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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28 --
(#4) SPU vs. Western Washington
7:00 p.m. PDT, Interbay Stadium (900), Seattle, Wash.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31 --
(#4) SPU at Central Washington
12:00 p.m. PDT, CWU Soccer Field, Ellensburg, Wash.

The inside track for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer title is on the line Wednesday, Oct. 28 when fourth-ranked Seattle Pacific (14-2, 7-1 GNAC) hosts Western Washington (10-4-2, 7-1-1). Kick-off is 7 p.m. at Interbay Stadium. The first-place Vikings are defending GNAC champions who enter this week's encounter with a slim one-point lead over SPU, which has played one fewer conference game. WWU won this year's first meeting, a 3-2 decision on Oct. 3 in Bellingham. On Saturday at noon, the Falcons visit Ellensburg for a conference clash at Central Washington (6-9-1, 3-5-1). SPU won its last eight meetings with the Wildcats. The Falcons close out the regular season with a pair of games next week, Nov. 5 at Montana State Billings and Nov. 7 vs. Northwest Nazarene.

GNAC Race
Wednesday's game won't decide the Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion, but it will give one team a solid lead to that end. Seattle Pacific is currently second in the standings with 21 points. The Falcons are one point behind defending champ Western Washington with a game in hand. They finished second in the conference standings last season after winning the crown in 2007. SPU captured five of the eight titles (2007, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002) since the GNAC began sponsoring women's soccer.

Live Coverage
Live stats are available for all SPU home soccer games on the internet. Wednesday's game can be accessed at:  http://www.sidearmstats.com/spu/wsoc  There is no live coverage available for Saturday's game at Central Washington.

Ticket Talk
Tickets for SPU soccer games can be purchased in advance or at Interbay Stadium (3027 17th Ave. W., Seattle 98119) on game day. Ticket windows open one hour prior to games. All seats are general admission, priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students and senior citizens. SPU students and staff are admitted free. Groups or teams of 10 or more may qualify for special general admission rates by calling (206) 281-2085 in advance.

Home Sweet Home
Seattle Pacific has not lost at Interbay Stadium since a 1-0 setback against Seattle University on Sept. 30, 2006. The Falcons compiled a 39-0-2 home record since then, including a perfect 15-0 mark in 2007, 11-0-2 in 2008 and 10-0 this season.

Player of the Week
Senior forward Jocelyn Charette was named the GNAC Player of the Week on Monday. She leads the Falcons with 11 goals, three of them coming during a 4-0 victory over Montana State Billings on Oct. 21. That was the 13th hat trick in SPU women's soccer history and the third for Charette. The senior forward currently leads all GNAC scorers with 26 points on 11 goals and four assists. Wednesday's performance increased Charette's career total to 27 goals, the fifth-highest figure in school history. She moved into a tie for the No 2 spot among all-time Falcons with 13 game-winning goals.

Rare Setbacks
The SPU women have lost just three games during the last two seasons, compiling a 36-3-2 record during that span. One loss came in their last outing, a 2-0 setback at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday (Oct. 24). The other two losses were dealt by Western Washington in Bellingham, 3-2 on Oct. 3 and 1-0 last year (Sept. 20).

Streaks Stopped
The Falcons' 3-2 loss at Western Washington on Oct. 3 stopped a 27-game unbeaten streak, including a 21-game winning skein. The Vikings halted the Falcons' streak of 11 consecutive shutouts that was the fourth-longest in all-time NCAA Division II women's soccer history. WWU's first goal, in the fifth minute, halted the school-record scoreless streak of 1,048-minutes, 6-seconds compiled by SPU.

This Week's Opponents
Western Washington (10-4-2, 7-1-1 GNAC) -- The defending GNAC champion Vikings are coached for the seventh season by four-year SPU letterman Travis Connell (1991-95). WWU won its last four games, all by shutouts.  Emily Frankland's six goals lead the Vikings, while goalkeeper Kylie Broadbent has eight shutouts and a 0.74 goals against average. SPU leads the series 12-3-3 despite two losses, a tie and one win in the last four meetings. The Falcons' lone win in the last two seasons was a big one as they were 1-0 double overtime victors on Nov. 20 in the Sweet 16 of the 2008 playoffs.

Central Washington (6-9-1, 3-5-1 GNAC) -- The Wildcats are led by the five goals of Kelsy Villegas. Playmaker Kaycie Hutchins has seven of CWU's 21 assists. Goalkeeper Amber Easterbrook posted five shutouts and a 1.32 goals against average. SPU leads the all-time series 15-1-1 and won the last eight meetings, including a 2-0 victory on Sept. 26 in Seattle. The lone Wildcat win was a 1-0 decision on Oct. 15, 2001 in Ellensburg during the second meeting in the series.

Magnificent Maddie
Junior goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson has been brilliant between the posts for the Falcons. The product of Skyview High School in Vancouver, Wash. did not allow a goal for this season's first 869 minutes, before Cal State Dominguez Hills slipped two past her on Saturday (Oct. 24). The Toros' 60th-minute goal stopped Dickinson's school-record scoreless streak at 1,012-minutes, 12-seconds, dating to the 2008 national semifinals. Dickinson blanked West Florida for 107:47 on Dec. 6 in the Falcon's 1-0 championship-game triumph. She ranks third among all-time SPU goalkeepers with 18 shutouts, including 10 in 2008 when she allowed just five goals in 1,332 minutes.

Poll Patter
SPU remained in the No. 4 position in last week's (Oct. 20) national rankings. SPU opened the season listed No. 1 in the NSCAA/adidas coaches preseason poll. The Falcons finished 2008 ranked first after beating previously top-ranked and undefeated West Florida in the championship game. West Florida is currently ranked No. 1. SPU is the only GNAC team listed in the national poll.

Terrific Transfer
Senior Jocelyn Charette (Tacoma, Wash./Curtis) leads the team with 11 goals. She netted her third career hat trick, and the 13th by an SPU player, in a 4-0 win over Montana State Billings (Oct. 21). Charette scored 27 career goals since her transfer from Tampa, where she played as a freshman in 2006. She was the Sunshine State Conference freshman of the year with 21 goals and nine assists for the Spartans. Charette scored six goals in five postseason games, helping Tampa reach the 2006 NCAA semifinals. She returned to Tampa's Pepin Stadium with SPU for the 2008 Final Four and assisted on both game-winning goals while scoring a semifinal goal of her own. Charette led the Falcons with 15 assists last fall, including an assist in each of the final six outings. Her nine goals ranked third on the team in 2008. Charette was a first-team All-GNAC and All-West Region selection last season.

All in the Family
Like father, like daughter. Sophomore Kelsey Jenkins is making the type of impact you might expect from the offspring of a standout professional player. She netted four goals this season and three of them have been game-winning tallies. Jenkins also distributed six assists, including a pass that set up Amanda Johnson's game-winning goal on Sept. 26 against Central Washington. Jenkins is a native of Kent, Wash., who prepped at Kentwood High School. Her father, Tommy Jenkins, was a left winger with several English clubs between 1966-75, including a three-season stint from 1969-72 with Southampton of the First Division. Tommy then came to Seattle to play from 1976-79 with the Sounders of the NASL.

Golden Girl
Senior midfielder Janae Godoy (Yakima, Wash./West Valley) finished the 2008 season in phenomenal fashion. She netted a golden goal in the 108th minute to lift SPU to its first national championship with a 1-0 win over West Florida. That was Godoy's fifth game-winning goal during the season's final seven outings, including three deciding tallies in playoff contests. She scored the lone goal in a Nov. 22 quarterfinal victory at Truman State to propel SPU into the Final Four. She also had the decisive goal in the Falcons' first tournament victory, a 3-1 decision against UC San Diego on Nov. 15 in Seattle. Godoy has proven to be a clutch performer as 11 of her 20 career goals were game winners.

Season Preview
Six starters return from last year's 22-1-2 SPU squad that won the school's first women's soccer national championship. Headlining the list of returnees is a trio of All-West Region honorees. Junior Amanda Johnson is the top returning scorer with 11 goals, two of them coming in the NCAA semifinal win. Senior Jocelyn Charette topped the team with 15 assists in 2008 and also netted nine goals. Junior goalkeeper Maddie Dickinson had a 0.34 goals against average and was credited with 10 of the team's 17 shutouts. To that returning corps, SPU added seven signees in one of the finest recruiting classes in school history. The Falcons need to replace five departed starters, including three defenders and midfielder Meredith Teague, the 2008 National Player of the Year. SPU was an overwhelming choice by GNAC coaches to win the 2009 conference title, receiving six of seven first-place votes.

2008 Review
Janae Godoy's 108th-minute golden goal on Dec. 6 against West Florida capped a remarkable championship season for Seattle Pacific. The Falcons won their last 11 games, and were undefeated in the final 17 outings, en route to a 22-1-2 record. They were dominant, outscoring opponents 67-10 on the strength of a 492-169 shot advantage. The Falcons shut out 17 foes. Senior Meredith Teague, the 2008 National Player of the Year, amassed 14 goals and 10 assists. SPU qualified for the Final Four in three of the last four seasons. 

Coach Chuck Sekyra
Since taking over in 2003, just the third year of the program, Chuck Sekyra has guided Seattle Pacific teams to a remarkable 132-13-10 record, three Final Four appearances and the 2008 national championship.  He directed four of those teams to GNAC championships, and all six of his squads participated in the NCAA tournament. His Falcons advanced to the 2005 championship game. Sekyra was a defender on the Falcons men's soccer teams that won back-to-back NCAA titles in 1985 and 1986. He served as an assistant men's coach at SPU in 1998 and 1999 under Cliff McCrath, then was an assistant women's coach at Washington for three years before being named head coach of the SPU women in 2003. He was named GNAC Coach of the Year in 2003, '04, '05 and '07 and earned Regional Coach of the Year honors in both 2005 and 2007. He received the NSCAA National Coach of the Year award in 2007.