GOLDEN, Colo. – In a battle of two top-10 teams, a pair of early first-half goals led the No. 9 Colorado School of Mines to a 2-1 victory over No. 10 Western Washington University on Wednesday evening at Stermole Soccer Stadium.

 

WWU entered the game having allowed only one goal in the first five games of the season, but Colorado School of Mines scored in the 12^th and 17^th minutes to build the early 2-0 lead. 

 

The Vikings got on the board in the 89^th minute when senior Emily Nelson headed home a goal off a corner from senior forward Liv Larson. The Orediggers held off a late attack by the Vikings to record the one-goal victory improving to 6-1-0 on the season. The assist was the 22^nd of Larson's career, 6^th-most in WWU history.

 

The Vikings closed out non-conference play with a 4-2-0 record, with the remaining schedule consisting of 12 Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests.

 

"We didn't start well at all, and a lot of that falls on me in preparing our team, but Mines started fast and was dangerous from the beginning creating chances and converting those chances into two early goals," said WWU head coach Travis Connell. "We started playing well after the first 20 minutes, created some chances and ultimately got a late goal. We played a good team on their field, and they played well putting us in a hole early."

 

Western created the first scoring opportunity when senior forward Karli White took a pass near the top of the box and created space with a few moves, but her left-footed shot was saved by the Mines goalkeeper.

 

The Orediggers immediately responded, creating their own chance off a corner kick early in the 12^thminute. Giselle Sawaged took possession of a loose ball at the top of the box and fired it into the top left corner of the goal for her second goal of the season.

 

Just over five minutes later, Mines added to its lead at the 16:10 mark when Nicole LaTourette scored hear team-leading fourth goal of the season.

 

Pressing in the second half, the Vikings ended up out-shooting Mines 13-12 in the game and held a 6-5 advantage in shots on goal. WWU also had a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks, with all five corners coming in the second half.

 

"We showed a lot of grit to turn the game around…this team has a ton of pride and did a great job fighting back and digging out of that hole, we just came up a little short," said Connell.

 

Mines goalkeeper Shannon Mooney made five saves and WWU junior goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx had three saves. 

 

This was the Vikings third separate road trip of the season, including its second trip to the state of Colorado.

 

"Regardless of where we play, we have to be relentless and come out ready to play. We had a tough non-conference schedule, but we certainly have plenty more challenges ahead of us in GNAC play," added Connell. "This is a great group that is making strides towards becoming a championship team."

 

The Vikings (4-2-0, 0-0-0 GNAC) return to Bellingham on Thursday and face a quick turnaround with another road match on Saturday, opening the Great Northwest Athletic Conference slate at Simon Fraser. WWU will play SFU at Terry Fox Field in Burnaby, BC with a scheduled 1 pm kickoff. The match will stream live at GNAC.tv with live stats also available. 

 

WWU entered tonight's match ranked No. 10 in the United Soccer Coaches Division II Poll, with Colorado School of Mines one spot ahead of the Vikings at No. 9. WWU has been ranked in the top 25 in 56 consecutive polls dating back to midway through the 2014 season.

 

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).

 

#9 Colorado School of Mines 2, #10 Western Washington 1
Date: Sept. 25, 2019
Field: Stermole Soccer Stadium  Site: Golden, Colo.

 

Goals by Period               1  2    Tot

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

Western Washington..........  0  1  -  1

Colo. School of Mines.......  2  0  -  2

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.  11:06  CSM  Sawaged

2.  16:10  CSM  LaTourette (Brugman)

3.  88:11  WWU  Nelson (Larson)

 

Shots: WWU 13, CSM 12

Shots on Goal: WWU 6, CSM 5

Saves: WWU 3 (Dierickx – 3), CSM 5 (Mooney - 5)

Kits: WWU – Black; CSM – 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.