DALLAS, Texas – Fighting all the way until the end, the Western Washington University women's soccer team had its season come to a close with a 2-1 loss to Seattle Pacific University Thursday in the West Regional Final played at Patriot Soccer Field.
 
After conceding an early goal in each half, the Vikings controlled the tempo late in the game pulling to within one on a Jenna Killman goal in the 72nd minute. A fleury of offensive activity in the final 10 minutes of regulation did not result in a goal as the comeback attempt fell just short.
 
In a match featuring the top two seeds in the West Region, playing 1,700 miles away in Dallas, it was the No. 1 Falcons that moves on to the national quarterfinal after improving to 19-1-1 on the season. No. 2 WWU finished its season with a 15-5-3 record, with four of the defeats coming against SPU. This marked the Vikings sixth consecutive trip to the West Regional Final and ninth in program history.
 
An evenly-played match between the No. 4 nationally-ranked Falcons and No. 13 Vikings featured both teams with 13 shots, with SPU holding a slight 8-7 advantage in shots on goal. WWU had a 4-3 edge in corner kicks and both teams were called for four fouls.
 
"We played with a lot of heart and determination today, battling back from the early goals in each half," said WWU head coach Travis Connell. "We didn't miss a beat after those goals and went back to work and didn't back down. They showed great character like they normally do. I am proud of how we played and executed today, accomplishing a lot of what we wanted to do throughout the course of the game."
 
SPU struck first in the 12th minute to go up 1-0 when Claire Neder converted a penalty kick at the 11:42 mark. The Falcons drew the PK when goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx took a back pass from Katie Watt, but after a heavy touch, Dierickx fouled Sophie Beadle going for the loose ball. Neder left little doubt on her penalty kick driving the ball into the left portion of the goal.
 
The Vikings had a scoring chance in the 23rd minute when Ashley Nguyen threaded a pass into the box towards a streaking Grace Eversaul, but the Western couldn't convert in the final third.
 
Darby Doyle took a free kick from just outside the box in the 40th minute that was punched away by SPU goalkeeper Riley Travis.
 
SPU made it 2-0 early in the second half on a goal by Beadle in the 52nd minute. The Falcons won a ball near midfield and then had a pair of well-placed passes by Neder and Chloe Gellhaus to find Beadle on the right side of the box, who one-timed it to the far post for her eighth goal of the season.
 
The Vikings got on the board at the 71:19 mark with Killman scoring her 14th goal of the season. Sophomore Makenzie Burks sent a long free kick into the SPU box, where Killman tracked the ball down near the right corner of the six-yard box and redirected it inside the left post for the goal. The 14 goals by Killman enter the record books as 10th-most in single-season program history.
 
WWU had a pair of opportunities to find the equalizer turned away in the 81st minute. On a long throw-in from Burks, Killman volleyed a ball towards the right post that was pushed away by Travis. On the ensuing corner kick from Burks, a loose ball in the box that was touched by Tera Ziemer and Dayana Diaz was turned away at the goal line by SPU defender Rylee Pierce.
 
"That's sports. The goal is to create those chances against a team like this in a championship game like this…and certainly a few of those late moments got me out of my seat," added Connell. "We certainly created a lot of chances with the possibility to tie and even win the game, but we also had 11 fantastic players going against us trying to stop those chances."
 

2021 NCAA Division II Championships – West Regional Final
Seattle Pacific 2, Western Washington 1
Date: December 2, 2021
Field: Patriot Soccer Field   Site: Dallas, TX
Weather: 61º, Clear	Att: 200

Goals by period                     1  2    Tot
--------------------------------------------------------
Western Washington................  0  1  -  1
Seattle Pacific...................  1  1  -  2

SCORING SUMMARY:
1.         11:42       SPU      Neder (Penalty Kick)
2.         51:48       SPU      Beadle (Rietz, Gellhaus)
3.         71:19       WWU      Killman (Burks)

Shots: WWU 13, SPU 13
Shots on Goal: SPU 8, WWU 7
Saves: WWU 6 (Dierickx – 6), SPU 6 (Travis - 6)
Corners: WWU 4, SPU 3
Fouls: WWU 4, SPU 4
Yellow Cards: WWU 1, SPU 1
Offsides: WWU 2, SPU 1
Kits: WWU (Black), SPU (White)

  The Vikings made their ninth consecutive appearance in the NCAA Division II Championships, the 11th overall trip to the NCAA postseason in program history. WWU has won at least one game in nine of 11 trips to the NCAA Championships and made its sixth consecutive trip to the West Regional Final (8th time in last 9 seasons). The 2016 national champions and 2019 national runner-up owns an all-time 23-9-1 record in NCAA Championships play. 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.
  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 nine consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championships. WWU has advanced to the NCAA II Final Four in four of the last eight seasons and played for the West Region championship in eight of the last nine seasons (six consecutive). 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 nine 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 11 trips to the NCAA Championships (9 straight) and 17 consecutive winning seasons. He picked up his 400th career victory October 16 vs. Simon Fraser. 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.