Clockwise from top left: Danika Galbraith (Central Washington), Mie Cairns (Western Washington), Andie Buckley (Seattle Pacific) and Alyssa Clark (Simon Fraser).
Clockwise from top left: Danika Galbraith (Central Washington), Mie Cairns (Western Washington), Andie Buckley (Seattle Pacific) and Alyssa Clark (Simon Fraser).

Vikings win 12th women’s soccer title, field set for GNAC Championships

10/31/2026 6:41:50 PM

By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Claiming its record 12th Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer regular-season title on Halloween, Western Washington emerged with the top seed as the field was finalized for next week’s conference tournament.
 
The Vikings went 14-2-3 overall and won their third consecutive GNAC trophy by going 12-1-1 in league play this fall. Saturday’s 3-0 triumph over Central Washington sealed WWU’s fourth regular-season championship in the last five seasons.
 
2026 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships
Nov. 5-7, 2026 | Interbay Stadium | Seattle, Wash. | Host: Seattle Pacific University
Thursday, Nov. 5
Semifinal 1 – 11 a.m. (Pacific) – No. 4 seed Central Washington vs. No. 1 seed Western Washington
Semifinal 2 – 3 p.m. (Pacific) – No. 3 seed Seattle Pacific vs. No. 2 seed Simon Fraser
 
Saturday, Nov. 710476
Final – 11 a.m. (Pacific) – Winner Semifinal 1 vs. Winner Semifinal 2
 
All games of the GNAC Championships will be streamed live on the GNAC Network, with tournament passes as well as individual game passes available. Championship pricing and information can be found online here. Live statistics for the women’s championship tournament will be available online here. Tickets are available for online purchase here. This year’s event will mark the 14th GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships, with the postseason tournament debuting in 2012. This will mark the third time play will be contested at Interbay Stadium, with the Falcons also hosting in 2019 and 2024.
 
Top-seed Western Washington and second-seeded Simon Fraser have met in the GNAC Championships title match in each of the last three seasons, with the Red Leafs hoisting three consecutive conference tournament trophies. Last year’s epic final ended in a scoreless draw, with SFU emerging 5-4 in a penalty-kick shootout.
 
The tournament will kick off on Thursday morning with a rematch of Saturday’s regular-season finale between the Vikings and Wildcats. It will mark the third time the teams meet at the conference tournament, with WWU winning 2-1 in the semifinal round of both the 2014 and 2019 championships. In addition to Saturday’s 3-0 win for the Vikings, the teams played to a 0-0 stalemate in their other regular-season encounter on Sept. 19 in Bellingham, Wash.
 
Central Washington will be making its fifth appearance and will be in search of its first-ever conference tournament title. CWU snapped a five-year tournament drought, with its most recent appearance being as the fourth seed in 2019. The Wildcats finished the regular season 6-9-4 overall and went 6-6-2 in conference play to earn 20 points and finish in fourth place. CWU is 0-4 all-time in GNAC Championships contests.
 
The top-seeded Vikings will be in pursuit of their record seventh conference tournament crown, with their most recent win coming en route to their second NCAA Division II national championship trophy in 2022. WWU is 19-4-3 all-time in GNAC Championships contests, with its other tournament wins coming in 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015 and at the inaugural event in 2012.
 
Thursday’s second semifinal contest will feature the tournament host Falcons against the three-time reigning tournament champion Red Leafs. It will mark the third time the teams square off in conference tournament play, with SPU winning 2-1 in 2021 and SFU claiming back-to-back wins, 4-2 in 2023 and 2-0 in 2024, en route to its first two GNAC Championships trophies. Simon Fraser got the better of Seattle Pacific in both regular-season meetings, trouncing the Falcons 5-0 on Sept. 24 in Burnaby, B.C., before a sound 3-0 win last Saturday at Interbay Stadium.
 
The regular-season title race came down to the final day of the season, thanks to a 2-0 statement win by Simon Fraser over Western Washington on Thursday night. The Red Leafs settled for their third consecutive GNAC runner-up finish after going 13-3-2 overall and 11-2-1 in league contests for 34 points in the standings. Last year, SFU became the second GNAC team to win the tournament three consecutive times joining WWU’s 2015-18 squads. The Red Leafs will be making their eighth all-time appearance and sixth in-a-row, and they hold an all-time record of 5-4-1 in the conference tournament. They will be in search of their fourth conference tournament title.
 
Seattle Pacific constructed another sturdy campaign, going 11-5-2 overall and 8-4-2 in GNAC games for 26 points and a third-place finish. The Falcons have never missed a conference tournament and have three trophies to their name with back-to-back wins in 2013 and 2014 and their most recent triumph coming in 2021. Only Western Washington has played in and won more conference tournament games, with SPU holding a mark of 7-8-2 overall in its 13 previous appearances.
 
The winner of the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships earns the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships, which run Nov. 12-14 on campus sites. A complete listing of previous year GNAC tournament champions can be viewed online here and all-time tournament records are available online here.