GU women aim for NCAA berth
It’s never happened in the program’s history, now it’s a possibility.
With possibility comes hope, and with hope, one final chance to prove worthy.
For the Gonzaga women’s soccer team, the “it” is earning a berth in the NCAA Women’s College Cup, and the last chance is today when the San Francisco Dons come to Spokane.
A win by the Bulldogs (11-3-4, 2-1-3), ranked No. 21 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, would clinch third place in the West Coast Conference, traditionally one of the country’s toughest soccer conferences. It would also give the NCAA selection committee one more thing to think about when making their decisions on at-large berths Sunday. (The selections are not announced to the public until Monday on ESPNews.)
“(Making the tournament) has been a dream for all of us,” GU head coach Shannon Stiles said. “That’s the ultimate goal. We fancy our chances, but we feel we need the win. We want to wrap up third place in conference. That’s one of our goals.”
Gonzaga’s resume is solid. The Bulldogs haven’t allowed a goal in five games and have beaten Pepperdine, then ranked 10th, on the road and tied Santa Clara, then ranked fifth and now tied for sixth, at home. Their only losses have come to Cal State Fullerton, now ranked 17th, second-ranked Portland, and Notre Dame, the defending national champions who are ranked fifth.
But that doesn’t mean they take the Dons (4-13-2, 2-4) lightly. They know it’s all but a must-win game.
“We feel we have done enough,” Stiles said. “We still have only lost three games, all to teams in the Top 25. … But you hate to make predictions because who knows what the NCAA is thinking?”
GU goalkeeper Ashley Haugen, who hasn’t allowed a goal in 510 minutes, going back to Oct. 9, added:
“We have to win to give ourselves the best shot of getting an at-large berth.”
It will be Senior Day at Martin Field for Haugen and defender Stacey Sarro, who arrived in 2002, a year after GU didn’t win a game.
“You’re glad when those kids get rewarded like this,” Stiles said. “It’s a lot of work, struggling through, losing games you shouldn’t have, to finally have things go our way and fall into place.”