BELLINGHAM, Wash. – There are quick and great starts…and then there is the performance by Western Washington University senior forward
Jenna Killman in Thursday's second semifinal of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships.
Killman recorded a hat trick in the first 13 minutes, 10 seconds to lead the Vikings to a 3-1 victory over Northwest Nazarene on a rainy Thursday evening at Harrington Field. The goals by Killman in the 2nd, 10th and 14th minutes helped her record the fastest hat trick in GNAC history, bettering previous mark of 14:51 set by WWU's Elise Aylward in 2015.
The No. 2 seed Vikings improved to 14-3-3 overall and will play in Saturday's GNAC Final vs. No. 1 Seattle Pacific at 1 pm at Harrington Field. SPU defeated No. 4 seed Simon Fraser 2-1 on a pair of first half goals in Thursday's first semifinal game. WWU has now advanced to the GNAC Final in all nine conference championships and will be aiming for its sixth tournament title.
The Vikings got off to a fast start with their earliest goal of the season, taking less than two minutes to make their mark on the scoreboard.
Katie Watt sent a long ball out of the back line down the right side of the field to a streaking
Tera Ziemer. After one touch by Ziemer, she fired the ball back across the box where Killman delivered a one-touch smash into the upper right corner for her 10th goal of the season.
Killman made it a brace early in the 10th minute taking another pass from Ziemer, made a move and fired a bending shot from 22-yards out into the upper right quadrant of the goal to put the Vikings up 2-0.
A little under four minutes later, Killman completed the hat trick finishing a saved shot from Ziemer 12-yards out.
NNU (10-5-3) cut the deficit to two goals early in the second half when Ashley Parton converted a penalty kick in the 59th minute. The Nighthawks nearly pulled to within one goal in the 65th minute when a long free kick by Magda Wronski hit caromed off the crossbar and post but eluded going into the goal.
WWU First Team All-GNAC goalkeeper
Natalie Dierickx made a pair of saves as the Viking defense did not allow a goal in the run of play. Sophomore center back
Katie Watt and sophomore defender
Makenzie Burks each played the full 90.
NNU goalkeeper
Alexis Montoya made five saves for the Nighthawks, who were out-shot 15-7 overall and 8-3 in shots on goal.
HAT TRICK FOR KILLMAN
Jenna Killman, a First Team All-GNAC selection, recorded the Vikings first hat trick since
Zoe Milburn had four goals on October 5, 2019. The Olympia native now has 12 goals on the season, with four multi-goal games, to take over the conference lead in goals scored. Her 12 goals also moved up to a tie for 15th in single-season WWU history.
ZIEMER TIES SINGLE-GAME ASSIST RECORD
Tera Ziemer tied the WWU single-game record with three assists and the most by a Viking since current WWU assistant coach and WWU all-time assist leader
Claire Morgan had three in a 2007 game vs. Saint Martin's. The GNAC Newcomer of the Year now has 18 points on the season with six goals and six assists.
UP NEXT
The Vikings (14-3-3, 10-3-1 GNAC) are back in action Saturday in the GNAC Championships Final vs. Seattle Pacific with kickoff at 1 pm. Tickets for the GNAC Championships can be purchased in advance at
GNACTickets.com. The game will also stream live online at
GNAC.tv.
GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS HISTORY
Western has qualified for the GNAC Championships in all nine years the event has been held since debuting in 2012 (no tournament in 2020). WWU has also advanced to the title game every year and will be going for its sixth GNAC Championships title on Saturday (won in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019). Following Thursday's 3-1 win over NNU, WWU is 14-1-2 all-time in the GNAC Championships. WWU and SPU are the only teams to qualify for every GNAC Tournament and have combined for seven of the eight titles (WWU 5, SPU 2, Concordia 1).
| Year |
Championship Game Score |
Tournament Venue |
| 2012 |
Western Washington 2, MSU Billings 0 |
Tukwila, WA |
| 2013 |
Seattle Pacific 1, Western Washington 1 (SPU 4-1 PKs) |
Tukwila, WA |
| 2014 |
Seattle Pacific 1, Western Washington 1 (SPU 5-4 PKs) |
Tukwila, WA |
| 2015 |
Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1 |
Burnaby, BC |
| 2016 |
Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1 |
Burnaby BC & Bellingham, WA |
| 2017 |
Western Washington 1, Concordia 0 (2 OT) |
Portland, OR |
| 2018 |
Concordia 2, Western Washington 1 (OT) |
Portland, OR |
| 2019 |
Western Washington 2, Seattle Pacific 1 |
Seattle, WA |
| 2020 |
No Tournament |
|
| 2021 |
WWU vs. SPU on Saturday |
Bellingham, WA |
QUICK STATS
2021 GNAC Women's Soccer Championships Semifinal
#13 Western Washington 3, Northwest Nazarene 1
Date: November 11, 2021
Field: Harrington Field Site: Bellingham,, WA
Weather: High 40's, Rain Att: 376
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
--------------------------------------------------------
Northwest Nazarene................ 0 1 - 1
#13 Western Washington............ 3 0 - 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 1:43 WWU Killman (Watt, Ziemer)
2. 9:24 WWU Killman (Ziemer)
3. 13:15 WWU Killman (Provo, Ziemer)
4. 58:53 NNU Parton (Penalty)
Shots: WWU 15, NNU 7
Shots on Goal: WWU 8, NNU 3
Saves: WWU 2 (Dierickx - 2), NNU 5 (Montoya - 5)
Corners: WWU 5, NNU 2
Fouls: NNU 14, WWU 13
Yellow Cards: WWU 1, NNU 1
Offsides: WWU 1, NNU 0
Kits: WWU (Light Blue/White), NNU (Black)
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. NORTHWEST NAZARENE
WWU won the rubber match in the season series vs. NNU, with WWU winning 1-0 at home on October 2 and NNU winning 2-1 in Nampa on October 28. WWU now leads the all-time series vs. the Nighthawks 38-2-1 with a 21-0-1 mark in home games (7-0-0 at Harrington Field).
HARRINGTON FIELD SUCCESS
Since Harrington Field debuted on the south edge of the WWU campus in 2014, the Vikings are 69-3-4 (.934) playing in front of the home crowd.
WWU had a 32-game unbeaten streak (29-0-3) at Harrington Field snapped vs. Seattle Pacific earlier this season (previous home loss - Oct. 28, 2017 vs. Concordia). Including the men's program, WWU's soccer teams have a combined record of 104-23-13 at Harrington Field (.789 winning percentage) since the on-campus facility debuted. The Vikings are 9-1-0 at Harrington Field in postseason play, with the lone loss a 1-0 setback in the 2014 NCAA II Championships.
