BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Led by a pair of goals from senior forward Liv Larson, the No. 7 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's soccer team put together a dominating offensive and defensive performance in a 2-0 shutout victory over Texas Woman's University Thursday evening in non-conference play at Harrington Field. 
 
The Vikings improved to 4-1-0 on the season with all wins coming in shutout fashion. TWU, ranked just outside of the national top 25, were defeated for the first time this season to fall to 3-1-0.
 
WWU dominated the run of play all night, holding over 60% time of possession and out-shooting the Pioneers 27-8. The Vikings defense did not allow TWU to record a shot on goal in the 90-minute contest.
 
Western took control of the game early, taking five shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of play, en route to dominating the first half. The Vikings out-shot the Pioneers 17-1 with 9 shots on goal in the first 45 minutes.
 
Larson (Arlington, WA) led the way on offense the first half, taking four shots. She nearly scored in the 20^th minute, on a ball that slipped through the goalkeeper's hands but was saved by an acrobatic effort from a Pioneer defender. Larson was rewarded for her persistence in the 27^th minute, as she found the rebound off a Karli White (North Bend, WA/Mount Si) shot and tapped it in to give the Vikings the 1-0 lead at the 27:47 mark.
 
"That goal was a long time coming…almost two years I think, but it felt great," said Larson, who now has 15 goals and 21 assists in 69 career games. "I kind of embraced the assist role last year, but that felt good to get the ball to the back of the net."
 
Larson found the back of the net again in the 53^rd minute for her third career brace, taking a well-placed cross from the left corner from freshman Estera Levinte (Bothell, WA), finishing with the outside of her right foot from close quarters.
 
"It was great to be at home and I really liked the way we came out and were super aggressive on both offense and defense," said WWU head coach Travis Connell. "It was nice to create several chances early and Liv did a great job tonight converting on a couple of those opportunities. We now need to find a way to do that in every environment and game situation. We are very happy with the results and will get to work preparing for a tough match at Colorado Mines."
 
WWU (4-1-0) returns to action on Wednesday, September 25 with a road game against current No. 10 nationally-ranked Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado.
  WWU entered tonight's match ranked No. 7 in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Poll, marking the 55^th consecutive week to appear in the national top 25. Texas Women's University was the top team receiving votes in this week's edition of the national poll, landing just outside the top 25.
  The Vikings will take this weekend off and will next be in action on Wednesday, September 25 with a road contest at No. 10 nationally-ranked Colorado School of Mines (7 pm MT/6 pm PT). The trip to Golden, Colorado will be the Vikings third lengthy road trip of the season and second to the state of Colorado. The contest vs. the Orediggers will feature a live webcast and statistical updates with links available at WWUVikings.com/Live. It is WWU's first trip back to Golden since defeating CSM 5-1 in the national quarterfinal in 2016 on the way to winning the program's first national title.
  Tonight's match marked the second home match of the season, with three of the first four on the road. WWU will host six Great Northwest Athletic Conference home matches at Harrington Field, next playing on its home pitch October 3 vs. Central Washington (7 pm).
 

#7 Western Washington 2, Texas Woman's 0
Date: Sept. 19, 2019
Field: Harrington Field  Site: Bellingham, WA
 
Goals by period          1  2    Tot
---------------------------------------
Texas Women's..........  0  0  -  0
Western Washington.....  1  1  -  2
 
SCORING SUMMARY:
  1.  27:47  WWU  Larson (White)
  2.  52:43  WWU  Larson (Levinte)
 
Shots: WWU 28, TWU 7
Shots on Goal: WWU 14, TWU 0
Saves: WWU 0, TWU 12 (Marin - 12)
Kits: WWU – Navy Blue; TWU – White

  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 80-5-5 (.917) in league play during this stretch, and has won three of the last four GNAC Championships titles (2005, 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.