BELLINGHAM, Wash. –  Western Washington University senior forward Gabriela Pelogi scored just 1:58 into the match, setting the tone in the No. 18 Vikings 4-0 victory over rival Seattle Pacific University Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer action at Harrington Field.
 
WWU tallied its fourth consecutive shutout to win its fifth consecutive game, improving to 9-2-0 overall and gained sole possession of second place in the GNAC standings with a 4-1-0 conference record. With 12 points, the Vikings are now four points behind league leader Concordia (8-0-2, 5-0-1) in the standings. Seattle Pacific had its dropped to 7-3-1 overall and slipped to fourth place in the standings at 3-2-0 in conference play.
 
"I thought it was one of our better performance of the season," said head coach Travis Connell. "We had a quick start with the early goal, and in an emotional rivalry game like this, that is key. That was our goal, get off to a good start and gain the momentum in our favor."
 
WWU's total team effort saw eight different players contribute to the scoring Thursday night. Pelogi (2'), sophomore forward Zoe Milburn (36'), senior midfielder Mariah Roggow (67') and freshman forward Dayana Diaz (80') all scored goals. Four additional players tallied assists, including junior defender Emily Nelson, sophomore midfielder Darby Doyle, sophomore midfielder Grace Eversaul and junior defender/forward Peyton Chick. 
 
"I thought our players did a really nice job during training on working on things we needed to improve, and then went out today and executed the game plan," added Connell.
 
The Vikings wasted little time jumping ahead with the first score of the game coming just 1:58 into the contest. Nelson (Puyallup, WA/Bellarmine Prep) intercepted a pass near midfield and threaded a perfect pass to a streaking Pelogi (Federal Way, WA). Pelogi broke away from the defense and fired a shot at the far post from 17-yards out for her fifth goal of the season.

W⚽️ | Watch all 4️⃣ goals by @WWU_WSoccer in last night's 4️⃣-0️⃣ victory over Seattle Pacific in #GNACWSOC action at Harrington Field. 

cc: @UnitedCoaches @NCAADII @HEROSportsSOC @Division2Soccer pic.twitter.com/b87Q9V2tXJ
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) October 5, 2018

SPU had a scoring opportunity in the 16^th minute when Kasey Reeve connected on a header from inside the box, but redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx (Kirkland, WA/Inglemoor/Colorado State) gathered the save.
 
WWU went up 2-0 in the 36^th minute when Zoe Milburn (Maple Valley, WA/Tahoma) scored her third goal of the season.Doyle (Spokane, WA/Gonzaga Prep) fired a shot through the defense from the far left wing that caromed off the post, where Milburn collected the ball and fired a shot over the SPU keeper from 16-yards out.
 
Roggow (Kelso, WA/Oregon State) extended the lead to 3-0 in the 67^th minute with an assist Eversaul (Vancouver, WA/Skyview). Roggow connected on a shot from 23-yards out over the keeper for her first goal of the season.
 
Diaz (Granite Falls, WA) continued her mid-season scoring binge with her team-leading sixth goal of the season coming in the 80^th minute. Diaz, the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks, converted on a shot from well outside the box to the far post over the keeper.
 
Western held a 25-5 advantage in shots, including a 15-3 margin in the second half. The Vikings recorded 14 shots on goal, compared to SPU's three.
 
Dierickx recorded her third shutout of the season making three saves. WWU has now recorded four consecutive shutouts and has not allowed a goal over the last 366:24 minutes of play.
 
SPU goalie Riley Travis recorded 10 saves in the game.
 
The Vikings (9-2-0, 4-1-0 GNAC) return to the road this weekend with a Saturday night showdown with Central Washington University at 7 pm in Ellensburg in the first night soccer game in renovated Tomlinson Stadium. The game will be streamed live online and feature live stats via GNAC.tv.
 
GAME NOTES…WWU has a current 17-game unbeaten streak vs. Seattle Pacific, going 14-0-3 dating back to the 2013 season…current 10-game winning streak vs. the Falcons…all-time series is now 18-18-6…WWU (2016) and SPU (2008) are the only GNAC women's soccer teams to win NCAA II national championships…WWU has out-scored its opponents 14-1 during the current 5-game winning streak….Gabriela Pelogi scored her 41^st career goal, moving up to a tie for 7^th in GNAC history (remains 6^th in WWU history)…also passed the 100-point mark for her career (41 goals, 19 assists), and is tied for 8^th in GNAC history with 101 points (5^th in WWU history).
  
UPDATED GNAC STANDINGS…
 

WOMEN'S SOCCER	CONF	PTS	OVERALL	PCT	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	STREAK
Concordia	5-0-1	16	8-0-2	.900	3-0-1	4-0-1	1-0-0	Tied 1
Western Washington	4-1-0	12	9-2-0	.818	5-0-0	4-2-0	0-0-0	Won 5
Simon Fraser	3-1-1	10	5-3-1	.611	2-0-0	1-2-1	2-1-0	Tied 1
Seattle Pacific	3-2-0	9	7-3-1	.682	4-1-0	3-2-1	0-0-0	Lost 1
Western Oregon	2-3-1	7	4-5-2	.455	1-3-1	3-2-1	0-0-0	Lost 2
Northwest Nazarene	2-4-0	6	6-4-1	.591	5-2-0	1-2-1	0-0-0	Won 1
Central Washington	1-3-1	4	1-6-3	.250	0-3-2	1-3-1	0-0-0	Lost 2
Saint Martin's	1-4-0	3	5-6-0	.455	2-5-0	3-1-0	0-0-0	Won 1
Montana State Billings	1-4-0	3	4-5-1	.450	2-3-0	1-2-1	1-0-0	Lost 1