In the Northwest Conference the Whitman men topped local rival Whitworth on the final day to move third in the standings, a change in the table that had far-reaching implications as it determined the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament between co-champions Willamette and Pacific Lutheran.
In a surprising turn of events, the Cascade Conference women's tourney saw the seventh, sixth and fourth seeds advance to the semifinals with top seed Eastern Oregon, which went on to capture the title. Both tops seeds prevailed in the postseason with Southern Oregon going on to win the men's CCC tourney. By virtue of NAIA automatic berths going to the regular season champions EOU and SOU, the Northwest University women and Corban University men also earned NAIA berths as finalists.
NCAA Games of Note (seed) / [rank]:
Friday, November 10
DII Women: Concordia v Chico State - 2:00 PT
Saturday, November 11
DII Women: Sonoma State @ Western Washington - 1:00 PT
DIII Women: Pacific Lutheran v Whittier - 8:00 pm PT
DIII Men: Willamette v Mary Hardin-Baylor - 5:30 PT
NCAA DII Women Bracket [+]
NCAA DIII Women Bracket [+]
NCAA DII Men Bracket [+]
NCAA DIII Men Bracket [+]
NAIA: To be announced November 13
DII GNAC UPDATE - WOMEN ####
GNAC Tournament (Portland, OR / times PT)
Semifinals - Thursday, November 2
3-Seattle Pacific 0-2 2-Western Washington
The Vikings scored twice in the second half to advance to the championship game.
4-Northwest Nazarene 0-3 1-Concordia
Three different players scored for the Cavaliers, two in the final 21 minutes, to advance to the championship.
Championship - Saturday, November 4
2-Western Washington 1-0 1-Concordia
Locked in a stalemate, Gabriela Pelogi scored the golden goal overtime game-winner for the Vikings in the 104th minute, avenging their regular season finale loss at home to the Cavaliers that snapped numerous WWU streaks.
NCAA Tournament: Western Washington will host a West Regional on Saturday, receiving a first round bye and playing Sonoma State, 1-0 the winner of the First Round game against Cal Baptist... Concordia, making a DII tourney debut in their first official DII season, is in California and will open the tournament against Chico State Friday. Chico State won a non-league meeting between the two, 2-0, in Portland earlier this year... Players of note for the two teams are: Western Washington - Darby Doyle (Spokane, WA), Sandy Hanses (Yakima, WA), Sophia Kallas (Boise, ID), Colleen Lindsay (Spokane, WA), Malia Maack (Spokane, WA); Concordia - Kasey Ames (Liberty Lake, WA), Katie Greene (Spokane, WA), Martha Heaps (Spokane, WA), Michaela Prothe (Spokane, WA), McKenna Stocker (Liberty Lake, WA)
DII GNAC UPDATE - MEN ####
11/02 - MSU-Billings 3-5 Saint Martin's
The Saints picked up just their second win of the year in downing the Yellowjackets. They scored four unanswered in the first half, including a hat-trick from Brandon Madsen, for a commanding advantage. MSUB, though, did not give up and scored three consecutive to pull within one goal with 15 minutes remaining. JD Hauenstein (Spokane, WA) tallied the first in the 62nd and set up Realf Zhivanaj for the second in the 70th. Niklas Schregel made it a one-goal game in the 75th for MSUB, but Sebastian Navarro (Yakima, WA) set up an insurance goal in the 80th for the Saints.
11/02 - Concordia 1-2 Northwest Nazarene
The Nighthawks grabbed the lead when a corner from Edwin Quiroz was knocked home by Jonathan Bryant 11 minutes into the contest, but the visitors evened things back up 10 minutes later. Rafael Junqueira struck for the game-winner 11 minutes into the second half.
11/04 - Northwest Nazarene 2-1 Saint Martin's
Jake Levine (Spokane, WA) beat several defenders en route to scoring the opening goal 19 minutes into the contest. He helped provide some insurance late in the game, launching a breakaway goal by Rafael Junqueira in the 77th. Sebastian Navarro helped set up a goal for the Saints in the 84th, but it was not enough as NNU went on to finish the season unbeaten in their last five and vault to third in the table.
11/04 - Seattle Pacific 0-2 Simon Fraser
In a battle for the GNAC championship, the Clan scored 11 minutes in and added a late insurance goal in the 89th to move one point ahead of the Falcons in the table for the GNAC title and NCAA tournament berth.
11/04 - Concordia 2-1 Western Washington
11/04 - South Dakota Mines 3-4 MSU-Billings (Non-League)
Victor Sanchez scored the opening goal in the 15th minute on a Niklas Schregel through ball, but the visitors scored two before the end of the half and increased the lead to two with an early second half goal. The Yellowjackets fired right back with three consecutive of their own. Ignacio Crespo scored in the 58th and Guillaume Marneau tallied in the 72nd to tie things back up. A corner from Guillaume Kremer in the 81st was headed in for the winner by Realf Zhivanaj.
11/05 - Western Washington 0-0 Simon Fraser
Delayed from a snow-covered field on Thursday, the contest had little meaning for the Clan, which clinched the title the day before.
NCAA Tournament: Simon Fraser was the lone representative for the league in the DII tournament, but was knocked out for the second consecutive year by Cal Poly Pomona in the Super Regional, 2-1.
Final Standings (W-L-T... Pts)
Simon Fraser 7-2-3... 24#
Seattle Pacific 7-4-1... 22
Northwest Nazarene 5-4-3... 18
MSU-Billings 6-6-0... 18
Western Washington 5-4-3... 18
Concordia 4-7-1... 13
Saint Martin's 2-9-1... 7
# Champions - No conference tournament
DIII NWC UPDATE - WOMEN ####
11/01 - Whitworth 0-0 Whitman
Outshot 20-12, Bryanna Schreiber made 10 saves for the Blues in for the scoreless stalemate. All three Whitworth keepers combined for five saves in the shutout.
11/04 - Linfield 2-3 Whitworth
Kelly Wucherer fed Michelle Whan in the 29th minute for the go-ahead goal and then scored the second tally less than a minute later on a ball from Jennifer Loehner (Spokane, WA). The visitors got one back in the 38th minute, but Whan beat several defenders to add some needed insurance in the 55th with Linfield getting a penalty in the 80th.
11/05 - Linfield 3-2 OT Whitman
Emily Rigsby (Boise, ID) scored the opening goal for the Blues in the fifth minute and in the opening minute of the second half Sofia Ellington (Bend, OR) made it two. It was not enough, though. Amidee Colleknon (Bend, OR) scored back-to-back goals in the 63rd and 77th minutes en route to a win that came in the first minute of overtime.
11/05 - Puget Sound 2-1 Pacific
After a scoreless first half Lura Morton (Moscow, ID) tallied the opening goal in the 51st minute.
Other Scores
11/04 - Pacific Lutheran 1-0 George Fox
11/04 - Puget Sound 1-2 Willamette
11/04 - Lewis & Clark 0-1 Pacific
11/05 - Pacific Lutheran 0-0 Lewis & Clark
11/05 - Willamette 3-0 George Fox
Final Standings (W-L-T... Pts)
Pacific Lutheran 13-2-1... 40 #
Puget Sound 11-3-2... 35
Whitworth 11-3-2... 35
Willamette 10-4-2... 32
Linfield 7-7-2... 23
George Fox 6-8-2... 20
Lewis & Clark 2-12-2... 8
Whitman 2-12-2... 8
Pacific 0-12-3... 6
# Champions - No conference tournament
NCAA Tournament: Pacific Lutheran is headed to Thousand Oaks, California to face Whittier in the opening round Saturday, November 11. The winner will face either UC Santa Cruz or host Cal Lutheran. Pacific Lutheran features: Kelly Brown (Kennewick, WA), Savannah Brown (Kennewick, WA), Sarah Burns (Kennewick, WA), Cassidy Crosswhite (Spokane, WA) and Brianna Hunting (Kennewick, WA).
DIII NWC UPDATE - MEN ####
11/04 - Whitman 2-1 OT Whitworth
After a scoreless first half, the snowy contest saw the Blues go in front five minutes into the second half when Erik Nielsen's diving header off an Alex Cooper cross broke the stalemate. Jonah Snyder converted a penalty in the 62nd to tie things up. From there the two sides battled back-and-forth looking for a winner, which finally came in the 106th minute when a turnover allowed CJ Fritz (Bend, OR) to net the winner and put the Blues third in the league - a huge turn of events as it turned out for deciding the one automatic NCAA tournament berth between the co-champions.
11/04 - Pacific Lutheran 0-1 Puget Sound
A 24th minute strike from Logger Luke Murdock (Boise, ID) spoiled the Lutes' bid for the league championship as they lost the tiebreaker against Willamette, who pulled even on the final day of the season.
11/04 - Pacific 1-2 George Fox
Trevor Martin (Spokane, WA) scored the equalizer for the Bruins in the 41st minute.
11/04 - Willamette 2-1 Linfield
NCAA Tournament: The Willamette Bearcats will face University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in the first round of the DIII tournament Saturday, November 11 in San Antonio, Texas at Trinity University, which will face University of Texas-Tyler in the other first round match.
Final Standings (W-L-T... Pts)
Willamette 9-3-2... 29 #
Pacific Lutheran 9-2-2... 29 #
Whitman 8-3-3... 27
Puget Sound 8-5-1... 25
Whitworth 8-5-1... 25
Pacific 5-8-1... 16
George Fox 3-10-1... 10
Linfield 0-13-1... 1
# Champions - No conference tournament
Tiebreaker for NCAA Berth: A trio of results went Willamette's way to allow the Bearcats to clinch the NWC's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Willamette and PLU were tied on the first two tiebreakers (head-to-head results at 1-1-0, and head-to-head scoring with each team winning 2-1 at home). The third tiebreaker was points earned against the third place team. With Whitman moving in front of Whitworth for third, it gave the Bearcats the berth. Willamette tied Whitman twice (2 points) and PLU had a loss and a tie (1 point) against the Blues. Had Whitworth won or tied their finale against rival Whitman, the Lutes would have gotten the spot with a win and draw (4 points) against the Bucs compared to the Bearcats' win and loss (3 points).
NAIA CCC UPDATE - WOMEN ####
Cascade Conference Tournament (Springfield, OR)
Quarterfinals - Friday, November 3
8-Providence 0-1 1-Eastern Oregon
In their closest match of the tournament on the scoreboard, the Mountaineers advanced on a 43rd minute strike from Morgan Farrington (Meridian, ID) set up by a Mariana Madrigal through ball. On the field and stat sheet, however, it was a one-sided affair with EOU outshooting the Argos 18-1, allowing Cydni Cottrell (Pasco, WA) to collect the shutout without making a save.
7-College of Idaho 0-0 (3-2 SO) 2-Rocky Mountain
Outshot 17-11 in the game, Brittany Houghton was huge for the Yotes with eight saves in the shutout while Maia Wetzel (Helena, MT) made four for RMC. The Yotes advanced in the shootout 3-2 with all of the unsuccessful attempts by both teams off target.
6-Northwest 1-0 3-Oregon Tech
5-Southern Oregon 1-1 (3-4 SO) 4-Corban
Semifinals - Saturday, November 4
7-College of Idaho 0-2 1-Eastern Oregon
A 12-yard shot from Natalie Mitchell put the Mountaineers in control and Cailin Koupal added some insurance on a loose ball in the box following a corner kick from Chelsey Nicol. Cydni Cottrell made two saves before exiting in the 87th minute. Val Gaffney (Spokane, WA) made one save in her few minutes of relief.
6-Northwest 3-1 4-Corban
Lexi McQueary (Kennewick, WA) scored the opening goal for the Warriors in the sixth minute, but it was quickly answered by the Eagles through an eighth minute goal by Rylee Rassier (Spokane, WA) off a through ball. Katie Michkosky (Wenatchee, WA) took care of things from there for NU, tallying on a pair of through balls in the 42nd and 83rd minutes for the win.
Championship - Monday, November 6
6-Northwest 0-2 1-Eastern Oregon
Taylor Boyer unleashed a rocket from about 25 yards to put the Mountaineers in front in the 21st minute and just three minutes later Morgan Farrington scored her second of the tournament from about 10 yards off a cross from Camie Edgington. Cydni Cottrell made five saves for the clean sheet.
The NAIA Tournament Selection show is online November 13 at 9:00 am ET. Eastern Oregon received an automatic berth as regular season champion and Northwest University the second automatic selection as the runner-up to EOU in the tournament.
NAIA CCC UPDATE - MEN ####
Cascade Conference Tournament (Springfield, OR)
Quarterfinals - Friday, November 3
8-College of Idaho 0-1 OT 1-Southern Oregon
The Yotes were outshot 18-7 in the match and never got one of theirs on frame, but the defense - with five saves from Grant Billings (Boise, ID) - kept the Raiders off the board until the first minute of overtime.
7-Evergreen 0-4 2-Rocky Mountain
Sky Swenson scored at the half-hour mark and doubled the lead in the 60th as RMC grabbed control of the match on the scoreboard. They outshot the Geoducks again in the second half 12-2 (22-7 for the game) to put the match away. Jace Beck converted a penalty in the 80th and Swenson delivered a though ball to Mason Luse (Billings, MT) in the 86th to cap the game. Cole Catlin (Billings, MT) needed just one save for the shutout.
6-Northwest 0-1 3-Corban
5-Oregon Tech 0-2 4-Northwest Christian
Semifinals - Saturday, November 4
3-Corban 0-0 (4-2 SO) 2-Rocky Mountain
Cole Catlin made a pair of saves in the first half and was not tested after that with Corban going down a man to a red card in the 54th minute. The Bears would end up outshooting the Warriors 16-4, but in the end it would not matter with the game decided from the spot after a stalemate. RMC had one shot saved and another go high in the shootout.
4-Northwest Christian 0-1 1-Southern Oregon
Championship - Monday, November 6
3-Corban 1-2 OT 1-Southern Oregon
The NAIA Tournament Selection show is online November 13 at 10:00 am ET. Southern Oregon received an automatic berth as regular season champion and Corban the second automatic selection as the runner-up to SOU in the tournament.
LOWER DIVISION NOTES ####
DII - In front 8-7 in the ninth round of penalties Ryann Rydeen (Spokane, WA), who was inserted for the shootout, stopped the final attempt for Minnesota State-Mankato to send the Mavericks onto the NSIC semifinals and ultimately the NCAA Tournament with the Mavs claiming the tournament title... Peter Byrne (Missoula, MT) made nine saves for Fort Lewis in a 3-0 opening round win for the Skyhawks against Regis in the RMAC tournament... Caylin Cathey (Billings, MT) set up the game-winner for fifth-seed Mary, who were picked 12th in preseason, in a 1-0 opening round win at fourth-seed Minot State in the NSIC Tournament... Rikki Fix (Boise, ID) scored the go-ahead goal and set up the third for Regis in a 6-1 opening round RMAC win against Fort Lewis in which Akina Fujimoto (Meridian, ID) scored and Maggie Saras (Boise, ID) and Lizzie Thometz (Boise, ID) had an assist each.
DIII - None
NAIA - Riley Martinson (Spokane, WA) tallied the opening goal in a 2-0 win at Benedictine in the season finale for Embry-Riddle AU.
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