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Take two. With just two regular season games left to play, the Seattle Pacific University women’s soccer team finds itself looking good with regard to NCAA Division II tournament qualification. Furthermore, the Falcons still have a shot at their fifth straight Great Northwest Athletic Conference title, although they will need some help. SPU (6-2-0/15-3-0) spends the final week of the regular season on the road, visiting Central Washington (1-5-2/6-8-3) Wednesday afternoon (Oct. 25) and Seattle University (7-0-1/14-1-2) Saturday morning (Oct. 28). The NCAA tournament bracket will be announced Monday night (Oct. 30).

Conference race. A last-minute, 1-0 win over Western Oregon in the final home game kept Seattle Pacific kept solidly wedged in a tie with Western Washington for second place in the conference. Seattle University extended its unbeaten streak to 12 games going into its Thursday matinee with the Vikings. SPU must win at Central on Wednesday and hope for a Seattle U loss or tie to have any chance of claiming a GNAC title Saturday. The Falcons have won the conference championship each of the last four years.

Far West seedings. When all is said and done, the final GNAC standings will likely have some bearing on seeding for the Far West Regional tournament, Nov. 2 and 4. The best-case scenario would have the Falcons earning one of the top two seeds. In doing so, they would have a chance to either host the tournament for the third consecutive year or, at the very least, avoid playing the home team in the first round. Heading into this week, UC San Diego is No. 1 in the Far West, followed by Seattle U., SPU, Chico State, Western Washington and Sonoma State. The Falcons have made the playoffs in each of their three seasons under Coach Chuck Sekyra and advanced to the 2005 NCAA title game.

Thank goodness it's Godoy. Seattle Pacific finished its home season having out-scored visitors 20-3. Yet, there were some tense moments at Interbay this fall, and particularly last week. Not until the 75th minute did the Falcons get some breathing room with Western Washington, and the win over Western Oregon required the latest regulation time goal in team history. Although they out-shot the Wolves 20-3, the game’s only goal was saved for the final 46 seconds. Janae Godoy (Fr., Yakima, Wa./West Valley) did the honors, finishing a cross from Jessica Gerstmann (Jr., Puyallup, Wa./Cascade Christian) at close range.

Loomis looms large. An impact player throughout her career, Tricia Loomis (Jr., Des Moines, Wa./Mount Rainier) once again came up big last week, figuring in three of the team’s four goals. Loomis earned assists on two goals versus the Vikings and also set Gerstmann free for the cross against WOU. Coming off the bench up front, she now has assists in each of the last three games and her total of five ranks second on the team. Loomis shared GNAC player of the week honors.

Getting defensive. Sekyra’s back four of Carolyn Nason (Sr., Lafayette, Co./Broomfield-Metro State), Mollie Taylor (Sr., Westlake Village, Ca./Oaks Christian), Katie Taylor (So., Vancouver, Wa./Colum. River) and Claire Grubbs (So., Sterling, Va./Potomac Falls) continues to gel. Last week’s wins were the first back-to-back shutouts in a month. Keeper Katie Ruggles (Sr., Eugene, Or./South Eugene) made a total of four saves in raising her shutout total to seven. The Falcon defense ranks second in the GNAC in goals-against (0.72) and in shutouts (9).

Martinez returns. Following a two-game absence, All-America forward Sarah Martinez (Jr., Bothell, Wa./Cedar Park Christian) was back in action versus Western Oregon, logging 47 minutes as a substitute. Martinez had suffered a knee injury in a Oct. 9 win over Dixie State. Despite missing a total of three games, Martinez remains the team’s top scorer with eight goals, six assists and 22 points.

Throw-ins. During the five-game win streak, SPU has outscored opponents 16-3 and six of the goals have come in the final 10 minutes...Alex Kirk (Fr., Edmonds, Wa./Edmonds-Woodway) and Kayla Stiegemeier (Fr., Rathdrum, Id./Lakeland) have started in tandem up front in Martinez’ absence. The pair of freshman have combined for six goals over the last four games… Stiegemeier’s 11 points in conferance play leads all GNAC players...Martinez is No. 3 in GNAC season scoring and Oakes remains the leader in shots...Stiegemeier scored the second goal and Kirk the third versus Western Washington. Oakes had the opener...Sekyra played only three reserves vs. WOU, the lowest number of the season…Jeanne Webster (Jr., Bothell, Wa./Bothell) will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury…Oakes teamed up with Meredith Teague (So, Redmond, Wa./Bellevue Christian) in central midfield last week with Kara Hamby (Jr., Spokane, Wa./Mead) and Gerstmann on the flanks...Nason, Ruggles, Oakes and Teague are the only players to start all 18 games…Seattle Pacific leads the conference in corner kicks taken with 103...GNAC teams are 14-7-2 against CCAA teams with Seattle (6), Seattle Pacific (4) and Western Washington (3) accounting for 13 of the wins. Sonoma State and UC San Diego each have two of the CCAA wins.

Coaching Staff. Chuck Sekyra was voted coach of the year for the second consecutive time in the GNAC after taking the Falcons to a league title, NCAA playoff berth and a 19-1-2 record in his second season. Seykra, an assistant at Washington for three seasons, has close ties to the Puget Sound soccer community and to Seattle Pacific in particular. He is a graduate of SPU, played on two NCAA championship teams and was assistant men¹s coach from 1998-99. Sekyra was a starter on the Œ86 squad which became the first in Division II history to win back-to-back national crowns. He is head coach of the Washington State girls ODP Under-16 team and a Region IV ODP staff coach. Goalkeeper coach Kevin Blokker returns for his third year on the staff after previously coaching at San Francisco (his alma mater), Wyoming, Fresno State and Kansas. Chalise Baysa, Oregon¹s all-time scoring leader, is in her second season on the staff. She now plays for the W-League Seattle Sounders.

Tickets, please. Ticket prices for all SPU regular season home games are $5 for general admission, with students and senior citizens $3. Group and team rates are available by phoning (206) 281-2085 in advance.

Missing links. For the latest and best information on Seattle Pacific University athletics, stay where you're at -- on The Falcons Online. For updated standings and statistics, see the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web site.