Meanwhile, Northwest Nazarene's best season in the men's program history came to an end at the hand of perennial power Seattle Pacific in the regional stages of the NCAA Division II tournament.
Similar to Moravec, several other area players helped guide teams to strong results in the opening weekend of tournament play, though they were not able to advance. Puget Sound of the NWC reached the second round and University of Redlands (California) upset a ranked team in their first round games of the Division III tournament.
The Division I men's season also came to a close over the weekend. Locally, Gonzaga finished on a positive note.
November 10-16 | Upcoming games PT
NCAA D-I TOURNAMENT - Notable First Round Games
Seattle University 2-1 (OT) Washington State
The season came to an end for the Cougars, but continues for Spokane's Julia Moravec as the Redhawks stunned 23rd-ranked Washington State on their home turf in the opening round of the tournament, nabbing their first-ever tournament victory and first-ever positive result in 11 official meetings against Washington State. It was the fourth consecutive year in which the Cougars went beyond 90 minutes with the the previous three ending via penalty kicks - the first in 2011 being the only one in which they advanced. After crossing the state for the first round, the Redhawks will now cross the country to face 18th-ranked South Carolina in Chapel Hill, NC Friday, November 21 at 1:00.
Seattle took the lead in the 33rd minute through leading scorer Stephanie Verdoia, who netted her 22nd of the year when she beat a defender and fired past Gurveen Clair from about eight yards. The Cougars tied it up in the 80th when a Beau Bremer cross from the right was put away at the far post by Mariah Powers. Washington State was just over two minutes away from a fourth consecutive shootout when Natasha Howe drove past two defenders to score the golden goal. WSU MORE [+] - HIGHLIGHTS [+] - SU MORE [+]
Rider 0-1 Univ of Washington
Saturday, November 15
Northern Arizona 2-4 Arizona State
Second Round - Friday, November 21
Seattle University @ South Carolina - 1:00
Full Bracket [+]
D-III NCAA TOURNAMENT
Regionals (@ Emory University | Atlanta, GA)
First Round - Friday, November 14
Whitworth University 1-0 Covenant College
Though the Pirates had the better of play much of the game, two sides were locked in a stalemate until a through ball from Eric Espinoza put Mike Ramos (Spokane, WA) on a run in some rare open space inside a usually congested penalty box, allowing him to put it away for the win with just over six minutes left. Timmy Costa made two saves for the shutout and was added by a goal line stop by a Whitworth defender in the final minutes of the game. MORE [+]
Berry College 2-1 (OT) Emory University
Second Round - Saturday, November 15
The Pirates went in with a bit of an advantage with the hosts eliminated and Berry, tournament first-timers, having gone extra time to advance. Sam Engle took advantage 11 minutes into the match on a short corner. Colin Shockman (Spokane, WA) fed it to Spencer Wolfe in the left corner before the cross was sent in and headed home off the bounce by Engle. The Pirates dominated the half 15 shots to one and finished the game with a 21-4 advantage (9-1 on frame). In the second half Espinoza scored on a ball from Austin Cassity, beating a defender and firing the ball past the keeper for some insurance. Timmy Costa only needed to make one save for the clean sheet. MORE [+]
Full Bracket [+]
Third Round - Saturday, November 22 (@ Kenyon College | OH)
Whitworth University v Christopher Newport 10:30am
Ohio Wesleyan @ Kenyon College 8:00am
Quarterfinal - Sunday, November 23 (@ Kenyon College | OH)
WU/CN v OW/KC 10:00am
GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE - MEN
Regionals (@ Seattle Pacific University & Azusa Pacific)
First Round - Thursday, November 13
[5] Simon Fraser 0-1 Northwest Nazarene [4]
Fredy Razo and Julio Castillo, who hit the crossbar in the opening minutes, combined to set up redshirt freshman midfielder Marshall Hartley for just his second goal of the year in the 23rd minute of the contest. From there the defense stood firm with Alfredo Ontiveros making three saves for the clean sheet. The victory in the national tournament came in the first-ever tournament for the program and first win for the school in any sport since the 2003 women's basketball tournament. MORE [+]
[6] UC San Diego 1-1 (5-4, PK 7 Rd) Cal State Los Angeles [3]
Second Round - Saturday, November 15
[4] Northwest Nazarene 1-2 Seattle Pacific [1]
[3] Cal State Los Angeles 1-0 Azusa Pacific [2]
Third Round (Regional Finals) - Thursday, November 20 (@ Seattle Pacific)
West - [3] Cal State Los Angeles @ Seattle Pacific [1] 7:00
South Central - [2] Colorado Mesa Univ v St Edwards Univ [1] 4:00
National Quarterfinal - Saturday, November 22 (@ Seattle Pacific)
SPU/CSLA v CM/SEU - 7:00
Full Bracket [+]
GREAT NORTHWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE - WOMEN
D-II NCAA TOURNAMENT
Regionals (@ Western Washington & Cal State Los Angeles)
First Round - Thursday, November 13
[4] CSU-Stanislaus 2-1 (OT) Seattle Pacific [5]
[6] Point Loma 2-3 Cal Poly Pomona [3]
Second Round - Saturday, November 15
[4] CSU-Stanislaus 1-0 Western Washington [1]
[3] Cal Poly Pomona 1-0 Cal State LA [2]
Full Bracket [+]
NORTHWEST CONFERENCE - WOMEN
Regionals (@ Washington University | St Louis, MO)
First Round - Saturday, November 15
Puget Sound University 1-0 Washington University
Midfielder Lauren Hamilton (Spokane, WA) started and Annie Prickett (Bozeman, MT) provided support off the bench as the Loggers advanced to the second round with a goal in the final minute of regulation.
Centre College 4-0 Univ of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Second Round - Sunday, November 16
Puget Sound University 0-0 (6-7, PK 8 Rd) Centre College
Hamilton started again and Prickett was joined off the bench by defender Abigail Buckenberger (Pasco, WA) in guiding the Loggers in the scoreless stalemate only to see them come up short in the shootout in the eighth round on Buckenberger's saved attempt (the team's second miss in the tiebreaker).
Full Bracket [+]
Summer Norquist (Boise, ID) and Savannah Laursen (Boise, ID) led a series of early shots for the University of Redlands in the First Round of the NCAA tournament Saturday, but in the end they played a larger role as providers. Laursen's corner in the 44th minute put them on the board first and a ball from Norquist set up what proved to be the winner in the 52nd minute of the eventual 2-1 upset victory against 17th-ranked Hardin-Simmons. The run came to an end the following day against unbeaten third-ranked Trinity University, who posted their 21st consecutive win by blanking the Bulldogs 2-0, also setting a new NCAA Division III record for consecutive home wins with 75.
WEST COAST CONFERENCE - MEN
Santa Clara 1-2 (OT) Saint Mary's
San Francisco 4-1 Pacific
Saturday, November 15
Portland 1-2 (OT) Gonzaga
The Bulldogs fell behind in the ninth minute of the contest, but Graison Le (Coeur d'Alene helped guide the Zags to the win. He combined with senior Nate Pacheco to set up senior striker Clark Phillips for the equalizer 10 minutes into the second half and delivered the cross 28 seconds into overtime that senior midfielder Lars Ludwigs nodded home. INWsn REPORT [+]
Saint Mary's 2-0 Pacific
Santa Clara 0-2 San Francisco
San Diego 0-1 Loyola Marymount
Final Standings: San Diego 6-1-0... Saint Mary's 5-2-0... San Francisco 5-2-0... Loyola Marymount 3-1-3... Gonzaga 3-3-1... Santa Clara 2-4-1... Pacific 1-6-0... Portland 0-6-1 [No conference tournament]
PAC-12 CONFERENCE - MEN
Timmy Mueller (Post Falls, ID) and the Oregon State Beavers blanked the University of Washington 2-0 in the finale, and were selected for the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003 (third all-time).
NCAA TOURNAMENT - Notable First Round Games
First Round - Thursday, November 20
Univ of Denver @ Oregon State 5:00
Second Round - Sunday, November 23
UAB or Furman @ Washington 8:00
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