BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's soccer team remained undefeated with a 2-1 victory over Western Oregon University Saturday afternoon in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at Harrington Field.
The No. 8 nationally-ranked Vikings improved to 5-0-2 overall and completed a perfect opening weekend of GNAC play at 2-0-0. WWU scored pair of second-half goals for the second consecutive game, also beating Simon Fraser on the road Thursday by the same 2-1 final score. WOU dropped to 1-5-0 overall and 0-2-0 in GNAC play.
The Vikings completed a grueling stretch of four games in eight days going 3-0-1, with goals by
Allison Lepp in the 66th minute and
Darby Doyle in the 85th minute leading the Vikings to the victory. WWU extended its undefeated streak at Harrington Field to 28 consecutive games (25-0-3) and have won nine consecutive games vs. Western Oregon.
"This was a grueling stretch of games and I am proud of how the team persevered through it all and found a way to get positive results," said WWU head coach
Travis Connell. "We haven't had our best stretch of soccer, but we are learning and growing as a team. We kept at it today in a physical match and found a way to get three very important points."
The physical game was scoreless until the 65th minute when
Lepp snapped a sharp header inside the right post off a perfectly-delivered corner from sophomore defender
Makenzie Burks.
"Allison stepped up for us today with her play and scored a great goal when we really needed it," added Connell.
WOU put constant pressure on the Viking defense, and scored the equalizer in the 71st minute when Piper Matson struck home a loose ball in the box off the right post with less than 20 minutes remaining in regulation.
With the game tied 1-1, the Vikings struck with the game winner in the 85th minute for the second consecutive game.
Doyle hustled to track down a long ball that neared the end line, gathered the ball, juked her defender and slotted a shot home inside the left post for the eventual game-winner at the 84:05 mark.
WWU out-shot WOU 21-10, including a 16-6 advantage in the second half, but both teams recorded six shots on goal. Senior All-American goalkeeper
Natalie Dierickx made five saves to record her 48th career victory, extending her WWU record.
QUICK STATS
#8 Western Washington 2, Western Oregon 1
Date: September 25, 2021
Field: Harrington Field Site: Bellingham, WA
Weather: 70, Sunny Attendance: 221
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
-----------------------------------------
Western Oregon........... 0 1 - 1
#8 Western Washington.... 0 2 - 2
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 64:58 WWU Lepp (Burks) – off corner
2. 70:35 WOU Matson
3. 84:05 WWU Doyle
Shots: WWU 21, WOU 10
Shots on Goal: WWU 6, WOU 6
Saves: WWU 5 (Dierickx - 5), WOU 4 (Walton – 4)
Corners: WWU 3, WOU 1
Fouls: WOU 17, WWU 9
Offsides: WOU 4, WWU 0
Kits: WWU (Navy Blue), WOU (Red)
ALL-TIME SERIES
WWU improves to 39-6-1 all-time vs. Western Oregon with the series dating back to the first meeting in 1997. The Vikings have a current 9-game winning streak vs. WOU and a 12-game unbeaten streak (11-0-1) going back to 2013 season.
UP NEXT
The Vikings (5-0-2) remains at home next week hosting a pair of GNAC contests at Harrington Field, first entertaining Central Washington on Thursday (9/30) and Northwest Nazarene (10/2) on Saturday. Both GNAC games will feature a 7 pm kickoff. The full 2021 season schedule, complete with live coverage links, can be viewed online at
wwuvikings.com/21_WSOC.
HARRINGTON FIELD SUCCESS
Since Harrington Field debuted on the south edge of the WWU campus in 2014, the Vikings are 63-2-4 (.942) playing in front of the home crowd.
WWU has a current 28-game unbeaten streak (25-0-3) 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 94-21-13 at Harrington Field (.785 winning percentage) since the on-campus facility debuted.
FOLLOW THE VIKINGS
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).
ABOUT WWU SOCCER
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, going 94-5-5 in league play during this stretch (since 2012), 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. He is nearing his 400th career victory, currently with
395 all-time head coaching wins. 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 6th-most out of 1,043 NCAA women's soccer programs.
