BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University senior midfielder
Drew Farnsworth got his Senior Week off to a good start, recording a goal and an assist to fuel the Vikings 3-1 victory over Saint Martin's on a rainy Thursday evening at Harrington Field.
The Vikings recorded their fourth win the last five matches to improve to 6-7-0 overall and moved into a tie for 1st place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a 4-2-0 record (12 points). Saint Martin's dropped to 2-11-0 on the season and 1-5-0 in GNAC play.
The defending conference champion Vikings moved into a tie with Seattle Pacific (4-1-0) in the GNAC standings, as Simon Fraser and Northwest Nazarene (started the day tied with WWU for 2nd place) were fogged out near the midway point of the game Thursday in Burnaby, BC. SFU and NNU start its game over Friday starting at 3 pm on Burnaby Mountain, with the Nighthawks visiting Bellingham on Saturday.
"We didn't have the best first half compared to rest of the season, but they responded well and had a really good performance to pick up three key points in the standings," said WWU head coach
Greg Brisbon. "Lots of good performances tonight – in the midfield by Gus (Diehl), our forwards and the defense. A well-rounded team effort."
After being off for the last 12 days, the Vikings showed a little rust in the first half, but got a late first-half goal from Farnsworth to take a 1-0 lead into halftime. Freshman
Lucas Hakamada fired a cross into the box where Farnsworth made a sliding one-time shot to bury the ball into the back of the net for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. The goal came at the 43:34 mark with under two minutes of play remaining in the half.
WWU played add-on in the second half, with freshman forward
Eric Bunnell opening his scoring account in the 59th minute with a strong play inside the box and senior
Alex Whiting scored for the second straight game with a crafty shot inside the left post in the 76th minute.
The Saints erased the shutout with a late goal in the 88th minute by Jason Fairhurst.
The Vikings peppered the goal with 23 shots and held a 10-2 advantage in shots on goal.
"We are looking forward to another opportunity to get on the field Saturday vs. NNU and celebrate our seniors final game at Harrington Field," added Brisbon. "I think we are going to be ready to go and we are still defending our title as the conference champions."
Gallery: (10-28-2021) MS | WWU 3, Saint Martin's 1 (10/28/21)
UP NEXT
WWU (6-7-0, 34-2-0 GNAC) closes out the home portion of the 2021 regular-season schedule hosting Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, October 30 (7 pm). Prior to the match WWU will honor its four-player senior class consisting of
Iakov Shmelev,
Alex Whiting,
Brandon Wolter and
Drew Farnsworth. View the complete
2021 schedule at wwuvikings.com/MSOC.
QUICK STATS
Western Washington 3, Saint Martin's 1
Date: October 28, 2021
Field: Harrington Field Site: Bellingham, WA
Weather: 49°, Rain7 Att: 137
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
-----------------------------------------
Saint Martin's............. 0 1 - 1
Western Washington......... 1 2 - 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 43:34 WWU Farnsworth (Hakamada)
2. 58:52 WWU Bunnell (Wall)
3. 75:39 WWU Whiting (Farnsworth)
4. 87:54 SMU Fairhurst
Shots: WWU 23, SMU 11
Shots on Goal: WWU 10, SMU 2
Saves: WWU 1 (Locke – 1), SMU 7 (Askland – 7)
Corners: SMU 4, WWU 2
Fouls: SMU 15, WWU 14
Yellow Cards: WWU 4, SMU 3
Offsides: WWU 1, SMU 0
Kits: WWU (White), SMU (Black)
SERIES HISTORY VS. SAINT MARTIN'S
WWU secured the season sweep over Saint Martin's, adding tonight's 3-1 victory to a 4-3 comeback win in Lacey on October 2. The Vikings now lead the all-time series vs. the Saints 21-7-2 and has won the last five matches in the series (6-0-1 in last seven meetings). WWU improved to 13-1-1 all-time vs. SMU in home games, with a 6-1-1 mark at Harrington Field since 2014.
GNAC TABLE
Here is a look at the GNAC standings following play on Thursday, with the Vikings moving into a first-place tie with Seattle Pacific with 12 points (4-2-0). Simon Fraser and Northwest Nazarene will start its game over Friday at 3 pm after being fogged out near the midway point of the match Thursday. SPU was idle Thursday and return to action Saturday hosting Montana State Billings.
| MEN'S SOCCER |
GNAC |
PTS |
OVERALL |
PCT |
HOME |
AWAY |
NEUTRAL |
STREAK |
| 1. |
Seattle Pacific |
4-1-0 |
12 |
10-2-0 |
.833 |
4-1-0 |
6-1-0 |
0-0-0 |
Lost 1 |
|
Western Washington |
4-2-0 |
12 |
6-7-0 |
.462 |
4-2-0 |
2-5-0 |
0-0-0 |
Won 2 |
| 3. |
Northwest Nazarene |
3-2-0 |
9 |
6-5-0 |
.546 |
3-2-0 |
3-2-0 |
0-1-0 |
Lost 1 |
|
Simon Fraser |
3-2-0 |
9 |
6-5-0 |
.546 |
2-0-0 |
2-4-0 |
2-1-0 |
Won 2 |
| 5. |
Montana State Billings |
1-4-0 |
3 |
3-7-1 |
.318 |
1-1-0 |
1-4-1 |
1-2-0 |
Lost 3 |
|
Saint Martin's |
1-5-0 |
3 |
2-11-0 |
.154 |
1-4-0 |
1-5-0 |
0-2-0 |
Lost 1 |
| Thursday's GNAC Results |
at Western Washington 3, Saint Martin's 1
Northwest Nazarene at Simon Fraser (Fogged Out) |
FOLLOW THE VIKINGS
Fans can follow WWU men's soccer online at
WWUVikings.com/MSOC, and via social media on
Twitter (@SoccerWWU),
Instagram (@wwu_msoccer) and
Facebook (@WWUsoccermens). 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.
ABOUT WWU SOCCER
The Western Washington University men's soccer program is led by ninth-year head coach
Greg Brisbon, who has spent over 20 seasons affiliated with WWU Soccer. The Vikings are the defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions, winning the 2019 title for the third league trophy in program history, and advanced to the NCAA II Championships for the second time. The program is in its 42nd varsity season in 2021, and has recorded an overall record at or above the .500 mark in eight of the last nine seasons, including a 13-5-1 mark in 2019 and 11-6-1 in 2018. In 2016 the Vikings advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the first time in program history, using a late-season surge that saw the Vikings 5-0-1 over the last six matches to advance to the postseason. Overall the program has produced 58 GNAC Players of the Week selections, 30 First Team All-GNAC players and 4 GNAC Players of the Year since joining the conference in 2001. Off the field, WWU has built a strong academic reputation with 60 GNAC All-Academic selections over the last five years and the program has earned three consecutive United Soccer Coaches Team Academic Awards.
