SPU Falcons win National Title in overtime

The Seattle Pacific University Falcons women won the NCAA 2 National Championship today with a 1-0 victory over Western Florida in the second overtime. Watch the winning goal below.

Read the match report from SPU here.
Seattle Times coverage is here.

Way to go, FALCONS!

Falcons advance to championship match

TAMPA, Fla. -- Sophomore forward Amanda Johnson scored two goals and assisted on the third Thursday to send fourth-ranked Seattle Pacific into the championship game of the NCAA Division II women’s soccer tournament with a 3-1 semifinal victory over No. 12 Metro State at Pepin Stadium.

SPU, which improved to 21-1-2, will meet either No. 2 West Florida or No. 21 Saint Rose in Saturday’s championship game at 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time, 3:30 p.m. Eastern.

The Falcons will be making their second championship game appearance. They suffered a 2-1 overtime decision against Nebraska-Omaha in 2005. SPU is participating in the Final Four for the third time in the last four years.

Coach Chuck Sekyra has directed the Falcons into the NCAA Tournament in each of his six seasons, including three Final Four berths. He expected his experienced team to start strong.

“This is how it should go. This is our third time here in four years, we should come out confident,” he explained. “We knew what to expect. I’ve got a very intelligent team and they’ve learned that you have to get after it from the first minute.”

Read the entire article at SPUFalcons.com

Redhawks take "Coffee Cup" over SPU, 3-1

Andrew Kreiter assisted on the first goal of the match and scored late in the first half in Tuesday's 3-1 win over SPU. (Seattle University Athletics photo.)

From www.GoSeattleU.com: Senior Andrew Kreiter (Billings, Mont.) and sophomore Sean Morris (Bothell, Wash.) each earned a goal and an assist as the Seattle University men’s soccer team took the early lead and held on to defeat Seattle Pacific, 3-1, Tuesday night at Interbay Stadium.

Seattle University jumped on the board first just over five minutes into the match as Kreiter received a pass from Morris in stride as he was trailing the play down the left side of the field. His crossing pass reached Kyle Peterman (Boise, Idaho), whose shot beat Seattle Pacific goalie Ben Lovelace for his fourth goal of the season.

The Redhawks continued to pressure the Falcon defense in the first half, earning several chances as the half went along. After Seattle Pacific was called for a foul with just over 15 minutes left in the half, Morris bent in a free kick from the left side into the net for his second goal of the season. Just over three minutes later, Kreiter blasted a shot from the top of the box into the right corner for his third tally of the season.

Seattle Pacific (4-6-3) came out of the locker room after halftime more aggressive, challenging the Seattle University defense several times. The Falcons broke through with just over 18 minutes remaining in the second half, as Enis Isufi was able to convert a crossing pass from Elliot Morton from close range to cut the Redhawk lead to two.

Emerson DeOliveira (Normandy Park, Wash.) finished with three saves to pick up his fourth victory of the season. Lovelace made four saves in the first half for the Falcons, while relief goalie Kaleb Kuehn did not need to make a save in the second half. Seattle University finished with 14 shots, seven of them on goal, while four of the Falcons’ 12 shots were on goal.

Seattle University (7-3-1) heads south to face the University of Portland Friday, Oct. 17, beginning at 4:30 p.m. After a two-week layoff, the Redhawks host Simon Fraser University in the final home match of the season Saturday, Nov. 1, beginning at 2:30 p.m. at Championship Field.

Big Weekend for Redhawks Soccer

Jamie Coe notched her fourth goal of the season to help Seattle University defeat Boise State, 2-1, Sunday.
(Seattle University photo).

It was a very nice weekend for the Seattle University Redhawks Women's and Men's soccer clubs.

The Redhawks Women beat Idaho on Friday and Boise State on Sunday to win the Governor's Cup Tournament.

The SU Men blasted Howard University 9-1.

Washington Men's soccer blanked Furman, 4-0, to win the Diadora/Spinx Invitational in Greenville, S.C., Sunday.

The Washington Women remain perfect on the season (4-0) after a 4-0 win over Kennesaw State.

The Seattle Pacific Falcons Men lost their road opener on Friday. The Falcons Women, ranked 8th, routed #16 Chico State 3-0.

SPU Falcon Women in Final Four

Becca Woods (#5) controls for SPU in their 1-0 playoff win at Truman.
(Flickr.com photos by Wig121.)

The last local college club still alive and kicking are the Seattle Pacific University Falcons Women.

They travel to Tampa this week for a Thursday night match against Metro State. Read the latest from SPUFalcons.com.

The Seattle P-I has a feature story today, too.

The Falcons advanced to the Final Four with a big road victory over Truman. You can view a gallery from that match here.

SPU near miss against Truman.

College Round-up: The playoffs

Steven Fung saves for UW. Sheena Nguyen UW Daily photo.

The Washington Huskies Men host Oregon State tonight in their final home match of the season. For the Dawgs an NCAA playoff bid seems to have slipped away, but the club of course hopes to finish well tonight, as Sheena Nguyen reports in the UW Daily today.

The UW Women are off to Texas to play LSU in the first round of the NCAA's. Honsen Lin gives fans a preview.

From the Seattle Times: Seattle Pacific will host a Division II West regional match at 1 p.m. Saturday at Interbay Stadium. The Falcons, 17-1-2 and ranked fourth nationally, received a first-round bye. They are the No. 2 seed in the regional.

The Falcons will play UC San Diego, which beat BYU-Hawaii 1-0 Thursday night at Interbay.

Western Washington, the No. 1 seed in the region, also has a first-round bye and will host a match Sunday. The Vikings (16-2-2) will play the winner of today's match between San Francisco State and Cal State Dominguez Hills.

The Western Washington Men won the GNAC, but were not selected to the NCAA II tournament, reports Daniel O'Hair in the Western Front.

The regional community college playoffs for men and women are underway. NWAACC.org has the playoff brackets for the guys and the gals.

In Tacoma, the UPS Loggers set a league record by going a perfect 16-0 in conference play, and will host a NCAA III playoff match this Sunday.

Redhawks, Huskies, Falcons announce new recruits

Seattle University, the University of Washington and Seattle Pacific University have all recently released their lists of new soccer recruits.

For the men, the SU Redhawks welcome Troy Bratten, John Pegg and Bobby Segal. The Huskies have added Quinton Beasely, Ryan Moore, and Will Pleskow, among others. The Falcons captured seven players including Zach Johnson, Chris Morris and Charlie Piehler.

For the women, Seattle University has signed Taylor Bolibol, Liana Heberer and two others. The UW lists four prep standouts as signed, including Lesle Gallimore and Kellie Welch. The defending National Champion Falcon women announced a class of seven, including Megan Lindsay and Taylor Sawyer.

Most clubs will regroup this spring for practice and local matches before fall training begins in August.

Around the Sound of Soccer for October 21st

Here's the latest from around the Sound of soccer...

The girls high school soccer rankings are out and posted in the Seattle Times.
Beamer and Kennedy lead the way in their levels. The Ballard News-Tribune highlights the play of Sara Ives.

The Western Viking Women continue to rack up the victories. The latest is a 3-1 win over St. Martin's. Two Vikes were honored by the league for play last week.

SPU Falcons Men came all the way back from down 2-0 to beat Northwest Nazarene 3-2 in Nampa, Idaho.

The Lake Washington Youth Soccer Association is getting the go-ahead to build more soccer fields.

October 25th is the last day to enter the Kitsap Soccer Club 'name the team' contest.

The new Women's pro league will get an internet assist from a Seattle company.

Dawgs bite back, Falcons roll

Freshman Brent Richards (right) scored again for the Huskies.

It was a good weekend for the University of Washington soccer teams.

Raphael Cox netted the overtime winner as the men beat San Diego State 2-1 on Sunday. In Seattle the UW women edged #13 Cal 3-2 on two late goals by Veronica Perez.

On Saturday the Seattle Pacific Falcon women blasted Northwest Nazarene 6-0.

UW Daily: Women’s soccer treads difficult road

Photo by Tim Willis, UW Daily.

Senior midfielder Jenna Robinson helps set up flags to protect the field from geese after practice Tuesday. The women’s soccer team heads south this weekend to face the Oregon schools.

It has been a gigantic turn-around season for the Washington Women. A program on the outs in recent years ran up victories in their non-conference matches to start the season.

Now comes the hardest part: winning in the Pac-10 and getting into the NCAA's.

In today's UW Daily Honsen Lin takes a look at the challenges ahead for the Huskies.

“In comparison to the other big conferences, it’s intense; it’s intense all the way through,” freshman goalkeeper Kari Davidson said.

Gallimore said that in any given week, many Pac-10 teams are ranked among the top few teams in the country.

“We do see a lot of girls who have a lot of speed and a lot of great skills that a lot of conferences and other teams do not have,” said senior defender Dana Stirn. “So it’s a big difference going from some of our non-conference games, which have been less challenging, to playing girls who are on the national team.”

Read the entire article here.

Girl Power
Women's college soccer around the Sound is having another banner year. Up in Bellingham the Western Washington Vikings are ranked 13th in the country. The Viks edged Central recently as this coverage from the Herald shows.

The Seattle Pacific Falcons are ranked 6th in the nation.

In South Sound the Loggers of UPS, currently ranked 4th in all of Division 3, keep cruising along, reports the Tacoma Weekly.

Over the Mountains the Washington State Cougars are having another excellent, ranked campaign.

 

Around the Sound of Soccer for October 16th

The Seahawks Pro Shop continues to add Sounders FC gear to its online inventory. The above lapel pin is one of the latest new items.

Fans continue to buzz about the possibility of Freddie Ljungberg coming to Seattle. Even more buzz has been created out of Sounders FC owner Joe Roth's bombshell that the club 'are only one player away from a starting eleven,' meaning that 10 players have been signed. This means that we'll have seven guys announced soon. Roth says it will happen over the next six weeks or so, and that the players 'come from all over the world.' Watch the video.

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Steve MacClare of ProstAmerika writes some of the best soccer articles in our area. Check out a recent interview Steve did with Sounders FC General Manager Adrian Hanauer and also his column over at the European Weekly.

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In college soccer, two west Sound clubs are getting some internet attention. In Bremerton the Olympic College women have a feature on player Brittnay Gates. Up north but still on the peninsula, the PCC Pirates of Port Angeles are getting exposure from a MySpace page constantly updated by parents and fans. Sticking with west sound, the Bremerton City Council narrowly approved the sale of wine and beer at a local privately owned indoor soccer venue that sits on park land. It is expected that the new 2009 Kitsap Pro Soccer Club will not be allowed to sell alcohol in their stadium.

In south sound the big rivalry matches between Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran saw a UPS sweep. The Logger women clinched the league while the men rallied to top the Lutes.

A bit further south the St. Martin's Saints are getting some press in The Olympian after their improvement over last year.

Did you miss the score from the "Coffee Cup?" In what some say could be the last meeting between long-time rivals Seattle University and Seattle Pacific, the Redhawks bumped off the Falcons 3-1 at Interbay earlier this week. The schools need to work out a plan to keep playing even after the Redhawks complete their move to NCAA Division One. See a match gallery here.

College Round-up: Huskies invited to MLS Combine

There is news coming from the University of Washington Men's soccer program. George John and Raphael Cox have been invited to the MLS scouting combine in January (see complete list here). John recently won the Pac-10's Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year award. Former Huskies Craig Waibel, Mike Chabala and Ely Allen (all in Major League Soccer) will participate in the Husky Winter Soccer Camp December 26-28.

The Seattle Pacific University Falcons Women have gear out now to celebrate their national championship.
The Falcon Men and Women are getting ready for their Winter Break Camp for boys and girls December 29-31.

The SOUND of soccer: over 50 matches coming your way

The SPU Falcon Women have 12 home matches at Interbay this Fall.
(Flickr.com photo by JimKim)

We've completed our "Local Match Calendar" updates for the Fall by adding home dates for Washington, Seattle University and Seattle Pacific Men and Women.

Soccer fans will have over 50 chances to see high level soccer over the next four months. Along with seven home matches down the stretch for the United Soccer Leagues Division One Seattle Sounders, there will be home matches for NCAA Division One Washington, and a smaller slate for NCAA Division One-transitioning Seattle University. The Seattle Pacific Falcons host a whopping 20 home matches this Fall at Interbay; 12 for the Women and 8 for the Men.

The local college home calendar kicks off on Friday, August 22 at 7:00 PM at Husky Soccer Field when the UW Huskies host Seattle University in what will be a preview of what promises to become a hotly contested cross-town Division One derby in the coming years.

Highline were CC champs a few years back.
(Highline soccer website)

In Puget Sound community college soccer action the season rolls out on August 29th.

Seattle-area action kicks off September 5th when Highline hosts Tacoma at 4:00 PM.

If you add in the community college matches you could spend almost every day between now and November watching soccer.

That's what I call the SOUND of soccer!

Around the Sound of Soccer for August 30th

The Washington Husky Men lost their opening match of the season last night 2-1 to Farleigh Dickinson at the Nike Portland Invitational.

The UW Women won their opener at Montana 3-0 earlier in the week.

The Seattle University Redhawks Men are in Irvine California this weekend for matches on Saturday against Cleveland State and Monday against North Florida. The Redhawks Women have already played three away matches, the latest a 1-1 draw with Sacramento State on Friday. You can follow the Redhawks Women through one of their players, Maryann Boddy, as she blogs on GOALSeattle all season long.

Seattle Pacific Falcons Men and Women kicked off with home matches this week. On Thursday the Falcon Men drew 0-0 with Cal State Monterey Bay despite outshooting them 18-3. The SPU Women drew 1-1 with Cal State San Bernadino. The Falcon Women host San Francisco State tonight at Interbay at 7:00 PM.

Federal Mirror Sports Editor Casey Olson has a nice recap of how FW-area soccer players are doing away at school.

Seattle Soccer Examiner

This blog is going on hiatus! What? No-o-o-o-o-o!

However, the same content and full focus on ALL OF PUGET SOUND SOCCER will now be updated daily at the new source, my Seattle Soccer Examiner page!

Please change your bookmarks. This page will remain dormant but online for links, referrals, etc.

You can also get to the Seattle Soccer Examiner the same way you used to get to the GS blog: by clicking 'blog' on the front page of GOALSeattle.com. Please do follow me over there!

www.Examiner.com/Seattle offers me a chance to reach more fans, make a bit of cash, and for you a chance to keep getting insider news and updates about the Sounders, Wolves, Pumas, Tide, Redhawks, Huskies, Falcons, Sounders Women and Synergy.

See you over at the "X."

College Round-up: Late goal gets tie for Dawgs

The GOALSeattle 'fancam' was on hand Sunday as UW drew 2-2 with nationally ranked Cal Bears. Here Taylor Cochran (#25) and George John celebrate Casey Cunningham's goal that drew the match level 2-2 in the 72nd minute.

The University of Washington Huskies scored a goal in the 72nd minute on a header from defender Casey Cunningham and went on to draw tenth-ranked California 2-2 Sunday at Husky Soccer Field. On Friday UW edged Stanford 1-0.

UW Daily reports on both matches: Huskies take down Stanford; tie Cal

The UW Women lost a close 1-0 match in third-ranked Portland on Friday.

UW and California players get tangled up in 2-2 Sunday draw.

The Seattle University Men came home after extended road tours only to fall 2-1 to Cal-State Bakersfield.

The Redhawks Women won their third straight match and sixth overall when they bested Eastern Washington at Championship Field Sunday.

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The Seattle Pacific Falcons Men lost their first league match at Billings on Saturday.

The Falcon Women blanked Central Washington 3-0 on October 1st.

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Western Washington Vikings Women edged CWU 2-1 in Bellingham on Saturday.

The Viking Men went all crazy on Colorado Christian Cougars on October 1st when they set numerous school records with a 10-0 victory.

Around the Sound of Soccer for September 1st

J. Andrew Towell has numerous photo galleries for SPU soccer.

Our college clubs were busy over the weekend. The Washington Huskies Women raised their record to 2-0 with a 2-0 victory over Gonzaga in Spokane on Sunday. The Washington Men are headed the other direction at 0-2 after they lost a 2-1 overtime heart breaker to #10 Virginia Tech at the Nike Portland Invitational.

The Seattle University Redhawks Men edged Cleveland State 1-0 in the Cal Irvine Soccer Classic on Saturday. The Redhawks Women drew 0-0 with San Jose State in California on Sunday. On Labor Day the Redhawks Men stomped North Florida 3-0 to win the tournament.

The Seattle Pacific Falcons Women clipped San Francisco State 1-0 at Interbay on Saturday.

The Seattle Sounders are in San Jose to take on the Major League Soccer Earthquakes in a friendly on Tuesday night.

College Round-up: Locals rise, fall in NCAA playoffs

It was a mixed weekend for Washington college clubs in the various levels of the NCAA playoffs. In Texas the Washington Husky Women staged a dramatic rally from a 2-0 deficit to defeat LSU 3-2 last Friday, but the Dawgs fell on Sunday in the second round to home side Texas A & M, 3-1.

The Seattle Pacific Falcon Women beat UC SanDiego 3-1 to gain entry into the NCAA II round of 16. Joining the Falcons will be the Western Washington Vikings. The Bellingham group beat CSU Dominguez Hills 1-0 on Sunday to stay alive.

The 6th ranked Puget Sound Loggers of the NCAA III fell 1-0 at home to get eliminated from title contention.

The WSU Cougars are out after a 1-0 loss to the Texas Longhorns.

The regional community college final fours have been decided. In the men's bracket it will be Walla Walla v. Peninsula in one semifinal and Spokane v. Chemeketa in the other. The semifinals will be held November 22 at Starfire. The Final will take place the next day at the same venue. On the women's side the final four pits Walla Walla against Shoreline and Columbia Basin against Clackamas.