Sept. 25, 2008
Box Score
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington University had four different players score as it blanked Northwest Nazarene University, 4-0, in its Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer opener Thursday at Orca Field on the Whatcom CC campus.
The Vikings, who completed a four-game homestand, improved to 4-3-1 overall, all of their losses being to NCAA Division II Top 25-rated teams.
Northwest Nazarene suffered its first loss, falling to 8-1-1 overall and 1-1-0 league.
Forward Gibson Bardsley (So., Fall City/Mount Si) got the Vikings rolling with his first goal of the season on a header in the third minute, Samir Vejo (Sr., Trebinje, Bosnia) and Tyler Bjork (Fr., Kirkland/Juanita) being credited with assists. Bardsley led Viking scorers last season with a freshman-record 11 goals.
Western increased its lead by scoring twice within a four-minute span midway through the first half. Vejo got his third goal of the campaign in the 24th minute from seven yards and Chris Jepson (Jr., Bellingham/Sehome) scored on a header in the 28th minute. Bjork and Bardsley got the respective assists.
The Vikings got a red card in the 41st minute and played the rest of the game a man short.
The only goal in the second half came with Western's Michael Ricci (Jr., Bellevue/Newport) took a long ball from Chris Shin (Fr., Vancouver/Skyview) and flicked it by the goalkeeper.
The four goals were a season-high for the Vikings and the most allowed this year by Northwest Nazarene.
Western had a 14-10 edge in shots and a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Western goalkeeper Cameron Copps-Tilley (Jr., Vancouver/Fort Vancouver) made two saves in recording his third shutout of the campaign.
The Vikings are at University of Colorado-Colorado Springs on Saturday (7 p.m.) for a non-league contest.
Western Washington vs. Northwest NazareneDate: 9/25/08 Attendance: 48Goals by Period 1 2 TotalNorthwest Nazarene 0 0 --- 0Western Washington 3 1 --- 4SCORING SUMMARY:WWU - Bardsley (Vejo, Bjork), 2:13WWU - Vejo (Bjork), 23:47WWU - Jepson (Bardsley), 27:10WWU - Ricci (Shin), 72:49Shots: Western Washington 14, Northwest Nazarene 10Corner kicks: Western Washington 5, Northwest Nazarene 0Fouls: Western Washington 14, Northwest Nazarene 13Saves: Western Washington 2 (Copps-Tilley 2), Northwest Nazarene 5 (Engemann 5)
