BILLINGS, Mont. – Another big save on an early penalty kick and a pair of set-piece goals kept the Western Washington University men's soccer team rolling with a 2-1 road victory over Montana State Billings on a cold afternoon at Yellowjacket Soccer Field.

 

WWU remained atop the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings staying unbeaten in league play at 5-0-1 for 16 points. The Vikings have won four consecutive games, are unbeaten over their last seven games at 6-0-1 and improved to 8-3-1 overall. Western entered the week just outside of the national top 25 receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Poll.

 

In a battle of the top two teams in the standings entering the game (MSUB was tied for 2^nd with Simon Fraser entering the game), it was the Vikings that pulled off another road victory after playing their third consecutive away match in a different state (Washington, Idaho, Montana). MSUB dropped to 6-5-2 overall and 3-2-1 in GNAC play.

 

"I am really proud of how the guys executed the game plan today, especially on the set pieces, and picked up three big points in a difficult place to play," said WWU head coach Greg Brisbon. "The way this team has remained focused with the travel and the tough opponents has been nothing short of spectacular. A total team effort, from the defense with Jeremiah (Lee) and Cam (Camron Miller), to Gus (Diehl) organizing us in the midfield and (Ryan) Schaefer) continually doing all the little things up front to make us a dangerous team. Great team win for the Vikings."

 

Billings had the first scoring opportunity of the game when the Yellowjackets drew a foul in the box, setting up a penalty kick in the 20^th minute. Freshman goalkeeper Brandon Locke remained perfect at 2-for-2 stopping PK's this season, smothering the ball to keep the game scoreless.

 

"Brandon has been great between the pipes, and today he made another big early stop to shift the momentum," added Brisbon on his freshman goalkeeper.

 

The Vikings scored just before the half to go up 1-0, with the first of two set-piece goals late in the 42^nd minute. Cholewa swung a corner into the box from the far side of the field, where junior defender Camron Miller headed it home for his third goal of the season at the 41:53 mark.

 

WWU added an insurance goal in the 62^nd minute when Cholewa sent a free kick from the left corner into the box, where Schaefer collected the loose ball and fired it home for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. 

 

MSUB answered in the 74^th minute to make it a one-goal game, when Bryan Maxwell was on the receiving end of a corner kick in the middle of the box, and fired a low shot on goal to make it a 2-1 game.

 

WWU's defense held the Yellowjackets off the board the remainder of the game to seal the 2-1 victory.

 

"They put a lot of pressure on us and we did all we could to hold them off for the victory," said Brisbon. "Jeremiah (Lee) and Camron (Miller) were really solid in the middle today which was massive."

 

WWU finished the game out-shooting the MSUB 10-7, while holding a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.

 

Locke made three saves in goal to improve to 5-0-1 in his six starts (all GNAC contests).

 

WWU (8-3-1, 5-0-1 GNAC) concludes its grueling four-game road trip Saturday night when the Vikings travel North of the border to face Simon Fraser (7 pm at Terry Fox Field).

 

WWU improved to 5-1-0 on the road this season, with a perfect 4-0-0 road mark in GNAC games…WWU is 3-0-0 on its current road trip that ends Saturday night at Simon Fraser, having played games in Washington (at Saint Martin's), Idaho (at Northwest Nazarene) and now Montana…Georg Cholewa has 13 career assists to tie for 8^th-most in program history.

 

The Vikings had its string of three consecutive shutouts snapped with a MSUB goal in the 74^th minute. Freshman goalkeeper Brandon Locke recorded a streak of 402:67 consecutive scoreless minutes. 

 

WWU improve to 19-11-2 all-time vs. Montana State Billings…went 0-1-1 vs. the Yellowjackets last season…series is fairly even at 7-6-2 in favor of the Vikings in the last 15 meetings in Billings.

 

Western Washington 2, Montana State Billings 1

Date: October 24, 2019

Field: Yellowjacket Soccer Field  Site: Billings, MT

Attendance: 67

 

Goals by period           1  2   Tot

----------------------------------------------

Western Washington......  1  1 -  2

Montana St. Billings....  0  1 -  1

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.   41:53   WWU   Miller (Cholewa)

2.   61:05   WWU   Schaefer (Cholewa)

3.   73:41   MSUB  Maxwell (Battistotti, Bedrosian)

 

Shots: WWU 10, MSUB 7

Shots on Goal: WWU 6, MSUB 4

Saves: WWU 3 (Locke – 3), MSUB 4 (Martin - 4)

Corners: WWU 6, MSUB 4

Fouls: WWU 4, MSUB 4

Kits: WWU – White; MSUB – Navy

                   

Here is a look at the updated GNAC through the first two games (out of three) played on Thursday, with Simon Fraser playing at Concordia later tonight. WWU is in first place with 16 points and the only undefeated team at 5-0-1 in league play. Updated standings are always available at GNACsports.com:

 

 

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 40^th 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 19^th-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.