PORTLAND, Ore. – The No. 15-ranked Concordia Cavaliers scored the game's only goal in the 23^rd minute in a 1-0 victory over No. 9 Western Washington University on Saturday night in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams at Tuominen Yard at Hilken Community Stadium.
 
A rematch of the 2017 GNAC Championships final, the Cavaliers came out on top to remain unbeaten at 4-0-1 on the season. The Vikings had their three-match winning streak snapped to fall to 4-2-0 on the season, with both losses coming against ranked opponents.
 
"We played really hard and I am proud of the team's effort tonight," said 16^th-year head coach Travis Connell. "We have a bunch of competitors, but tonight I thought we were not as prepared as we needed to be today and that falls on the coaches. We will need to do a better job of getting the team ready so they are prepared a bit more for what style of team they will be playing. But I love the character and heart of this team and we'll keep working hard to get better and looking forward to hosting Colorado Mines on Wednesday."
 
2017 GNAC Player of the Year Gabrielle Ewing put the Cavaliers on the board in the 23^rd minute when she collected a missed shot from Quinn Williams and beat WWU goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx (Kirkland, WA/Inglemoor/Colorado State) into the bottom left of the goal at the 22:02 mark.
 
Western had its best scoring opportunity in the 81^st minute when junior defender Emily Nelson (Puyallup, WA/Bellarmine Prep) connected on a header in the box, but Concordia freshman goalkeeper Hailey Asato made a diving stop to preserve the shutout.
 
The Vikings and Cavaliers were nearly even in shots in the game, with CU holding a 16-15 edge, but a 10-4 advantage in shots on target.
 
Dierickx made a career-high 9 saves in the match, the most by a Viking goalkeeper since Jamie Arthurs also had 9 saves on Oct. 8, 2010 at Simon Fraser. Arthurs is a current WWU assistant coach.
 
The Vikings (4-2-0, 0-1-0 GNAC) return home to Harrington Field to host nationally-ranked Colorado School of Mines in a noon game on Wednesday, Sept. 19 in Bellingham. WWU then hosts Simon Fraser in the first home GNAC game of the season next Saturday at 4 pm at Harrington Field.
 
Follow the Viks…fans can follow WWU women's soccer online at WWUVikings.com/WSoc, and via social media on Twitter (@WWU_WSoccer), Instagram (@wwu_wsoccer) and Facebook (@WWUsoccerwomens).