College Soccer Update: Falcons win GNAC; Redhawks take home finale

November 9, 9:47 AMSeattle Soccer ExaminerDavid Falk

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Chris Widdy of Cal State Bakersfield (left) and Kyle Peterman of Seattle University (black uniform) slosh it out in the mud at Championship Field on Capitol Hill on Sunday. The Redhawks won their home finale 3:2. (Dale Garvey)

In our latest local college soccer update we find that the SPU Falcon Women have clinched the GNAC crown. The Seattle University Redhawks Men struggled in NCAA Division One this year but won their last two, including a mudfest on Senior day on Sunday. The UPS Loggers Women know who'll they play in the playoffs, and the PLU Lutes Men are smarting from being left out of the tournament.

SEATTLE, Wash. – The Seattle University seniors made a major impact on Senior Day, as Ian Walsh (Novato, Calif.) scored the first goal of the match, Max Walker (Lake Tapps, Wash.) and Derek Rogalsky (Richland, Wash.) played solid defense, and Wesley VanHooser (Lake Stevens, Wash.) assisted on the game-winning goal to give SeattleU a 3-2 victory over Cal State Bakersfield in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action Sunday afternoon at muddy Championship Field.
 
With less than 14 minutes remaining in regulation, Will Banchero (West Seattle, Wash.) sent a forward pass to VanHooser, who drove up the field before making a cross to Sean Morris (Bothell, Wash.). Morris beat his defender and sent a shot from close range past Roadrunner goalie Eric Shannon into the net for his third goal of the season.
 
Both teams took some time adjusting to the conditions, as the field was filled with moisture after it had rained over the past few days. With six and a half minutes left before halftime, Ed Walugembe (Renton, Wash.) rushed in on net and found Walsh making a run down the right side. Drawing goalie Shane Ascheri away from the net, Walugembe fed Walsh, who chipped the ball into the net for his third tally of the season. Read the entire report at GoSeattleU.com. See more photos from the match by Dale Garvey in the gallery below.

SEATTLE – A conference championship. A shutout victory. Contributions from every senior.

Seattle Pacific could not have scripted a better scenario then the one that transpired on Senior Day at Interbay Stadium.

Senior forward Jocelyn Charette registered her third hat trick of the season and the 17th-ranked Falcons captured the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer championship with a 6-0 victory over Northwest Nazarene on the final day of the regular season. Read the rest here.

SEATTLE – They won’t learn their postseason fate until Monday afternoon. On Saturday night they performed like a playoff team.

Drew Williams, who usually sets up goals for the Seattle Pacific men’s soccer team, scored two of his own, and seniors Alec Nelson and Corey Sinser each had one in the final home game of their careers as the Falcons ended the regular season with a 5-1 victory against Northwest Nazarene.

Freshman Christopher Morris added a goal for the Falcons (11-5-3, 4-3-1 in league play), whose victory at Interbay Stadium clinched third place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings and snapped a three-game losing streak.

It also kept alive SPU’s slim playoff possibilities. The Falcons hope Saturday’s result helps them vault ahead of two teams as they were listed No. 6 in last week’s West Region ratings with only four bids available. Read the rest here.

SEATTLE - Senior Alex Kirk had a career-day in her final regular-season game at Husky Soccer Field, scoring a pair of goals to lead the Washington women's soccer team to a 2-2 draw with No. 19 USC on Sunday in the regular-season finale for both teams.

The Huskies hope it was enough to secure their second-straight postseason berth after finishing with an 11-5-4 overall record and 3-3-3 mark in Pac-10 play. Sunday's result guarantees UW a tie for fifth in the standings of one of the country's most difficult conferences.

The Pac-10 sent five teams to the NCAA Tournament last season and is even deeper this year, with seven teams ranked in the RPI top-30. The Huskies came into the week ranked No. 23 in the RPI and playing No. 4 UCLA and No. 19 USC tough in their final two games this weekend will only help their chances. Read the rest here.

Los Angeles, CA - Husky sophomore Jamie Finch scored his first career goal just five minutes into the match, but the No. 5 UCLA Bruins came back with two unanswered goals, including the game-winner in the 82nd minute, to escape with a 2-1 victory on Sunday at Drake Stadium.

The loss drops UW to 5-6-6 overall and 2-2-5 in Pac-10 play heading into their final game of the regular season next week. UCLA improved to 10-3-3 overall and 5-1-3 in Pac-10 with the win Sunday giving them the Pac-10 title.

The Huskies looked as if they were headed to a second overtime battle with the Bruins after the teams tied 1-1 earlier this season in Seattle.

BILLINGS, Mont. - Midfielder Kasey Hostetler (Sr., Richland/Hanford) scored one goal and assisted on another as Western Washington University defeated Montana State University Billings, 2-1, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer contest Saturday at the Yellowjacket Soccer Complex.

The Vikings, who extended their unbeaten streak to seven games (5-0-2), finished their regular season 11-4-4 overall and second by one point in the GNAC standings at 8-1-3, despite having a victory and a tie in their two meetings with league champion Seattle Pacific.

MSUB ended its season 9-10-1 overall and 5-7-0 in league play. Read the rest here.

PULLMAN, Wash. - Chelsea Cline and Kristina Larsen scored first half goals to lead No. 3 UCLA past No. 13 Washington State 2-0 in Pacific-10 Conference women's soccer, Sunday.

Cline gave the Bruins (17-2-1, 8-1-0 Pac-10) a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute on a header in the box off a free kick from Lauren Cheney.

Just 16 seconds before halftime, the Cougars (13-5-2, 5-2-2 Pac-10) were unable to clear a ball out of their box and Larsen fired a low shot into the net to make the score 2-0.

"We dug ourselves a hole going down a goal and you cannot afford to do that against a quality team like UCLA," WSU Head Coach Matt Potter said. "We played much better in the second half and we can take some positives into what we think will be a postseason match." Read the rest here.

INDIANAPOLIS - The fourth-ranked Puget Sound Loggers knew they were in the 2009 NCAA Division III Women's Soccer Championship by virtue of an eighth straight Northwest Conference title but it wasn't until Monday morning that they knew that they were headed to California for a first-round match-up with Hardin-Simmons.

The Loggers (18-1-0, 15-1-0 NWC) will meet the Cowgirls (18-1-0, 12-0-0 American Southwest Conference) on Saturday in one of two first round games hosted by Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.  In the other game, the host Athenas (15-2-2, 10-0-2 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) will play UC Santa Cruz (12-6-0). Read the rest here.

PARKLAND, Wash. - Senior Derek Woodworth (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) scored in his final collegiate contest but the Puget Sound Loggers fell to the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, 2-1, in a Northwest Conference men's soccer game at PLU Soccer Field in Parkland, Wash.

On a wet and nasty pitch, the Loggers and Lutes battled scoreless throughout the first half, though the Lutes held an advantage offensively, outshooting Puget Sound, 10-3.  Freshman keeper Chris McDonald (Newton, Mass./Noble & Greenough) played strong in the first 45 minutes, making four saves to keep the Loggers alive. Read the rest here.

A season that saw Pacific Lutheran tie a single-season record with 14 wins and also finish a strong second in the Northwest Conference came to a crashing end on Sunday when the Lutes were not extended an at-large bid to the Division III men's soccer postseason tournament.

PLU finished its finest season in more than a decade with a 14-5-0 record, including an 11-3-0 record in the conference, good for second place behind Whitworth. By virtue of winning the title, the Pirates received the conference's automatic berth in the postseason tournament. Read the rest here.

KIRKLAND, Wash. - The NU men, who qualified as the #3 seed in the CCC tournament, will face off with Concordia on Tuesday in the semifinal game at Delta Park in Portland. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m.

Concordia is the #2 seed finishing one point behind conference champion Warner Pacific (34-33) and with a 12-5-1 overall record and 11-3 conference mark.

Northwest U. finished the season with a 7-5-2 CCC record and 9-5-4 overall. This is the second consecutive year the Eagle men's soccer team has qualified for post-season play.

The Eagles and Cavaliers split the regular season series as CU defeated NU in Portland 5-0 on September 22 and Northwest shut out the Cavs 3-0 in Kirkland on October 14.

The winner of the Tuesday semifinal will go on to meet #1 seed Warner Pacific in the CCC final on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Warner Pac. The winner of the championship game will receive an automtic bid to the NAIA national championships.