Oct. 18, 2009

Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Forward Molly Shannon (Jr., Bellingham) scored the game's only goal in the 58th minute, lifting Western Washington University to a 1-0 victory over Western Oregon University in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer contest Sunday at the WOU Soccer Field.

It was the Vikings' third straight win, all of them shutouts. They improved to 9-4-2 overall and are locked in a tight battle for first in the GNAC standings at 6-1-1 with Seattle Pacific, which is 6-1-0.

WWU has had two other three-game victory strings this season.

The loss snapped a two-game winning streak for Western Oregon, which fell to 4-9-3 overall and 2-6-0 in GNAC action.

"We played a really good second half," said Western coach Travis Connell. "We were able to make some adjustments at halftime and play a little differently than we normally so, and those adjustments really paid off. We dominated the second half, created a lot of chances and got a good goal."

Shannon's goal was her fifth this fall and her second game winner.

Midfielder Kelly Irving (Sr., Gig Harbor) beat three players down the right side and crossed to Kasey Hostetler (Richland/Hanford), who got the ball to the far post where Shannon tapped it in from five yards.

It was the seventh assist this season for Irving, putting her all alone atop the league leaders in that category.

"Kelly (Irving) was definitely the player of the game," Connell said. "She was on fire, especially in the second half with her attacking prowess in the corner,"

The shutout was the seventh of the season for Western goalkeeper Kylie Broadbent (Sr., Spokane/Lewis & Clark), who made three saves in lowering her goals against average to 0.81.

The Vikings had big advantages in shots, 26-7, and corner kicks, 5-0.

Western returns home to host Montana State Billings on Saturday (7 p.m.) in a GNAC counter.

Western Washington vs. Western OregonDate: 10/18/09  Attendance: 214Goals by Period    1  2     TotalWestern Washington 0  1 ---   1Western Oregon     0  0 ---   0SCORING SUMMARY:WWU - Shannon (Irving, Hostetler), 57:28Shots: Western Washington 26, Western Oregon 7Corner kicks: Western Washington 5, Western Oregon 0Fouls: Western Washington 9, Western Oregon 8Saves: Western Washington 2 (Broadbent 2), Western Oregon 10 (Rigtrup 10)