SEATTLE, Wash. – The No. 7 Western Washington University women's soccer team looked everything like a top-10 nationally-ranked team Thursday night dominating rival Seattle Pacific University in a 3-0 victory at Interbay Stadium.

 

The Vikings extended their unbeaten streak to 10 consecutive games (8-0-2) and winning streak to five straight to improve to 9-1-3 overall. WWU remained unbeaten in nine Great Northwest Athletic Conference games at 8-0-1 to remain in first place (25 points) and officially punched its ticket as the first team to qualify for the end-of-season GNAC Championships that will be held November 3-5 in Nampa, Idaho.

 

WWU also swept the regular-season series vs. SPU, defeating the Falcons 1-0 October 1 at Harrington Field. SPU dropped to 8-4-1 overall and 6-3-0 in GNAC play after entering the game winners of five of its last six games.

 

"They were up for it tonight. The team was ready to play and I am really proud of the performance tonight," said WWU head coach Travis Connell. "When you match the tactics with the effort and belief…and you combine all three of those things it equals what we saw tonight which was a great team performance."

 

The Falcons looked to strike early going on the offensive and earning a pair of corner kicks within the first two minutes. But WWU weathered the early storm and quickly turned the game in its favor.

 

Freshman Claire Potter cleaned up a fumbled save attempt by the SPU goalkeeper for WWU's first goal late in the 10th minute and freshman Minji Rauch scored her first collegiate goal at the 29:34 mark to extend the lead to 2-0. Rauch tapped in a cross in front of the goal mouth from junior Estera Levinte.

 

WWU out-shot SPU 11-1 in the first half, which included five shots on goal and four corner kicks.

 

WWU put the game out of reach midway through the second half when Levinte struck a 26-yard stinger with her left foot that tucked under the crossbar for her third goal of the season and 11 of her career (to go with 12 assists).

 

The Vikings dominated from start to finish holding a 19-7 advantage in shots, 10-2 edge in shots on goal and edging SPU 6-4 in corner kicks.

 

WWU junior goalkeeper Claire Henninger made a pair of saves while recording her fifth shutout of the season. Defenders Asia Hardinand Katie Watt, and midfielder Tera Ziemer played the full 90 in the field while limiting the Falcons to just two shots on goal.

 

"We had a great foundation on the back line with Asia (Hardin), Tera (Ziemer), Katie (Watt) and Claire (Henninger," added Connell. "We built from their solid play, which allowed for players to really go out and make plays."

 

WWU (9-1-3, 8-0-1 GNAC) concludes its string of four consecutive road games on Saturday traveling to play Montana State Billings (1-9-4, 1-6-2 GNAC) with kickoff scheduled for 12 pm MT/11 am PT. The Vikings game vs. the Yellowjackets will stream live online with a direct link at wwuvikings.com/WS_Watch.

 

#7 Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 0

Date: October 13, 2022

Field: Interbay Stadium   Site: Seattle, WA

Attendance: 174

 

Goals by period              1  2    Tot

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

#7 Western Washington......  2  1  -  3

Seattle Pacific............  0  0  -  0

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.      9:49     WWU     Potter

2.     29:34     WWU     Rauch (Levinte)

3.     66:29     WWU     Levinte (J. Nguyen)

 

Shots: WWU 19, SPU 7

Shots on Goal: WWU 10, SPU 2

Saves: WWU 2 (Henninger – 2), SPU 7 (Cullen – 7)

Corners: WWU 6, SPU 4

Fouls: WWU 8, SPU 8

Offsides: WWU 2, SPU 0

Kits: WWU (Light Blue), SPU (Black)

Records: WWU (9-1-3, 8-0-1), SPU (8-4-1, 6-3-0)

 

Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2022 season:

 

 

Here is a look at the updated records of the eight GNAC programs following play on Thursday. The Vikings are the first team to punch a ticket to play in the four-team GNAC Championships at the end of the season November 3-5 in Nampa, Idaho:

 

 

The Vikings officially punched their ticket to the postseason as the first team to qualify for the four-team GNAC Championships that will be held November 3-5 in Nampa, Idaho. WWU has now qualified for each of the 10 GNAC Championships and is a five-time winner of the event with tournament titles in in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2019. Western has advanced to the title game every season of the GNAC Championships and is 14-2-2 all-time in the GNAC postseason.

 

WWU swept the regular-season series over SPU after defeating the Falcons 1-0 on October 1 at Harrington Field…WWU is now 23-23-7 all-time vs. SPU and holds a 19-5-4 lead in the series over the last 28 meetings dating back to October 2013…the Vikings had a 21-game unbeaten streak vs. the Falcons from 2013-21.

 

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 nine seasons, while SPU has appeared in 16 of the last 18 seasons. SPU (9) and WWU (8) have combined to capture 17 of the 20 GNAC regular-season titles.

 

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.

 

The Vikings (9-1-3, 8-0-1 GNAC) conclude their four-game road trip Saturday facing Montana State Billings at Yellowjacket Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 pm MT/11 am PT with a live webcast produced by MSUB available at via links at wwuvikings.com/22_WSOC.

 

WWU has won 111 of its last 137 games dating back to the start of the 2016 national championship season, going 111-15-11 (.850) during this stretch. The program has won seven of the last nine GNAC regular-season titles (last in 2019), four of the last six GNAC Tournaments (last in 2019) and advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last nine seasons. During the nine-year stretch of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, WWU has reached the West Regional Championship match eight times and advanced to the NCAA II national semifinals four times (2013, 2015, 2016, 2019). Western has a current streak of 18 consecutive winning seasons for one of the top-10 longest active streaks in NCAA II.

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2022 season schedule and results. WWU is 9-1-3 on the season and 8-0-1 in GNAC play following Thursday's 3-0 win at Seattle Pacific:

 

 

There are likely to be a lot of tie games this season with new NCAA soccer rules for 2022 which eliminates overtime during the regular season. Any match that is tied at the 90-minute mark will now end that way, which means no overtime or golden goal scenarios. In the postseason, there will be overtime but no more golden goal; teams will play two full 10-minute extra periods regardless of any goals and if it is still tied, the advancing team will be decided on penalty kicks. Just for kicks, the WWU single-season record for ties is five set in 1981, and most recently four in 2009, 2010 and 2014 (WWU has three this season).

 

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 20th season leading the program in 2022 (27th overall at WWU) and has led the Vikings to 11 trips to the NCAA Championships (9 straight) and 28 consecutive winning seasons. He picked up his 400th career victory October 16, 2021 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. Over the last eight seasons (since 2015), the Vikings have combined for a 132-17-11 (.857) record. WWU's 179 wins during the 2010s decade were the 6^th-most out of 1,043 NCAA women's soccer programs.