcons’ back line has been anchored by sterling performances in net by sophomore goalkeeper Mercedes Cullen. Through nine starts, Cullen remains undefeated with a 7-0-2 record. She has posted three shutouts this season to go along with a .822 save percentage and a 0.89 goals against average. Senior forward Sophie Beadle has been a driving force for the SPU offense, tallying a GNAC-leading seven assists which also rank ninth in Division II. With two helpers last week, Beadle moved up into a tie for 14th in conference history with 24 career assists. Beadle needs just two more assists to move into the top 10 in the GNAC record book. Read More: Falcons Take On Wolves And Saints This Weekend (SPU Preview) Western Washington will also be on the road this week as it takes on Northwest Nazarene (4-4-4, 2-4-2) on Thursday and Central Washington (3-10-0, 2-6-0) on Saturday. The Vikings’ offensive output last week was led by sophomore forward Morgan Manalili who highlighted her week with a brace against Simon Fraser. On the season, Manalili leads WWU and is tied for sixth in the GNAC with eight points on three goals and two assists. BACK ON THE RED-LEAF ROAD: After a season-long four-match stint at home, Simon Fraser (4-4-2, 3-4-1) hits the road this week to face Central Washington (3-10-0, 2-6-0) on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene (4-4-4, 2-4-2) on Saturday. The Red Leafs sit fourth in the GNAC standings heading into the week with 10 points, two behind Western Oregon and two ahead of the Nighthawks. The Red Leafs’ offense continues to be led by junior midfielder Kate Cartier with six points on two goals and two assists. She is one of 10 SFU players to record a point this season as the team averages one goal per game. Simon Fraser is 1-0-0 against both Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene this season. Central Washington’s offense has been led by junior midfielder Casey Park with six points courtesy of three goals. Park has scored two of those goals against conference competition, picking up the second of her season on Sept. 28 against Montana State Billings and adding her third just last week in CWU’s 2-1 win over Northwest Nazarene. The Nighthawks captured one point at home last week in a 0-0 draw with Saint Martin’s and will be looking to leapfrog the Red Leafs in the standings with a win. Northwest Nazarene’s offensive effort has been spearheaded by freshman midfielder Nicole Lewis who leads the team and ranks third in the conference with 10 points. Lewis is one of just three players to reach a double-digit points total this season and has notched three goals to go with four assists. DRAWING UP THE POINTS: Saint Martin’s (3-3-6, 1-2-5) has won just a single conference game this season but is level with Northwest Nazarene on eight points in the GANC standings after posting a league-high five draws in eight GNAC matches. The Saints added to that total last week, drawing 0-0 with both Northwest Nazarene and Western Oregon on the road. The Saints will continue to look to senior goalkeeper and reigning GNAC Defensive Player of the Week Ali Campigotto for strong defense after the netminder posted her second and third shutouts of the season. Between Campigotto and junior goalkeeper Flavia Burrell, the Saints have now amassed six shutouts to tie for the conference lead. The Saints return home this week to host Montana State Billings (2-6-3, 1-5-2) on Thursday and No. 22 Seattle Pacific (9-2-2, 6-0-2) on Saturday. ALL EYES ON GOAL: Western Oregon (7-2-3, 4-2-2) will host two of the top-three ranked goal-scoring teams in the conference this week as it faces Seattle Pacific (9-2-2, 6-0-2) on Thursday and Montana State Billings (2-6-3, 1-5-2) on Saturday. The Falcons lead the GNAC with 2.15 goals per game while the Wolves are second with 1.33 and the Yellowjackets are third with 1.27. Western Oregon will cap off a four-game homestand this week after taking four points at home last week. Senior forward Chloe Smith leads 13 players to factor on the scoresheet for WOU with 12 points on five goals and two assists. In net, junior goalkeeper Sophia Pierce notched her GNAC-leading sixth shutout of the season to rank 24th in Division II. The defensive effort is also bolstered by senior defender Hannah Rispler who has played every minute on the back line this season to lead the team with 1,080 minutes played. Rispler also added offensive upside last week, scoring the first brace of her collegiate career to give the Wolves a come-back over Central Washington, 2-1. Montana State Billings comes into the week looking to lift itself up the crowded midfield standings by securing valuable points against two of the top teams in the conference. The Yellowjackets will travel to face Western Washington on Thursday before making the trip to Monmouth on Saturday. The Yellowjackets have scored at least one goal in each of their last six games with junior midfielder Kendall McGraw leading the team with three goals this season. Freshman midfielder Kaari Little will play her first collegiate match in her hometown this week as MSUB travels to Bellingham on Thursday. Little paces the Yellowjackets’ offense with seven points on two goals and three assists.
A freshman midfielder from Port Coquitlam, B.C., Clark has hit the ground running in her collegiate career, starting every game of the season for Simon Fraser and driving play as one of the top assist-makers in the conference. Clark leads the Red Leafs and is tied for second in the conference with four assists this season and has not gone more than three matches without tallying a point. Clark picked up the first point of her career in Simon Fraser’s second game of the season, assisting on the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Dominican (Calif.) on Sept. 3. Since then, she has been a steady offensive presence for SFU, assisting on goals against Saint Martin’s, Central Washington and Western Washington. Her most recent helper came just last Saturday against the Vikings. Clark ranks fourth for Simon Fraser with four points on the season. The Red Leafs will hope that the freshman midfielder will be able to maintain that points production this week against Saint Martin’s and Northwest Nazarene as SFU looks to solidify its place in the top four of the GNAC standings.
The seventh United Soccer Coaches Division II rankings of the season came out on Oct. 17 with Seattle Pacific (9-2-2, 6-0-2) rising two places in the poll after taking 2-1 wins over Simon Fraser and Montana State Billings last week. The placement marks the fourth time the Falcons have received votes this season and the second week in a row that they have been ranked in the top 25 Division II programs. The first NCAA regional rankings will come out next week on Wednesday, Oct. 25. The first regional release will include the top 10 teams listed in alphabetical order.
Team Rankings (Top-30)
Penalty Kicks: 1. Five Teams Tied, 1.000 Individual Rankings (Top-30)
Assists Per Game: 21. Sophie Beadle, SPU, 0.54
Offensive: Morgan Manalili, Western Washington The reigning GNAC Freshman of the Year hasn’t missed a beat in 2023, and her first-career brace propelled the Vikings to a vital 2-1 result at Simon Fraser on Saturday. Manalili put her team in front in the 58th minute with a header finish in front of goal coming off a throw-in. She followed that eight minutes later with a 24-yard free kick that curled into the upper corner of the net. “She is a real versatile player and helps our team in so many different ways,” said WWU head coach Travis Connell. “It’s exciting because you never know which way she’s going to go in a game, and she looked goal-dangerous throughout both the games last week. The goals she scored were both off of restarts which she works really hard at in training every week. She really showed her versatility scoring with her head and off the set piece.” Manalili also contributed on the scoresheet in WWU’s 3-1 win at Montana State Billings on Thursday, supplying the assist on Mie Cairns’ opening goal against the Yellowjackets. Halfway through her second collegiate season, Manalili has already accumulated 13 goals and seven assists for 33 total points in her 38 matches played. “She is one of the hardest workers, is out there early and stays late, and she does all the things coaches want,” said Connell. “Free kicks are something she has added to her game this year. She spent a lot of time on them in the offseason, and we enjoyed the dividends of that on Saturday. Morgan had a great freshman year, but she is never content.” Also Nominated: Emily Darcy, CWU; Taylor Copeland, SMU; Sophie Beadle, SPU; Sarah Caravatta, SFU. Defensive: Ali Campigotto, Saint Martin's The active GNAC leader in career saves, Campigotto moved into a tie for No. 17 on the all-time list with 263 across her five seasons with the Saints. Campigotto’s three shutouts this fall are the most she has had in a season during her career, and she upped her career count to eight shutouts. The senior enters the week ranked fourth in the conference in goals-against average at 0.80. “Ali specifically emulates everything we want players in this program to be about,” Faulkner said. “She competes as hard as she can, and she challenges and asks a lot of others. Our goalkeeping group has improved a lot because of her. She knows she is also getting better, is a true competitor, and it’s awesome to see her get rewarded with this. She works really hard at it.” Also Nominated: Danika Galbraith, CWU; Tuva Sallvin, MSUB; Mercedes Cullen, SPU; Sarah Loewen, SFU; Hannah Rispler, WOU; Gracen Crosby, WWU.
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