BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Off to a perfect start in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, the No. 6 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's soccer team hits the road this week for a pair of key conference games.

 

The undefeated Vikings (7-0-2) cover the GNAC footprint playing Thursday at Montana State Billings (1 pm MT/12 pm PT) and then face rival and No. 25 Seattle Pacific on Saturday at Interbay Stadium (7 pm). Both GNAC games will steam live online and feature live statistical updated with direct links available at wwuvikings.com/Live.

 

Coming off home wins over Central Washington (6-0) and Northwest Nazarene (1-0), the Vikings will play the next two games on the road, followed by a four-game homestand. Western's undefeated records includes going 5-0-1 at Harrington Field and 2-0-1 in away contests.

 

WWU enters this week's matches out-scoring opponents 17-4, rank 2nd in the GNAC with a 0.42 goals against average and tied for the league lead with SPU with five shutouts. The Vikings are also second behind SPU in total goals (17) and goals scored per game (1.89).'

 

Junior midfielder Tera Ziemer leads the team tied for the GNAC lead with four goals, and senior midfielder Grace Eversaul and senior forward Jenna Killman are tied for 5th with three goals each. Killman had a brace vs. CWU and Eversaul has found the back of the net in three of the last four games. Senior goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx ranks 20th in NCAA Division II with a 0.447 goals against average, is tied for the league lead with five shutouts and is in the top 40 in the nation with a .871 save percentage (27 saves).

 

WWU's 19-match regular-season schedule and all results, recaps and box scores can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/21_WS.

 

 

News and notes on the 2021 WWU Women's Soccer team:

 

• The Record – 7-0-2 on the season with a 5-0-1 mark at Harrington Field and 2-0-1 on the road (1-0-0 neutral).
• GNAC – Top of the table with a 4-0-0 record in conference play.
• Harrington Success – Current 30-game unbeaten streak at Harrington Field (27-0-3) and 65-2-4 all-time playing at the on-campus facility that debuted in 2014 (.944 winning pct).
• Shutouts – Recorded 5 shutouts in 9 games…had 18 shutouts in 26 games in 2019 and 4 in 7 games during 2021 spring season…tied for the GNAC lead with five games without allowing a goal this season.
• Second Half Viks – Scored 11 of 17 goals in the second half, including the game-winner in the 87th minute vs. No. 5 Sonoma State (by Ziemer).
• Corners – Holds a 70-22 advantage over opponents in corner kicks through nine games.
• Ziemer Goals – Tera Ziemer (Texas A&M transfer) has scored four goals to tie for GNAC lead (3 game-winners).
• Eversaul's Goals – All-American Grace Eversaul has scored a goal in three of last four games…16th in program history with 22 career goals and 20th with 52 points…has 10 career game-winning goals.
• Winner in Goal – All-American goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx has recorded 50 career wins, most in program history…25 shutouts are tied for 3rd-most by a WWU goalkeeper and tied for 5th-most among active NCAA II players…current active leader in NCAA II with career 0.46 goals against average.
• Dependable Doyle – Darby Doyle has appeared in 85 career games, currently tied for 11th in program history…has scored 29 career points (11 goals, 7 assists).
• Always Dancing – Advanced to each of the last eight NCAA Division II Championships, and played in the West Region title match in six of the last seven seasons (four regional titles).
• GNAC Champions – Won both the GNAC regular-season and conference tournament titles in 2019, the 8th regular-season title and 5th tournament title in program history.
• National Champions – 2016 NCAA II National Championship with a 24-0-1 record…also national runner-up finish in 2019 (23-3-0).
• The Gaffer – Travis Connell is in his 19th season leading the WWU Women's program (26th at WWU), and owns an all-time 272-73-32 (.764) as the Western women's head coach…6th among active NCAA II head coaches with a .761 winning percentage (entering season)…owns 397 career wins including time with WWU men's soccer.
• Roster Breakdown – The 2021 roster features 33 players, with 26 from Washington, three from Oregon, two from California, one from Colorado and one from North Dakota.

 

Here is a look at the series history between the Vikings and the two upcoming opponents:

 

• Montana State Billings: WWU leads the all-time series 23-3-2 and takes a 15-game winning streak into Thursday's match…out-scored the Yellowjackets 39-3 during the winning streak…owns an 9-2-0 all-time record in games played in Billings and 19-3-2 in conference games…two teams also meet Oct. 23 at Harrington Field in Bellingham.
• Seattle Pacific: Western leads the all-time series vs. SPU 21-19-7…had 21-game unbeaten streak snapped vs. the Falcons last spring in a 4-1 loss at Interbay Stadium (5/12)…loss also snapped a 13-game winning streak vs. the Falcons and marked SPU's first win over WWU since October 27, 2021, a span of 3,119 days…7-10-3 all-time in road games vs. SPU and 15-17-4 in conference games.

 

One of the great rivalries in college soccer, WWU (2016) and Seattle Pacific (2008) each have claimed an NCAA Division II national championship. WWU has advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last eight seasons, while SPU has appeared in 15 of the last 17 seasons.

 

WWU head coach Travis Connell was a four-year letterman for the SPU men's soccer team from 1991-95, helping lead the Falcons to 1993 national championship.

 

Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings heading into this week's action, with the Vikings at the top of the table with nine points at 4-0-0 in league play:

 

 

Western is listed No. 6 in the current United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Poll, the fourth consecutive week to be ranked in the national top-10. WWU has now been listed in 69 consecutive national polls dating back to the middle of the 2014 season, with 29 weeks as a top-5 team.

 

WWU has built a 86-15-9 record away from Bellingham over the last 10 seasons (since 2012), which includes a 63-11-6 road record and a 23-4-3 mark in neutral-site games. The Vikings will play nine of 19 games on the road in 2021 (2-0-1 so far this season).

 

Since Harrington Field debuted on the south edge of the WWU campus in 2014, the Vikings are 65-2-4 (.944) playing in front of the home crowd. WWU has a current 30-game unbeaten streak (27-0-3) at Harrington Field dating back to the end of the 2017 season (last home loss - Oct. 28, 2017 vs. Concordia). Including the men's program, WWU's soccer teams have a combined record of 96-21-13 at Harrington Field (.788 winning percentage) since the on-campus facility debuted.

 

All WWU home games (and most road games) will stream live online with the direct links available at WWUVikings.com/Live. Games at Harrington Field will feature an HD webcast on WWU's YouTube channel. For easy access, each WWU Women's Soccer game will feature a URL redirect that will send you right to the current game, so bookmark the following links, which will direct you to watch games this weekend vs. MSUB and SPU.

 

• Webcast – wwuvikings.com/WS_Watch
• Live Stats – wwuvikings.com/WS_Stats

 

The Vikings have made eight consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Championships and 10 overall appearances in the NCAA postseason. WWU played for the national title in 2019 and are 2-2 all-time in national semifinal contests. The program owns an all-time 22-8-1 record in NCAA Championships play (5-1 in 2019), winning at least one game in 8 of the 10 trips to the NCAA postseason. WWU was crowned national champions after in 2016 with a 24-0-1 record, capped by a 3-2 victory over Grand Valley State in Kansas City, Missouri.

 

Katie Watt (Defense) and Tera Ziemer (Offense) swept the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Players of the Week for games played September 13-19. Ziemer earned the offensive award after scoring the game-winning goal in the 1-0 win over Biola on Saturday and Watt received defensive honors leading the stalwart back line not allowing a shot on goal. Natalie Dierickx also won the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week award for Sept. 6-12.

 

The Vikings are the two-time defending GNAC regular-season champions (2018 & 2019) and have raised the conference trophy seven times in the last eight seasons. WWU won five consecutive titles from 2012-16 and again in 2018 to add to the 2008 league championship. The Vikings have also won four of the seven conference tournament titles.

 

WWU has won 94 of its last 110 games dating back to the start of the 2016 national championship season, going 94-9-7 (.886) during this stretch. The program has won seven of the last eight GNAC regular-season titles (including 2019), four of the last five GNAC Tournaments and advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last eight seasons. During the eight-year stretch of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, WWU has reached the West Regional Championship match seven times and advanced to the NCAA II national semifinals four times (2013, 2015, 2016, 2019). Western has a current streak of 17 consecutive winning seasons the 7th-longest active streak in NCAA II.

 

Travis Connell is in his 19th season leading the women's program as head coach and 26th overall as a coach at WWU. Owns a 272-73-32 (.764) record leading the women's program to rank as the 5th-winningest active coach amongst NCAA Division II head coaches. Overall he is 10th among all-time winningest NCAA Division II coaches, with a minimum of 10 years as a head coach at a DII school. Connell recorded his 250^th win leading the women's program on October 24, 2019 vs. Seattle Pacific, and including 125 wins as the head coach of the men's soccer program at WWU, Connell has amassed 397 career NCAA head coaching victories. He is assisted by former Viking standouts Claire Morganand Jamie Arthurs, and Johann Lahud-Zahner.

 

Junior midfielder Tera Ziemer, a transfer from Texas A&M that made 44 appearances in two seasons for the Aggies, leads the Vikings (tied for the most in the GNAC) scoring four goals. Her three game-winning goals rank 11th in NCAA Division II.

 

The Viking defense opened the season with back-to-back shutouts for the second consecutive fall championship season, logging three consecutive shutouts to open the 2019 season. Through the first nine games, WWU has allowed only four goals in 850 minutes for a .424 goals against average to rank 2nd in the GNAC and 12th in NCAA II.

 

The Vikings calling card in recent years has been a strong defense. Over the last 10 seasons the program has combined for a .452 goals against average, including a NCAA-leading mark of 0.341 in 2019. Since 2012, the Vikings have posted a shutout in 128 of the last 201 games (63.4%) while going 170-18-13 (.878). Senior All-American goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx has recorded 25 career shutouts (tied for 3rd in WWU history) and owns an all-time program record of 50 wins in net (50-6-4).

 

The 2021 Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women's Soccer Championships will be held at Harrington Field in Bellingham, with games played November 11 (4 & 7 pm) and 13 (1 pm). The top four teams in the GNAC table at the end of the regular season will qualify for the postseason tournament, with the winner receiving the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. This marks the first time WWU will be officially hosting the three-game tournament in the nine-year history of the championships, but Harrington Field did serve as the site of the championship game in 2016 after the planned title match was fogged out in Burnaby, BC. WWU is the defending GNAC Tournament champions winning the title in 2019, and is 13-1-2 all-time in the conference championship event. The Vikings have won five of the eight tournament titles (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019) and advanced to the tournament final all eight seasons.

 

The Vikings entered the 2021 season tied for 25^th in the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Coaches Poll and picked No. 2 in the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll. Here is a look at the GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll:

 

 

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).

 

The Western Washington University women's soccer program has risen to the top of the Division II ranks, with a string of eight consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championships. WWU has advanced to the NCAA II Final Four in four of the last seven seasons and played for the West Region championship in seven of the last eight seasons. The Vikings played for the 2019 national title and 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 seven of the last eight Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season titles and won four of the last five GNAC Tournament titles (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019). Head coach Travis Connell is in his 19th season leading the program in 2021, and has led the Vikings to 10 trips to the NCAA Championships (8 straight) and 16 consecutive winning seasons. WWU finished the 2019 season with a 23-3-0 record, winning the West Regional title and played in the national championship game falling 1-0 to Grand Valley State. WWU's 179 wins during the 2010s decade were the 6^th-most out of 1,043 NCAA women's soccer programs.