Monday, November 20, 2023
by Thomas Lal

PORTLAND, Ore. –  Seattle Pacific women’s soccer has been named the GNAC Team of the Week after punching its ticket to the NCAA Division II West Region Final with a 1-0 win over Cal State LA on Saturday.

The No. 2 seed Falcons utilized their home-field advantage at Interbay Stadium to the fullest extent last week, handing the No. 3 seed Golden Eagles just their third loss of the season to advance to the third round of the NCAA Championships. A gutsy effort by SPU saw the Falcons outshoot CSULA 12-8 while sophomore goalkeeper Mercedes Cullen stood tall in net for the five-save shutout, her sixth of the year.

The first half of the match was dominated by midfield play with both teams combining for just seven total shots.  The highlight of the first frame for the Falcons was the return of GNAC Player of the Year Sophie Beadle off the bench. Beadle finished the match with 28 minutes under her belt, the most she has played since Oct. 14

It didn’t take long for the GNAC regular season champions to break the stalemate in the second half as sophomore forward Taylor Krueger came up the right wing and put a pass on the foot of Lauren Forster that the senior forward tucked into the goal in the 56th minute. The goal was Forster’s third of the year and just the 10th that Cal State LA conceded all season.

From there, the lockdown defense of Kathryn Nyone, Mackenzie Aiken and Kailalani Ahuna played a critical role alongside Cullen to secure the shutout while playing every minute of the match. Cullen made four of her five saves in the second half alone as Cal State LA began to throw numbers forward into the attack. The result moved Cullen to 10-1-4 on the season and lifted her to a .825 save percentage.

“I’m so excited for this group,” head coach Arby Busey said. “They’ve worked so hard, and it’s so rewarding as a coach when the group gets what they deserve. They’re seeing how their hard work is paying off. You can see it in their eyes that they are motivated to continue working hard. They’ve got something here that they understand that if you keep investing in every day, there will be big rewards in the end. That’s what has been working for us all year long. We’ll take the next few days to enjoy this one because we should. We’ll get back after that and work toward the next goal we’ve created for ourselves.”

With the victory over Cal State LA in hand, that next goal is just under two weeks away as Seattle Pacific (13-3-5) advances to the West Region Final where it will face No. 1 seed Point Loma (13-3-1) on Thursday, Nov. 30 at 1 p.m. (PST) in Grand Junction, Colo.