BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Senior Emily Nelson scored in the 27^th minute and a dominating defensive effort carried the Western Washington University women's soccer team to the NCAA Division II Women's Soccer West Regional title with a 1-0 victory over Point Loma Thursday night in front of a standing-room-only crowd of 725 fans at Harrington Field.

 

The Vikings clinched the fourth West Regional title in program history and advance to the national quarterfinal playing host to South Central Regional champion Dixie State on Saturday at 3 pm at Harrington Field. Dixie State defeated Dallas Baptist 2-1 in the first game of the day on Thursday at Harrington Field. The winner of Saturday's game will move on to the NCAA II Championships Final Four Dec. 12-14 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

 

"The fans were fantastic and it really fueled our players," WWU head coach Travis Connell said. "You could see the effort and determination in our game today and a lot of that comes from the people in the stands who are cheering us on."

 

Winning its 17^th consecutive game, WWU improved to 21-2-0 overall and will play Saturday for a fourth trip to the national championship Final Four over the last seven seasons. The Vikings have now played in the West Regional final in seven of the last eight seasons, winning titles in 2013, 2015, 2016 and now 2019.

 

Nelson, the GNAC Defensive Player of the Year, scored her fourth goal of the season on a set-piece free kick by senior defender Peyton Chick at the 26:38 mark. Chick lofted a high free kick from 45-yards out into the box, where Nelson initially headed the ball towards the goal, but then finished it home for the eventual game-winning goal.

 

"Peyton was just hitting dimes today," Nelson said on the setup free kick by Chick. "It hit off my head and I was able to throw my body at it and get a touch in. I was ecstatic."

 

The Vikings dominated on both sides of the ball, putting up 26 shots and 15 shots on goal while limiting the Sea Lions to just four total shots. The Sea Lions had a chance to tie it early in the second half as Jacqui Gerarden got a shot off toward the bottom right corner of the net in the 51st minute, but Vikings junior goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx came up with a diving save to preserve the lead en route to WWU's 16^th shutout victory of the season.

 

Dierickx made a pair of saves, one in each half, to earn her 11^th clean sheet of the season. The Vikings defense was again stingy allowing only two shots on goal in the 90-minute match.

 

"I knew our defense was going to show up and help me out a lot," Dierickx said. "They worked so hard and I'm incredibly proud of them."

 

Point Loma ended its season with a 14-5-2 record, which included a win over top West Region seed UC San Diego in the regional semifinal. Sea Lion goalkeeper Emma Hinson recorded 12 saves and Point Loma overall had 14 saves in the game.

 

WWU was the No. 3 seed in the West Region and Point Loma was the No. 5 seed…WWU improved to 57-2-1 all-time at Harrington Field…Western is hosting the national quarterfinal game for the third time in program history, also in 2013 at Whatcom Community College and in 2015 at Harrington Field…WWU extended its winning streak to 17 consecutive games, the third-longest winning streak in program history…out-scored opponents 52-5 during the winning streak…16 of WWU's 20 wins this season have been shutout victories, including three 1-0 triumphs during the NCAA Tournament…WWU improved to 20-7-1 in 10 trips to the NCAA Championships, recording at least one win in 8 of 10 NCAA appearances…senior defender Peyton Chick appeared in her 90^th career game, tied for 3^rd-most in program history…Chick also recorded her 20^th career assist, tied for 6^th-most in program history…junior goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx recorded her 11^th shutout of the season and 19^th career shutout, 6^th-most in WWU history and 10^th in GNAC history…Jordyn Bartelson appeared in her 89^thcareer game, 5^th-most in program history…WWU's senior class has recorded a 81-7-3 record with four trips to the NCAA II West Regional Final…Thursday's win over Point Loma was the sixth 1-0 win this season, the first three games of the season and all three games in the NCAA Championships.

 

Western Washington 1, Point Loma 0

Date: Dec. 5, 2019

Field: Harrington Field   Site: Bellingham, WA

Attendance: 725    Weather: Mid 40s

 

Goals by Period            1  2    Tot

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

Point Loma...............  0  0  -  0

Western Washington.......  1  0  -  1

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.    26:38     WWU    Nelson (Chick)

 

Shots: WWU 26, PNLU 4

Shots on Goal: WWU 15, PNLU 2

Saves: WWU 2 (Dierickx – 2), PLNU 14 (Hinson - 12)

Corners: WWU 6, PLNU 2

Fouls: PLNU 10, WWU 4

Kits: WWU – Light Blue; PLNU - Green

 

The Vikings are playing in their eighth consecutive NCAA Division II Championships and 10^th overall appearance in the NCAA postseason. Have advanced to the West Regional final five consecutive seasons (2015-19) and seven of the last eight seasons dating back to 2012. The program owns an all-time 20-7-1 record in NCAA Championships play, winning at least one game in 8 of 10 trips to the NCAA postseason. WWU was crowned national champions in 2016 with a 24-0-1 record, capped by a 3-2 victory over Grand Valley State in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

The Vikings have won back-to-back regular-season titles and raised the conference trophy for the seventh time in the last eight seasons. WWU won five consecutive titles from 2012-16 and again in 2018 to add to the 2008 league championship. The Vikings have also won four of the seven conference tournament titles.

 

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 eight 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 seven of the last eight 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 92-5-5  in league play during this stretch (since 2012), and won four of the last five GNAC Tournament 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 10 trips to the NCAA Championships (8 straight) and 16 consecutive winning seasons.

 

-- #WeAreVikings --