ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The No. 18 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's soccer team scored early and often in a 6-0 victory over in-state rival Central Washington Saturday afternoon at Tomlinson Stadium.

 

WWU rebounded from a hard-fought 2-1 loss Thursday at Northwest Nazarene, tying its season-high with six goals, with three in each half. Senior forward Jenna Killman led the way with a pair of goals and assists in a six-point performance. Five different players found the back of the net with three players tallying multiple assists. 

 

The Vikings improved to 12-3-2 on the season overall and remain in second place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings at 9-3-0. WWU has clinched a spot in the four-team GNAC Championships that will be played November 11-13 at Harrington Field in Bellingham.

 

Coming off a 2-0 victory Thursday vs. Simon Fraser, the Wildcats momentum was stalled in the loss falling to 4-12-0 overall and 3-9-0 in conference play. 

 

"I felt like we got great contributions up and down the roster today with the team really executing the game play," said WWU head coach Travis Connell. "Payton Neal had a great game today and I thought Drew Baty gave us a nice lift as a reserve. We were relentless in our style of play today and really proud of how they prepared for this game."

 

WWU out-shot the Wildcats 17-11 and held a 12-8 advantage in shots on goal. The Vikings defense recorded their 10th shutout of the season, with Natalie Dierickx making seven saves in 58 minutes and Claire Henninger completing the win making one save in the final 28 minutes. 

 

Western wasted little time taking control of the match, putting a pair of goals on the scoreboard in the first nine minutes of the match. 

 

Junior forward Dayana Diaz opened the offensive barrage in the fifth minute, burying a rebounded shot from the middle of the box. Killman ignited the opening sequence beating a defender on the left side of the box, with her shot glancing off the post, where Diaz found the rebound for her second goal of the season.

 

Under four minutes later, the Vikings doubled the lead to go up 2-0 when Killman used the outside of her right foot to one touch the ball past the keeper inside the far-right post. Sophomore defender Makenzie Burks delivered a long ball to Killman that set up the strike.

 

Killman completed her third brace of the season in the 21st minute with a left-footed blast into the right side of the net. Freshman forward Ashley Nguyen recorded the first of two assists with her pass finding Killman wide open to put the Vikings up 3-0 21-minutes into the contest.

 

The second half featured much of the same, with WWU scoring in the 52nd, 60th and 77th minutes to bring the game to the final score of 6-0.

 

Senior Sophie Butterfield scored her second goal of the season at the 51:22 mark finishing a saved header by Killman. Senior midfielder Darby Doyle delivered a 27-yard free kick that nearly resulted in a hat trick for Killman, but the header was saved, ultimately resulting in the Butterfield strike.

 

Doyle joined in the goal-scoring fun in the 60th minute, beating a charging CWU goalkeeper with a pair of touches for her fourth goal of the season.

 

Freshman Sophie Bearden Croft completed the lopsided victory with her second career goal, taking a feed from Nguyen inside the box and beat the goalkeeper with a hard shot to the lower right side of the goal.

 

#18 Western Washington 6, Central Washington 0

Date: October 30, 2021

Field: Tomlinson Stadium   Site: Ellensburg, WA

Att: 259

 

Goals by period                     1  2    Tot

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

#18 Western Washington............  3  3  -  6

Central Washington................  0  0  -  0

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.        4:47       WWU      Diaz (Killman)

2.        8:43       WWU      Killman (Burks)

3.       21:12       WWU      Killman (Nguyen)

4.       51:22       WWU      Butterfield (Doyle, Killman)

5.       59:45       WWU      Doyle (Burks)

6.       76:01       WWU      Bearden Croft (Nguyen)

 

Shots: WWU 17, CWU 11

Shots on Goal: WWU 12, CWU 8

Saves: WWU 8 (Dierickx – 7, Henninger - 1), CWU 6 (Canton – 4, Fox – 2)

Corners: WWU 5, CWU 2

Fouls: CWU 13, WWU 11

Yellow Cards: CWU 1, WWU 0

Offsides: WWU 9, CWU 1

Kits: WWU (Black), NNU (White)

 

WWU earned the season sweep over its in-state rival, recording a matching 6-0 shutout victories over the Wildcats. Western also defeated CWU 6-0 on September 30 at Harrington Field. The Vikings now lead the all-time series vs. the Wildcats 47-10-8 and now owns a seven-game winning streak and 21-match unbeaten streak (19-0-2) vs. CWU. WWU is 20-5-4 all-time in games played in Ellensburg.

 

The Vikings (12-3-2, 9-3-0 GNAC) concludes the regular season next week with away games at Western Oregon (Thursday, Nov. 4, 2 pm) and Saint Martin's (Saturday, Nov. 6, 2:30 pm). WWU has already locked in one of the four spots for the 2021 GNAC Women's Soccer Championships that will be played November 11-13 at Harrington Field. The complete 2021 season schedule, complete with live coverage links, can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/21_WSOC.

 

Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings following play on Saturday, with WWU remaining in second place in the standings with 27 points. WWU and SPU have clinched two of the four spots in the 2021 GNAC Championships that will be held Nov. 11-13 at Harrington Field in Bellingham.