BELLINGHAM, Wash.  – The Western Washington University men's soccer team continued its solid late-season play, downing Northwest Nazarene 1-0 on Senior Night at Harrington Field.
 
The Vikings scored in the 9th minute on a goal by junior defender Teagan Eldridge and held off the Nighthawks the rest of the way for the narrow victory. NNU nearly scored the equalizer in the final seconds of the match, but a last-second header attempt did not cross the goal line before time expired.
 
WWU recorded its fifth win in the last six games to even the overall record at 7-7-0 and remained on top of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings with a 5-2-0 record in conference play. WWU and Simon Fraser are tied for first in the GNAC table with 15 points and three remaining matches, while Seattle Pacific is in third place with 13 points (4-1-1 in GNAC play) with four games remaining.
 
"It was a good home win tonight and a great way to send off our seniors in their last match at Harrington Field," said WWU head coach Greg Brisbon. "We got a really nice goal with multiple players involved early. Now we prepare for a tough GNAC road trip on the backend of the conference schedule. We have created some momentum and hopefully we can keep that up."
 
Northwest Nazarene was dealt its second 1-0 defeat in a row and third consecutive loss to drop to 6-7-0 overall and 3-4-0 in GNAC play. NNU was defeated 1-0 in a late goal by SFU Friday, after playing 43 minutes Thursday in a game that was fogged out just prior to the completion of the first half.
 

Western got off to the quick start with Eldridge scoring at the 8:22 mark in the first half that stood as the games lone goal. Freshman forward Eric Bunnell sent a through ball up the field where junior forward Gilbert De La Luz made a cleaver no-touch play, leaving room for a 20-yard finish off the left foot of Eldridge.
 
WWU held off the one of the top scoring teams in the conference, as NNU was shut out for just the third time in 13 games this season. The Vikings defense allowed just five shots in the contest, with sophomore goalkeeper Brandon Locke making a pair of saves.
 
After nearly winning its Friday contest at SFU with an 88th minute goal that was called off due to an offsides, NNU again fell just short of a dramatic moment with a last-second header shot by Leon Niessen found the back of the net, but was ruled to have not crossed the goal line before time expired.
  WWU (7-7-0, 5-2-0 GNAC) closed out the home portion of the schedule and will now go on the road in seek of a second consecutive GNAC title. The Vikings are back in action next week on the road at Montana State Billings on Thursday (2 pm MT/1 pm PT) and face rival Seattle Pacific on Saturday night at Interbay Stadium (7 pm). View the complete 2021 schedule at wwuvikings.com/MSOC.
 

Western Washington 1, Northwest Nazarene 0
Date: October 30, 2021
Field: Harrington Field      Site: Bellingham, WA
Weather: 47°, Clear & Crisp   Att: 105
 
Goals by period              1  2    Tot
-----------------------------------------
Northwest Nazarene.........  0  0  -  0
Western Washington.........  1  0  -  1
 
SCORING SUMMARY:
1.        8:22      WWU     Eldridge (Bunnell)
 
Shots: WWU 10, NNU 5
Shots on Goal: WWU 4, NNU 2
Saves: WWU 2 (Locke - 2), NNU 3 (Sawyer - 3)
Corners: NNU 3, WWU 0
Fouls: WWU 19, NNU 15
Yellow Cards: WWU 3, NNU 1
Offsides: WWU 2, NNU 0
Kits: WWU (Black), NNU (White)

  WWU avenged its early-season 3-2 loss vs. NNU in Nampa on September 30, which snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak for the Vikings in the series. Western now holds a 20-7-3 lead in the all-time series and are 6-1-2 in the last nine games. The Vikings are 10-2-2 all-time vs. NNU in games played in Bellingham and 5-1-1 at Harrington Field.
  Prior to the match vs. Northwest Nazarene, WWU's four seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony. Alex Whiting, Iakov Shmelev, Drew Farnsworth and Brandon Wolter were recognized for their accomplishments and all they have done for the program in their final game at Harrington Field.
  Here is a look at the GNAC standings following play on Saturday, with the Vikings in a first-place tie with Simon Fraser at 5-2-0 in conference play (15 points). Seattle Pacific has played one less game than WWU and SFU and is in 3rd place in the table at 4-1-1 (13 points).
 

MEN'S SOCCER		GNAC	PTS	OVERALL	PCT	HOME	AWAY	NEUTRAL	STREAK
1.	Simon Fraser	5-2-0	15	8-5-0	.615	4-0-0	2-4-0	2-1-0	Won 4
	Western Washington	5-2-0	15	7-7-0	.500	5-2-0	2-5-0	0-0-0	Won 3
3.	Seattle Pacific	4-1-1	13	10-2-1	.807	4-1-0	6-1-1	0-0-0	Tied 1
4.	Northwest Nazarene	3-4-0	9	6-7-0	.461	3-2-0	3-4-0	0-1-0	Lost 3
5.	Montana State Billings	1-4-1	4	3-7-2	.333	1-1-1	1-4-1	1-2-0	Tied 1
6.	Saint Martin's	1-6-0	3	2-12-0	.143	1-4-0	1-6-0	0-2-0	Lost 2
Saturday's GNAC Results
at Western Washington 1, Northwest Nazarene 0 at Simon Fraser 2, Saint Martin's 0 Seattle Pacific 1, at Montana State Billings 0 (2 OT)