LACEY, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team moved to the top of the table in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 1-0 victory over Saint Martin's on Thursday afternoon at Saints Field.
WWU remained undefeated in GNAC play at 3-0-1 and moved into first place with 10 points in the conference standings ahead of idle Montana State Billings (3-1-0, 9 points).
The Vikings took a 1-0 lead midway through the first half following the first career goal by sophomore forward Johan Espinoza early in the 26th minute. Espinoza found the back of the net at the 25:06 mark on a looping volley from inside penalty box, off a header from senior defender Jeremiah Lee and a well-placed cross by junior midfielder Georg Cholewa.
The goal stood as the game winner as the Vikings defense recorded WWU's third shutout victory of the season.
"This has been a tough place for us to play in recent years, and today I think our guys did a fantastic job dealing with adversity and got a great result for three points on the road," said WWU head coachGreg Brisbon. "Our back line, all four guys, were very solid and really helped us attack the way we had planned."
WWU used only three subs in the 90-minute match, with midfielders Cholewa, Drew Farnsworth and Gus Diehl, and defenders Lee, Nick Morgan, Teagan Eldridge and Camron Miller all playing the full 90 minutes.
The Saints out-shot the Vikings 13-11, including an 8-6 advantage in the second half as the Vikings held the highest-scoring team in the GNAC off the scoreboard for just the second time this season.
Freshman goalkeeper Brandon Lock made three saves for his second consecutive shutout, running his consecutive minutes scoreless streak to 169:26 dating back to early in the second half in the home game vs. SMU.
Thursday's victory opened a tough four-game road trip, traveling through three states and one province, with a victory to improve to 6-3-1 overall and 4-0-1 over their last five matches.
"I am very happy with how the guys are performing right now. They are engaged and believe in each other," added Brisbon. "A good way to start a tough road trip. We'll prepare for our upcoming travel and get ready for another big road match Saturday at NNU."
WWU (6-3-1, 3-0-1 GNAC) continues a grueling four-game road trip on Saturday playing at Northwest Nazarene 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).
SERIES HISTORY VS. SAINT MARTIN'S
The Vikings went 1-0-1 vs. Saint Martin's this season, winning 1-0 today in Lacey and earning a 1-1 tie courtesy of a last-second goal in the game in Bellingham on October 5…WWU is now 17-7-2 all-time vs. the Saints…Thursday's win for the Vikings snapped a four-game losing streak in Lacey, recording the first win on SMU's home field since Oct. 4, 2014.
Western Washington 1, Saint Martin's 0
Date: October 17, 2019
Field: Saints Field Site: Lacey, WA
Attendance: 88
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
----------------------------------------------
Western Washington...... 1 0 - 1
Saint Martin's.......... 0 0 - 0
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 25:06 WWU Espinoza (Lee, Cholewa)
Shots: SMU 13, WWU 11
Shots on Goal: SMU 4, WWU 3
Saves: WWU 4 (Locke – 3), SMU 2 (Shaw - 2)
Corners: WWU 9, SMU 6
Fouls: WWU 13, SMU 5
Kits: WWU – White; SMU – Black
Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings following the WWU-Saint Martin's game, with two more conference games still scheduled for tonight. Visit GNACsports.com for updated standings:
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MEN'S SOCCER
|
CONF
|
PTS
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
Western Washington
|
3-0-1
|
10
|
6-3-1
|
.650
|
3-2-1
|
3-1-0
|
0-0-0
|
Won 2
|
|
Montana State Billings
|
3-1-0
|
9
|
6-4-1
|
.591
|
2-1-0
|
4-1-0
|
0-2-1
|
Won 2
|
|
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
|
1-3-1
|
4
|
6-4-2
|
.583
|
4-3-1
|
2-1-1
|
0-0-0
|
Lost 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
|
|
Thursday's Results (home team in bold)
Western Washington 1, Saint Martin's 0
Seattle Pacific at Concordia, 7 pm
Simon Fraser at Northwest Nazarene, 7:30 pm MT
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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.
