Oct. 20, 2005

Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Midfielder Lizzy Page (Sr., Sammamish/Eastlake) turned in a shot in the eighth minute of overtime, lifting Western Washington University to a 2-1 victory over Northwest Nazarene University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer contest Thursday at Civic Stadium.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for the Vikings, who improved to 8-6-0 overall and 5-4-0 in the GNAC. Northwest Nazarene fell to 4-10-1 and 1-6-0. The Crusaders remained winless on the road, with just one tie in six matches.

Freshmen Whitney Knox (Seattle/Blanchet) and Shelby Marcell (Redmond/Eastlake) assisted on the game-winning goal. Knox took the ball to the endline on the right wing, then cut back and fed Marcell, who fired a shot from 18 yards. Page was in the goalmouth and deflected the shot with a sweep of her right foot, turning it past Northwest Nazarene goalkeeper Amanda Merrell from four yards out.

The Vikings seemed likely to win the game in regulation time after Katie Weber (So., Yakima/Eisenhower) scored after an assist from Lindsey Cox (Sr., Redmond) in the 62nd minute. Weber's shot from 16 yards was deflected by Merrell, who had 12 saves, and then caromed down off the crossbar. It did not initially appear to be in, but was ruled to have crossed the endline by the assistant referee.

But the Crusaders sent the game to overtime with a goal in the 80th minute, as Katy McNutt scored on a half-volley from 18 yards with an assist from Paula Spencer.

"We dominated the game and had a lot of great chances, but Northwest Nazarene battled back," said Western coach Travis Connell. "You've got to give them credit for doing that on the road. I'm just glad our seniors stepped up in the end."

Western, which had a massive 27-6 edge in shots, hit the crossbar in each half of regulation, and hit a post on a shot by Weber early in overtime.

It was the third overtime match for each team. Western is now 2-1-0 in overtimes, having defeated Cal State Bakersfield, 1-0, on Sept. 2 on a goal by Rosie Zadra (So., Poulsbo/South Kitsap).

The Vikings are at Grand Canyon University on Friday (5 p.m.) for a non-conference contest.

Northwest Nazarene vs. Western WashingtonDate: 10/20/05   Attendance: 78Goals by Period     1   2   OT      TotalNorthwest Nazarene  0   1    0  ---   1Western Washington  0   1    1  ---   2SCORING SUMMARY:WWU - Weber (Cox), 61:50NNU - McNutt (Spencer), 79:37WWU - Page (Knox, Marcell), 97:57Shots: Northwest Nazarene 6, Western Washington 27Corner Kicks: Northwest Nazarene 6, Western Washington 6Fouls: Northwest Nazarene 5, Western Washington 11Saves: Northwest Nazarene 12 (Merrell 12), Western Washington 2 (Fish 2)