2015 Great American Conference Women's Soccer Championship

BETHANY, Okla. — After a strong late-season push, Southern Nazarene will travel to Searcy, Arkansas, to take part in the 2015 Great American Conference Women's Soccer Championship.
 
The tournament will be hosted by top-seeded and regular season champion Harding and will take place at Stevens Soccer Field. SNU will be the fourth seed in the tournament, with Ouachita taking the second seed and Southwestern Oklahoma State occupying the third seed.
 
The first game of the tournament will be Thursday at noon., with Ouachita taking on Southwestern Oklahoma State. Southern Nazarene challenges Harding at 3 p.m. in the second game of the day. The winners of each game will play in the championship game Saturday at 11 a.m.
 
The Crimson Storm (8-10-0, 5-7-0 GAC) enter the tournament after an impressive finish to the season, winning three of their final four games to clinch the final spot over East Central. SNU will face a tough first test, drawing the top overall seed in Harding for its first game. Southern Nazarene is 1-5 on the season against the other three teams in the tournament, with the lone win coming Oct. 29 over Southwestern Oklahoma State.
 
Southern Nazarene is led by a strong defense, anchored by goalkeeper Natasha Fuentes, who leads the GAC in save percentage at 83.7 percent and is third in total saves and saves per game. Seniors Grace Self and Paige Roark have been vital to the defense as well, as well as sophomore Brianna Evans. All three have started every game and have helped the defense tally seven team shutouts on the season and rank third in the GAC in goals-against average (1.18).
 
On offense, the Crimson Storm have relied on scoring by committee, as Kelsi Bussert, Hannah Robinson, and Alyssa Glitzke lead the charge offensively for SNU. Bussert leads the team with six goals on the season, ranking fifth in the GAC. She is tied with Robinson for the team lead with three game-winning goals, which is tied for third in the GAC. Glitzke has chipped in three goals on the season, as well as one assist.