BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team had a pair of second-half scores in Saturday's 2-0 victory over Concordia to remain unbeaten in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at 2-0-1.
WWU defeated the Cavaliers behind an own goal in the 57th minute and Ryan Schaefer's team-leading fifth goal in the 68th minute at Harrington Field on the WWU campus.
The Vikings are now tied for 2nd in the GNAC standings with 7 points, trailing Montana State Billings (9 points, 3-1-0) in the table. WWU is the lone unbeaten team currently in the conference.
"This was a very important win at home, picking up three points against a quality opponent," said WWU head coach Greg Brisbon. "It was a battle tonight and a fun game to coach. I am extremely proud of the team for their effort tonight, and I thought the back line did a great job and we capitalized when we had to. Brandon (Locke) shifted the momentum with his big save on the PK and Ryan (Schaefer) gets better with each match he plays."
Concordia had an early chance to take the lead when Brendan Laun drew a foul in the box by WWU junior defender Camron Miller (Snohomish, WA/Glacier Peak/Whatcom CC). Nicholas Denley took the PK, but WWU freshman goalkeeper Brandon Locke (Federal Way, WA/Todd Beamer) chose correctly diving to his right to turn away the scoring opportunity.
The game remained scoreless until 57th minute when the Vikings got on the scoreboard first courtesy of a Concordia own goal. CU goalkeeper Kenneth Symmes was in position to take a pass back to him, but the ball skidded under his cleat and trickled into the goal to put WWU up 1-0.
The Vikings would add an insurance goal 12 minutes later in the 68th minute when senior forwardChristian Rotter (Auburn, WA/Auburn Riverside) slid a skillful pass to Schaefer, who faked out Symmes one-on-one for an easy tap-in to the back of the net for this fifth goal of the season.
Locke recorded his first career shutout making four saves to hold the Cavaliers scoreless for the first time in eight games this season.
WWU out-shot CU 17-14 and held a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.
Coming off a 2-1 overtime golden goal win at Simon Fraser on Thursday, the Cavaliers suffered their first conference defeat of the season to fall to 5-3-0 overall and 2-1-0 in GNAC play.
WWU (5-3-1, 2-0-1 GNAC) begins a grueling stretch of four consecutive road matches next week, traveling to play at Saint Martin's in Lacey on Thursday (3 pm) and then fly to play at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday in Nampa, Idaho (2 pm MT/1 pm PT). WWU remains on the road the following week with another flight to play Montana State Billings on October 24 (Thursday) and then travels North of the border to face Simon Fraser on October 26 (Saturday).
"We will be tested with a very tough stretch of four consecutive road games," added Brisbon. "But we will take it game-by-game and I think this team is ready for the challenges that will be put in front of them."
SERIES HISTORY VS. CONCORDIA
WWU improved to 10-6-1 all-time vs. Concordia, having now won six consecutive matches in the series. WWU shutout out CU 2-0 (in Bellingham) and 1-0 (in Portland) last season. Since Concordia joined the GNAC in 2015, WWU holds a 6-1-1 lead in the series.
Western Washington 2, Concordia 0
Date: October 12, 2019
Field: Harrington Field Site: Bellingham, WA
Attendance: 135
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
----------------------------------------------
Concordia............... 0 0 - 0
Western Washington...... 0 2 - 2
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 56:07 WWU Concordia Own Goal
2. 67:29 WWU Schaefer (Rotter)
Shots: WWU 17, CU 14
Shots on Goal: WWU 6, CU 4
Saves: WWU 4 (Locke – 4), CU 5 (Symmes - 5)
Corners: CU 8, WWU 5
Fouls: CU 24, WWU 12
Kits: WWU – White; CU – Navy
Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings through games played on Saturday:
|
MEN'S SOCCER
|
CONF
|
PTS
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
Montana State Billings
|
3-1-0
|
9
|
6-4-1
|
.591
|
2-1-0
|
4-1-0
|
0-2-1
|
Won 2
|
|
Western Washington
|
2-0-1
|
7
|
5-3-1
|
.611
|
3-2-1
|
2-1-0
|
0-0-0
|
Won 1
|
|
Simon Fraser
|
2-1-0
|
6
|
5-2-0
|
.714
|
2-2-0
|
2-0-0
|
1-0-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
Concordia
|
2-1-0
|
6
|
5-3-0
|
.625
|
4-0-0
|
1-3-0
|
0-0-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
Saint Martin's
|
1-2-1
|
4
|
6-3-2
|
.636
|
4-2-1
|
2-1-1
|
0-0-0
|
Won 1
|
|
Seattle Pacific
|
1-3-0
|
3
|
2-6-1
|
.278
|
2-4-1
|
0-2-0
|
0-0-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
0-3-0
|
0
|
4-5-0
|
.444
|
1-2-0
|
3-3-0
|
0-0-0
|
Lost 3
|
|
Saturday's Results (home team in bold)
Western Washington 2, Concordia 0
Saint Martin's 3, Northwest Nazarene 2
Montana State Billings 1, Seattle Pacific 0
|
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). All home matches feature a live webcast, as well as most road matches, with links on how to follow the games available at WWUVikings.com/Live.
The Western Washington University men's soccer program enters its 40th season at the varsity level in 2019 with head coach Greg Brisbon leading the program in his seventh season as the head coach. The program has recorded an overall record at or above the .500 mark in six of the last seven seasons, including a 11-6-1 mark overall in 2018 and a 7-4-1 mark in the GNAC to finish second in the conference. In 2016 the Vikings advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the first time in program history, using a late-season surge that saw the Vikings 5-0-1 over the last six matches to advance to the postseason. WWU beat 19th-ranked Dixie State in the first round of the NCAA Championships 3-2 in overtime on a golden goal header. Overall the program has produced 43 GNAC Players of the Week selections, 27 First Team All-GNAC players and 3 GNAC Players of the Year since joining the conference in 2001.
