BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University men's soccer team returned home to Harrington Field for the first time this month and secured a 2-0 shutout victory over Saint Martin's University Thursday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
 
Senior forward Drew Barker (Tacoma, WA/Bellarmine Prep) recorded a pair of assists, including setting up the Vikings early goal by senior defender Louis Genty (Toulouse, France) in the seventh minute.
 
Senior defender Stephen Jinneman (Redmond, WA) added an insurance goal in the 75^th minute to give the Vikings the 2-0 victory.
 
Securing its fifth shutout of the season, WWU snapped its mini two-game losing stream, improving to 7-6-1 overall and 3-4-1 in conference play. Saint Martin's saw its three-game winning streak come to an end falling to 6-8-0 on the season and 4-4-0 in GNAC play.
 
"It was a very spirited win for the guys and a great performance all-around," said head coach Greg Brisbon. "We played great in the second half and finished the game off strong."
 
Playing at home for the first time in the month of October, the Vikings wasted little time getting on the board. Genty scored his first career goal less than seven minutes into the game, when he took a pass from Barker inside the 18-yard-box, and then beat the SMU keeper to the far post in the upper quadrant to give WWU the early 1-0 lead.
 

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A big #VIKtory for @wwu_msoccer with a 2-0 shutout over Saint Martin's in #GNACMSOC action at Harrington Field ..... Goals by Louis Genty (7') and Stephen Jinneman (75'), both assisted by senior Drew Barker ...... #GoViks

A post shared by WWU Athletics (@wwuathletics) on Oct 18, 2018 at 6:00pm PDT

The Saints nearly scored the equalizer in the 42^nd minute when Cayman John lined up a free kick just outside of the 18-yard-box, with his shot headed towards the near post, but WWU goalkeeper Brandon Wolter (Vancouver, WA/Union) made a diving stop to his left to keep the game 1-0.
 
"That save by Brandon was key and probably the key to the match keeping momentum on our side to take a lead into the half," added Brisbon.
 
Jinneman sealed the victory in the 75^th minute, heading home a curling free kick from Barker just outside the box. The goal was Jinneman's third of the season and seventh of his career.
 
Wolter recorded his fifth clean sheet of the season, as the Vikings defense allowed 9 shots in the game and only 2 shots on goal. WWU held a 18-9 advantage in shots, while each team took 7 corner kicks.
 
The Vikings (7-6-1, 3-4-1) return to action next week when they host Northwest Nazarene (Thursday, 7 pm) and Seattle Pacific (Saturday, 7 pm) at Harrington Field.
 
FOLLOW THE VIKS…Fans can follow WWU men's soccer online at WWUVikings.com/MSoc, and via social media on Twitter (@SoccerWWU), Instagram (@wwu_msoccer) and Facebook (@WWUsoccermens).