ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The No. 10 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's soccer team scored an early goal in each half and were rewarded with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Central Washington University in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on Saturday at CWU Soccer Field.

 

The victory was played in rainy, windy and even hail-storm conditions that kept the Vikings perfect in GNAC play at 9-0-0 for 27 points and moved WWU to 13-2-0 overall. Central began the day in fourth place in the conference standings, but dropped to 4-3-1 in conference play and 6-6-1 overall.

 

"Today was just a hard-fought victory…we had to battle and fight and claw, and Central made us earn everything we got today," said WWU head coach Travis Connell. "I am proud of how our team was focused today and were prepared for a dogfight. Our captains – Liv Larson, Emily Nelson, Annaliese Laurila – helped set the tone for the team as they were locked in mentally and the others fell in line with them." 

 

The Vikings struck first with another early goal, when junior midfielder Grace Eversaul connected off a corner by senior defender Peyton Chick just 3:20 in the contest. 

 

Less than 10 minutes into the second half, the Vikings cushioned the lead to 2-0 when senior forwardLiv Larson and Eversaul executed a give-and-go at the 54:34 mark. Larson gathered a bouncing ball at the top of the box, touched it to Eversaul, who went back to Larson for the strong finish to the lower left corner for her fifth goal of the season.

 

"This game was very well-sited for Grace, as she is a hard-working, very determined player," added Connell on his junior midfielder. "She certainly earned her spot on the stat sheet today, but did a lot of other great things helping us keep possession and really had an all-around outstanding match."

 

CWU cut the lead to 2-1 in the 67^th minute when Sophia Keenan scored off an assist by Olivia Sloan.

 

The Vikings out-shot the Wildcats 16-7, while holding a 11-3 advantage in shots on goal.

 

WWU has now out-scored league opponents 37-2 in the nine GNAC contests…senior Annaliese Laurila played in (and started) her 83^rd career game, marking every game of her four-year WWU career…she is now 13^th in program history for career games played…Liv Larson scored her 18^thcareer goal and now has 60 career points to rank 15^th in program history.

 

The Vikings swept the season series vs. Central Washington, also winning 2-0 in Bellingham on Oct. 3. WWU now leads the all-time series 42-11-8 with a current 16-game unbeaten streak (14-0-2). The Vikings improved to 5-0-1 in the last six trips to Ellensburg.

 

The Vikings (13-2-0, 9-0-0 GNAC) have three remaining GNAC contests on the 2019 schedule, with a pair of matches next week. WWU remains on the road on Thursday (Oct. 31) at Concordia in Portland (7 pm) and returns to Harrington Field for Senior Night on Saturday (Nov. 3) vs. Northwest Nazarene. The regular-season finale will be Thursday, November 7 at Seattle Pacific at Interbay Stadium.

 

The Vikings have already secured one of the four spots in the 2019 GNAC Women's Soccer Championships that will be held Nov. 14-16 at Interbay Stadium in Seattle. WWU extended its streak of appearing in all eight of the GNAC Championships since the event debuted in 2012. The Vikings have advanced to the championship game every season of the tournament, winning the postseason league title four times (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017). Seattle Pacific (2) and Concordia (1) have claimed the three other GNAC Tournament titles. More information with soon-to-be-available ticket information is available at GNACSports.com.

 

#10 Western Washington 2, Central Washington 1

Date: Oct. 26, 2019

Field: CWU Soccer Field  Site: Ellensburg, WA

Attendance: 243   Weather: Rain, Wind and Hail

 

Goals by Period               1  2    Tot

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

Western Washington..........  1  1  -  2

Central Washington..........  0  1  -  1

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.    3:20    WWU    Eversaul (Chick)

2.   54:34    WWU    Larson (Eversaul)

3.   66:11    CWU    Keenan (Sloan)

 

Shots: WWU 16, CWU 7

Shots on Goal: WWU 11, CWU 3

Saves: WWU 2 (Dierickx – 2), CWU 9 (Thomson - 9)

Corners: WWU 4, CWU 1

Fouls: CWU 10, WWU 7

Kits: WWU – Gray; CWU - Black

 

Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings through games played on Saturday:

 

 

WWU is now unbeaten over its last 20 regular-season GNAC games going back to last season, with a 19-0-1 mark during this stretch.

 

Including the 6-2-0 start to this season, WWU is 75-13-8 (.823) in games away from Bellingham over the last eight seasons (9-3-2 last season, 12-1-0 in 2018). The Vikings have played eight of their 15 games this season on the road, including two separate trips to Colorado and one to Los Angeles.

 

WWU has won 73 of its last 83 games dating back to the start of the 2016 national championship season, going 73-7-3 during this stretch. The program has won six of the last seven GNAC regular-season titles, three of the last four GNAC Tournaments and advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last seven seasons. During the seven-year stretch of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, WWU has reached the West Regional Championship match six times and advanced to the NCAA II Final Four three times (2013, 2015, 2016). Western has a current streak of 15 consecutive winning seasons the 8th-longest active streak in NCAA II.

 

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). 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 women's soccer program has risen to the top of the Division II ranks, with a string of seven consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championships. WWU has advanced to the NCAA II Final Four in three of the last six seasons and played for the West Region championship in six of the last seven seasons. The Vikings won the NCAA Division II National Championship in 2016 with an undefeated 24-0-1 record, beating three-time defending national champion Grand Valley State 3-2 in the title game in Kansas City, Missouri. Including the national championship run, the Vikings put together a 39-game winning streak (4th-longest in NCAA II history) and a 40-game unbeaten streak. The program has claimed six of the last seven Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season titles, going 89-5-5 (.924) in league play during this stretch, and has won three of the last four GNAC Championships titles (2015, 2016, 2017). Head coach Travis Connell enters his 17^th season leading the program in 2019, and has led the Vikings to nine trips to the NCAA Championships and 15 consecutive winning seasons.