BELLINGHAM, Wash. – It was a night of celebration at Harrington Field, where the No. 7 Western Washington University women's soccer team honored its nine-member senior class in a pregame ceremony and then hoisted a championship trophy following a 4-0 victory over Northwest Nazarene.

 

On a chilly late fall evening in Bellingham, the Vikings were on fire on the pitch out-shooting the Nighthawks 30-2 in the decisive 4-0 shutout victory in front of 328 fans in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.

 

WWU clinched its eighth GNAC regular-season title with the win, improving to 11-0-0 in league play and 15-2-0 overall. The Vikings have won 11 consecutive games, out-scoring opponents 43-3 during the winning streak.

 

"It was a special night to be able to honor our seniors tonight before the game, play a great game, and then to clinch the league title on top of that," said WWU head coach Travis Connell. 

 

Junior midfielder Darby Doyle led the offensive barrage for the Vikings, scoring a pair of second-half goals, and adding an assist for the five-point performance. Sophomore forward Dayana Diaz netted the eventual game-winner in the 23^rd minute and junior midfielder Alice Hiebert added a late first half goal. 

 

Senior Liv Larson assisted on Doyle's first goal, giving her 25 in her career to move into a tie for fourth place in program history with Amanda Coulter (1991-94).

 

After applying constant pressure through the first 20 minutes of the game, the Vikings broke through in the 23^rd minute on a goal by Diaz. Doyle split the defense with a quick pass, where Diaz controlled the ball and curled a ball into the upper right corner for her first goal of the season.

 

Hiebert added to the lead at the 40:49 mark with a lunging one-touch finish to the near post that curled over the NNU keeper. Freshman Payton Neal assisted on the goal with a nifty pass that was poked forward to Hiebert in the box.

 

Doyle scored in the 69^th and 79^th minutes to put the game well out of reach for her third and fourth goals of the season.

 

WWU junior goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx made one save in 78 minutes of action, before senior Erin Smith finished off the Vikings 12^th shutout of the season.

 

"I thought we got a lot better as the game went on. NNU did a great job and had a good plan at the beginning of the game. We really had to work to figure out and solve problems. I think we did a great job creating chances and scoring goals in the second half," added Connell.

NNU dropped to 6-8-2 overall and 3-5-2 in GNAC play. Goalkeeper Alexis Montoya made 10 saves for the Nighthawks.

 

WWU clinched its eighth Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season title in program history, including winning seven of the last eight dating back to the 2012 season.

 

WWU honored its nine-member senior class playing in their final regular-season match. The nine seniors included six members that were freshmen on the 2016 NCAA Division II national championship team. Seniors that were recognized included Lindsey Fujiwara, Peyton Chick, Emily Nelson, Annaliese Laurila, Liv Larson, Jordyn Bartelson, Karli White, Tivona Tinsley and Erin Smith. Over the last four years the program has combined to go 75-7-3 for a .900 winning percentage.

 

"It is fantastic what these seniors accomplished. It is becoming a staple of Western soccer…how much of an impact they make on the next group of players. Our current players and youngers players on the roster learned so much from the experiences and the model that these seniors have created," said Connell

 

The Vikings (14-2-0, 10-0-0 GNAC) close out the regular season on Thursday (Nov. 7) at Seattle Pacific. Kickoff against the second-place Falcons is set for 7 pm at Interbay Stadium. WWU will be the No. 1 seed in the GNAC Women's Soccer Championships that opens play on Thursday, November 14 in Seattle at Interbay Stadium.

 

#7 Western Washington 4, Northwest Nazarene 0

Date: Nov. 2, 2019

Field: Harrington Field  Site: Bellingham, WA

Attendance: 328    Weather: Low 40s, Clear

 

Goals by Period            1  2    Tot

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

Northwest Nazarene.......  0  0  -  0

Western Washington.......  2  2  -  4

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.    22:07    WWU    Diaz (Doyle)

2.    40:49    WWU    Hiebert (Neal)

3.    68:49    WWU    Doyle (Larson, White)

4.    78:01    WWU    Doyle

 

Shots: WWU 30, NNU 2

Shots on Goal: WWU 16, NNU 1

Saves: WWU 1 (Dierickx – 1), NNU 12 (Montoya - 10)

Corners: WWU 13, NNU 2

Fouls: NNU 8, WWU 5

Kits: WWU – Black; NNU – White

 

Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings through games played on Saturday. WWU has reached 33 points in the table to clinch the GNAC regular-season title, the eighth in program history.

 

 

WWU improves to 36-1-1 all-time vs. NNU, including a current 30-game unbeaten streak (29-0-1) dating back to 2003 and an active 17-game winning streak (since 2010)…defeated the Nighthawks twice last season, both by 2-0 scores.

 

Since debuting at Harrington Field in 2014, the Vikings are 56-2-1 (.958), including a perfect 9-0-0 record last season and 8-0-0 this season. The Vikings have a current 18-match home winning streak.

 

The Vikings have secured one of the four spots in the 2019 GNAC Women's Soccer Championships, and will be the No. 1 seed, 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 about hotels and ticket information is available at GNACSports.com.

 

WWU is now unbeaten over its last 22 regular-season GNAC games going back to last season, with a 21-0-1 mark during this stretch. The last loss in regular-season conference play was Sept. 15, 2018 at Concordia (1-0).

 

WWU has won 75 of its last 85 games dating back to the start of the 2016 national championship season, going 75-7-3 (.900) during this stretch. The program has won seven of the last eight GNAC regular-season titles (including this season), 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 seven of the last eight Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season titles, going 91-5-5 (.926) in league play during this stretch, and has won four of the last five GNAC Championships titles (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019). Head coach Travis Connell is in 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.