Heart breakers. Although the Seattle Pacific University women's soccer team's Great Northwest Athletic Conference title hopes were dashed in its last week of season play, the Falcons (7-5-0, 8-10-1) exceeded all expectations in their first year as a varsity sport. Beginning the final week with a chance to win a conference title, SPU dropped a pair of matches to finish its inaugural season fourth in the GNAC.

Take heed. Coach Bobby Bruch put together a fantastic run for the first-year program that is certain to be outdone in upcoming seasons. Starting in August with just a handful of veteran players, Bruch managed to put together a winning record in GNAC play. Next season nine starters are expected back and the Falcons hope to both contend for the conference crown as well as an NCAA playoff berth. Recently the Division II Management Council voted to expand the bracket from to 32 teams in 2002.

A season to remember. From their opening-game draw with nationally-ranked Point Loma Nazarene to the inaugural home game victory over Central Washington and through to the end of the GNAC championship chase it was a very memorable first season of women's soccer on the SPU campus. Of the 10 losses and single tie, five were dealt by opponents which were nationally-ranked at the time. The Falcons, who were picked to finish fifth in the conference, led the league after first winning five in a row and later moving to 7-3 in the GNAC by beating Northwest Nazarene for the fifth straight home conference win. Seattle Pacific finished 5-2-0 at Interbay Stadium, out-scoring visitors 15-9.

Tough to replace. While Bruch has most of his players coming back, the Falcons must replace two of their three all-GNAC selections. Forward Andrea Larsen (Sr., Portland, Or./Central Catholic-Oklahoma State), the conference's No. 3 scorer with 10 goals and 25 points, and defender Erin Roberts (Jr., Issaquah, Wa./Issaquah-Montana), the anchor at the other end of the field, are graduating. Together, they accounted for 14 of the team's 30 goals. Michelle Sanders (Fr., Centralia, Wa.), who played defense, midfield and forward while leading the team in assists (6), also made first team all-GNAC and leads the list of returnees. Earning honorable mention all-conference were goalkeeper Jennifer Hull (Fr., Eugene, Or./Sheldon), LeRin Farrison (Jr., Vancouver, Wa./Mountain View-Highline CC) and defender Katie Lim (Fr., Hillsboro, Or./Hillsboro). Larsen, Roberts, Lim, Hull and midfielder Melissa Ellingson (Fr., Shoreline, Wa./Shorewood) were the only players to start all 19 games.

Solid core. Bruch's midfield may remain intact. Ellingson, Alissa Peterson (So., Plymouth, Mn./Wayzata-Wisconsin), Jessica Henson (Fr., Spokane, Wa./University) and BreeAnn Milligan (Fr., Idaho Falls, Id./Skyline) were mainstays and, combined, contributed seven goals and six assists. Sanders is likely to move up front permanently and join Farrison. Those starting 10 or more games at the back were Karen France (Fr., Fr., Woodland Park, Co./Palmer) and Anna-Kate Peterson (So., Portland, Or./Cleveland).

For the record. Larsen definitely set some high standards in her only season at SPU. In addition to her season totals, she set first-year records for goals (3) and shots (8) in a game. She also scored both the first goal of the year and the first goal at Interbay. Larsen was the GNAC leader in goals per game (0.53), tied for first in goals and third in shots (58). She had transferred to Seattle Pacific after leaving Oklahoma State as its career scoring leader. Sanders was the only player with two assists in a single game. She finished fifth in the conference for the season. Hull was fourth in goals-against average (1.50). As a team, Seattle Pacific landed third in goals, third in assists and second in corner kicks.

Footnotes. Women's soccer finished with the third-best winning percentage (.447) of any first-year varsity team sport. Only women's basketball in (.682/15-7) and men's basketball (.625/13-9) were better. Men's soccer, now recognized as a national power after five national titles and 28 playoff appearances, began in 1968 with a record of 0-7-1...Bruch has already begun building his schedule for next season. Among the nonconference dates tentatively slated are Grand Canyon at home and both Sonoma State and San Francisco State on the road...The Far West Region's top four teams will qualify for the playoffs in 2002. This season the top seven teams were all members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Defending national champion UC San Diego has advanced to the quarterfinal stage...The National Letter of Intent signing period for soccer begins Feb. 6...The team's longest win streak (three games) came immediately after the longest losing streak (four games)...The Falcons outscored opponents 22-12 in the second period.

SPU Coach. Bobby Bruch was hired as the Falcons' first head coach on Oct. 17, 2000. Bruch, an assistant on the SPU men's squad at the time, had been a successful girls coach in Southern California. He guided the West Coast F.C. Shamrocks of Mission Viejo, Ca., to the 1998 U.S. under-19 girls championship and his teams made it to the semifinal and final each on one other occasion. As a player, Bruch was a starting midfielder on Seattle Pacific's back-to-back NCAA men's titles in 1985-86 and later played on championship teams for F.C. Seattle (1988) and the L.A. Heat (1991).