BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Seattle Pacific University women's soccer team scored a pair of goals in each half, claiming a 4-0 victory over Western Washington University to win its third Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championships title.
No. 2 seed WWU was playing in its ninth consecutive GNAC Tournament Final, but the Vikings were held off the scoreboard for just the fourth time this season to fall short of winning their sixth conference tournament title. The No. 13 nationally and No. 2 West Region ranked Vikings dropped to 14-4-3 on the season and will wait to find out its seeding for the upcoming NCAA II Championships.
"Congratulations to SPU. They were fantastic today and having an amazing season. They gave us everything we could handle today for sure and more," said WWU head coach
Travis Connell. "I am proud of our team. They battled hard out there and there is a lot of fight in us. I know the last chapter has not been written for us in our season. We are going to get back to work and continue to get better and get ready for our next opponent."
The No. 4 nationally-ranked and regular-season champion Falcons returned to the GNAC podium for the first time since winning back-to-back tournament titles in 2013-14. SPU extended its winning streak to eight consecutive matches and unbeaten streak to 13 straight to improve to 18-1-1 on the season. The Falcons are all but a lock to be the No. 1 seed in the West Region when the tournament field is announced Monday afternoon.
SPU held a decisive 18-8 lead in shot with a 8-1 advantage in shots on goal. Through the first 45 minutes of the game, the Falcon defense did not allow a shot by the Vikings.
Much like SPU's first visit to Bellingham (scored in 51 seconds in 3-0 win on Oct. 21), SPU struck early with a goal in the second minute. A failed clearance by a Western defender was collected by sophomore forward Sophie Beadle near the top of the box and she slotted a shot to the lower right corner for her seventh goal of the season.
The Falcons made it a two-score game early in the 24th minute when Beadle sent a cross in tot the box that was slammed home by GNAC Player of the Year Makena Rietz for her 11th goal of the season.
SPU scored a pair of goals early in the second half less than three minutes apart to extend the lead to 4-0. Chloe Gellhaus scored in the 51st minute on an 18-yard shot that tucked inside the far post and Rietz notched a brace in the 54th minute for her 12th goal of the season to tie WWU's
Jenna Killman for the conference lead. Both second-half goals were assisted by senior forward Sophia Chilczuk, who was named the GNAC Championships MVP after tallying four assists in the two games. Chilczuk has tallied 17 assists to tie for the most in a single season in GNAC history.
Freshman forward
Ashley Nguyen recorded four of the Vikings eight shots, with Killman firing three shots after recording a hat trick in Thursday's 3-1 semifinal win over Northwest Nazarene.
UP NEXT
The Vikings (14-4-3) will now find out if they will be making a ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Championships, a likely scenario after opening the postseason as the No. 2 seed in the West Region. The top two teams in the six-team regional field will serve as regional hosts for the first and second rounds and be played next weekend (November 18-20). The NCAA Division II Women's Soccer Championships Selection Show will air at 3 pm PT on
NCAA.com.
GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Western has qualified for the GNAC Championships in all nine years the event has been held since debuting in 2012 (no tournament in 2020) and advanced to the title game every year. With today's loss vs. SPU, the Vikings are now 5-2-2 in the GNAC Championships Final. SPU won its third conference tournament title and first since claiming the trophy in back-to-back years in 2013-14 with both games settled via penalty shootout. WWU and SPU are the only teams to qualify for every GNAC Tournament and have combined for eight of the nine titles (WWU 5, SPU 3, Concordia 1).
| Year |
Championship Game Score |
Tournament Venue |
| 2012 |
Western Washington 2, MSU Billings 0 |
Tukwila, WA |
| 2013 |
Seattle Pacific 1, Western Washington 1 (SPU 4-1 PKs) |
Tukwila, WA |
| 2014 |
Seattle Pacific 1, Western Washington 1 (SPU 5-4 PKs) |
Tukwila, WA |
| 2015 |
Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1 |
Burnaby, BC |
| 2016 |
Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1 |
Burnaby BC & Bellingham, WA |
| 2017 |
Western Washington 1, Concordia 0 (2 OT) |
Portland, OR |
| 2018 |
Concordia 2, Western Washington 1 (OT) |
Portland, OR |
| 2019 |
Western Washington 2, Seattle Pacific 1 |
Seattle, WA |
| 2020 |
No Tournament |
|
| 2021 |
Seattle Pacific 4, Western Washington 0 |
Bellingham, WA |
QUICK STATS
2021 GNAC Women's Soccer Championships Final
#4 Seattle Pacific 4, #13 Western Washington 0
Date: November 13, 2021
Field: Harrington Field Site: Bellingham,, WA
Weather: 48º, Rain Att: 324
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
--------------------------------------------------------
#4 Seattle Pacific................ 2 2 - 4
#13 Western Washington............ 0 0 - 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 1:32 SPU Beadle
2. 23:06 SPU Rietz (Beadle)
3. 50:54 SPU Gellhaus (Chilczuk)
4. 53:13 SPU Reitz (Chilczuk)
Shots: SPU 18, WWU 8
Shots on Goal: SPU 8, WWU 1
Saves: WWU 4 (Dierickx – 4, Henninger - 0), SPU 1 (Travis – 1)
Corners: WWU 2, SPU 2
Fouls: SPU 14, WWU 12
Yellow Cards: None
Offsides: SPU 2, WWU 0
Kits: WWU (Navy), SPU (White)
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. SEATTLE PACIFIC
WWU has dropped all three meetings vs. SPU this season and has not scored a goal in the three contests (out-scored 8-0). SPU has a current five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) vs. the Vikings after WWU had a 21-game unbeaten streak vs. the Falcons from 2013-2021. SPU now holds a narrow 22-21-7 edge in the all-time series between the Northwest college soccer powerhouses.
