Oct. 23, 2014 Box Score
BILLINGS, Mont. - Western Washington University scored twice in less than two minutes midway through the first half as it rallied for a 2-1 victory over Montana State University Billings on Thursday, Oct. 23, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's soccer contest at Yellowjacket Field.
The Vikings, who have won five of their last six games, improved to 7-6-1 overall and 5-4-1 in GNAC play.
MSUB, which took a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute, fell to 5-6-3 overall and 5-5-1 in conference action. The Yellowjackets were 5-2-1 in their previous eight games.
"We came out very flat and disorganized, this place is a very difficult one to play," said WWU coach Greg Brisbon, "So, I don't know if the goal woke them up or my yelling woke them up, but we did a great job on a corner kick and did better and better from there."
"This is a resilient group, they deal with adversity. They always work hard, and no matter what they've done a great job of taking it game by game. I'm really proud of them for that because all teams don't do that so well sometimes."
WWU's Derek Zimmerman (So., Pasco), a transfer from NCAA I St. Mary's CA, tied the game at 1-1 in the 28th minute with his first collegiate goal, heading in a corner kick by Jeremy Wentzel (Jr., Edmonds/Edmonds-Woodway).
In the 30th minute, Luke Olney (Fr., Enumclaw) gave the Vikings the lead by putting a shot into the upper right-hand corner from just outside the 18-yard box after taking a through ball from Tye Hastings (Sr., Mill Creek/Jackson).
Olney's fourth goal of the season tied him for team-high honors with Hastings. WWU goalkeeper Keegan Rogers (Sr., Portland, OR/Portland Christian) made four saves.
Scoring MSUB's goal was Rhys Lambert on a header off a free kick. Sam Butterworth was credited with an assist.
MSUB had a 13-8 advantage in shots, 10-6 in the second half.
"We had some great chances, and they had a lot of outside shots," Brisbon said. "It was a good defensive battle in the second half."
WWU next travels to Northwest Nazarene University for a GNAC counter on Saturday, Oct. 25 (5 p.m.).
Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014Billings, Mont., Yellowjacket Field
Western Washington 2 Montana State Billings 1
Scoring - 1. MSUB, Rys Lambert (Sam Butterworth), 16:58; 2. WWU, Derek Zimmerman (Jeremy Wentzel), 27:43; 3. WWU, Luke Olney (Tye Hastings), 29:36.
Shots - WWU 8, MSUB 13Saves - WWU 4 (Keegan Rogers 4); MSUB 1 (Tom Lohmann 1)Corner kicks - WWU 4, MSUB 6Fouls - WWU 14, MSUB 10Attendance: 75
