The Northwest Conference championship booked the Bucs a spot in the Division III tournament in which they will travel to San Antonio for the first two rounds of the event. First, they will square off against University of Redlands, which features defender Ben Thompson (Spokane, WA), who knows Muelheims well from playing with him on the Spokane Shadow First Team in EPLWA.
Puget Sound won the NWC title on the women's side, yet again. Their 14th consecutive title has them playing Augustana in the first round of the tournament.
In the GNAC, Seattle Pacific will play host to the first two round games in the Division II men's tournament after winning the regular season title, facing the winner of the first round contest between CSUDH and Fresno Pacific.
Their counterparts on the women's side advanced as an at-large berth to the tournament and will face UC San Diego in the opening round with the winner advancing to face GNAC season and playoff champion Western Washington, which is hosting both matches.
Here's a recap of Division II & Division III action for last week
Saturday, November 7
Mary 3 :: 3 MSU-Billings
Trailing after a 19th minute strike, the Yellowjackets pulled even in the 30th when Thiago Novic nodded in a cross from Julian Toenges. Less than two minutes into the second half the two repeated their efforts to put the hosts in front. A back pass bobbled by the visiting keeper allowed Jacob Richter to score what proved to be an important third goal as the visitors rallied with goals in the 74th and 88th. MORE [+]
Northwest Nazarene 3 :: 1 Concordia
Saint Martin's 0 :: 3 Seattle Pacific
With the top spot clinched goalkeeper Cody Lang (Spokane, WA) rested for the night with a pair of seniors combining for the shutout in the home season finale.
Western Washington 0 :: 2 Simon Fraser
Final Standings
Seattle Pacific 10-1-3... Simon Fraser 9-2-3... Northwest Nazarene 8-5-1... MSU-Billings 6-5-3... Concordia 5-4-5... Saint Martin's 4-10-0... Western Washington 3-9-2... Mary 2-11-1 -- No conference tournament
GNAC WOMEN #############
Thursday, November 5 - Semifinals
MSU-Billings 0 :: 4 Western Washington
The Vikings led by one after 13 minutes when a save by Chloe Hopps was headed in off the rebound. The Yellowjackets kept things tight until the second half when the Vikings added a second in the 63rd and two more in the final four minutes. MORE [+]
Seattle Pacific 1 :: OT :: 0 Concordia
Defender Maddy Booster (Bend, OR) helped lead the Falcon defense to a shutout performance in the upset win over the Cavaliers in which the winning tally came with less than two minutes left. Concordia's defensive effort was led, in part, by Martha Heaps (Spokane, WA) and Hannah Smith (Spokane, WA) on the back line.
Saturday, November 7 - Championship
Seattle Pacific 1 :: 3 Western Washington
An own goal put the Vikings ahead in the first half. They added a second a minute after the break and another own goal pushed the lead to three with the Falcons only reply coming on a penalty.
Final Standings
Western Washington^ 11-0-1... Concordia* 8-2-2... Seattle Pacific* 7-3-2... MSU-Billings* 6-5-1... Simon Fraser 5-6-1... Central Washington 5-6-1... Western Oregon 4-7-1... Northwest Nazarene 2-9-1... Saint Martin's 1-11-0 -- ^ Clinched top seed, * Clinched tournament berth (4)
NWC MEN #############
Whitworth 3 :: 1 Whitman
With the league title locked up from Pacific Lutheran's loss earlier in the evening, the Pirates celebrated with a win over their regional rival. Karl Muelheims (Spokane, WA) broke the school's single-season scoring record with his 20th goal of the campaign, surpassing the previous mark set by John Gould in 1988. The record-setting goal was a 20-yard strike on a ball from Sam Engle. Rylan Berriman fed Eric Espinoza for the second in the 29th and Alfredo Omelas pushed it to three via Jonah Snyder in the 80th. Colin Faunt spoiled Timmy Costa's shutout bid in the 89th. MORE: WU [+] WC [+]
Pacific 3 :: 2 George Fox
Willamette 3 :: OT :: 2 Linfield
Puget Sound 2 :: 1 Pacific Lutheran
Final Standings
Whitworth 12-1-1... Pacific Lutheran 11-3-0... Puget Sound 8-4-2... Pacific 5-8-1... Willamette 5-8-1... Linfield 5-9-0... George Fox 3-8-3... Whitman 2-10-2 -- No conference tournament
Friday, November 6
Willamette 2 :: 1 Pacific
Veronica Ewers (Moscow, ID) scored twice in the opening 16 minutes, heading in a corner from McKenzie Andringa (Yakima, WA) in the fourth minute.
Saturday, November 7
Lewis & Clark 4 :: 2 Whitworth
The Pirates got off to a great start with a nice long-range goal from Tiara Pajimola (Spokane, WA) 15 minutes in off a ball from Dallas Nelson. Nine minutes later Jennifer Loehner (Spokane, WA) fed Kelly Wucherer for the second. The second half, though, was another story as the Pioneers rolled off four unanswered. MORE [+]
Puget Sound 1 :: 0 George Fox
Pacific Lutheran 0 :: 0 Linfield
Lewis & Clark 1 :: 2 Whitman
Like the Pirates the day before, the Missionaries kept the Pioneers off the board in the first half, but things played out differently in the second half. Chelsea Day put the hosts on the board in the 74th only to see the Pioneers answer 15 seconds later. It looked like the contest was headed to overtime when Brianna Brown struck for the winner with just 32 seconds remaining on the clock. MORE [+]
Puget Sound 2 :: 0 Willamette
George Fox 0 :: 2 Linfield
Pacific Lutheran 1 :: 2 Pacific
Final Standings
Puget Sound 12-0-4... Pacific Lutheran 11-3-2... Willamette 9-6-1... Linfield 7-5-4... Lewis & Clark 7-8-1... Whitman 3-7-6... Whitworth 4-9-3... Pacific 4-10-2... George Fox 3-12-1 -- No conference tournament
-- INWsn --
