BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The No. 19 nationally-ranked Western Washington University men's soccer team received a pair of late second-half goals to keep the Vikings unbeaten on the season with a 3-1 victory over rival Seattle Pacific University Saturday night at Harrington Field.

 

The Vikings improved to 7-0-3 on the season and climbed to the top of the early-season Great Northwest Athletic Conference table with a perfect 3-0-0 record. WWU is one of only 10 remaining unbeaten teams in all of NCAA Division II.

 

"A very good win tonight against a talented team," said WWU head coach Greg Brisbon. "I thought our reserves were especially good tonight bringing a lot of energy and were very effective in all aspects of the game. A solid team win with some great timely goals and great defensive performances by Gus (Diehl), Mitchell (Hutter) and Theo (Steinmetz)."

 

With the game tied 1-1 through the first 76 minutes, the Vikings broke through with the eventual game-winning goal in the 77th minute. Senior goalkeeper Patrick Restum started the buildup with a long throw out of WWU territory to midfielder Kyota Hiate, who found forward Johan Espinoza with a cross-field pass. Espinoza corralled the ball and placed a perfect touch-pass with his left foot where Alessandro Tomasi curled the ball with his left foot around SPU goalkeeper Lars Helleren into the back of the net for his second goal of the season.

 

WWU added an insurance goal just over five minutes later in the 82nd minute when Espinoza fired a left-footed shot across the box off a pass from Eric Bunnell.

 

The Vikings got the scoring started in the 28th minute when Hiate touched a ball off the bottom of the crossbar that found the back of the net off a laid-off pass from Andrew Rotter.

 

SPU found the equalizer in the 32nd minute on a header goal by Cameron Yriondo off a corner from Connor Tollan.

 

Restum made four saves for the Vikings and played a key role in setting up the game-winning goal. 

 

WWU had a 14-12 advantage in shots, but SPU held a slight 5-4 in shots on goal. The Falcons also had a 9-5 advantage in corner kicks.

 

The Vikings solid defensive performance was highlighted by senior midfielder Gus Diehl and junior defenders Mitchell Hutter and Theo Steinmetz each playing the full 90. Hiate and Espinoza each recorded a goal and an assist in the game.

 

The Vikings (7-0-3, 3-0-0 GNAC) return to action Thursday crossing the border to face Simon Fraser University in a 7:30 pm game at SFU Stadium in Burnaby, B.C. WWU will return to Harrington Field to host Saint Martin's on Saturday (Oct. 8) with kickoff at 7 pm. The complete 2022 schedule can be viewed online via wwuvikings.com/22_MSOC.

#19 Western Washington 3, Seattle Pacific 1

Date: October 1, 2022

Field: Harrington Field   Site: Bellingham, WA

Attendance: 403

 

Goals by period               1  2    Tot

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

Seattle Pacific.............  1  0  -  1

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

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.       27:40     WWU     Hiate (A. Rotter)

2.       31:38     SPU     Yriondo (Tollan)

3.       76:08     WWU     Tomasi (Espinoza, Hiate)

4.       81:39     WWU     Espinoza (Bunnell)

 

Shots: WWU 14, SPU 12

Shots on Goal: SPU 5, WWU 4

Saves: WWU 4 (Restum - 4), SPU 1 (Helleren - 1)

Corners: SPU 9, WWU 5

Fouls: SPU 14, WWU 13

Offsides: WWU 2, SPU 2

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

Records: WWU (7-0-3, 3-0-0), SPU (3-4-4, 2-1-1)

 

WWU improved to 7-2-4 vs. the Falcons in the last 13 meetings dating back to the start of the 2016 season. SPU leads the all-time series 38-14-10 according to available WWU records. 

 

WWU is undefeated at 7-0-3 through the first nine games of the 2022 season, marking the best undefeated start to a season in the 43-year history of the program. Here is a look at the best undefeated starts to a season by the WWU men's soccer program:

 

• 2022 (7-0-3) – 10 games
• 1997 (4-0-1) – 5 games
• 1983 (4-0-1) – 5 games
• 2018 (3-0-0) – 3 games
• 1991 (3-0-0) – 3 games
• 1984 (3-0-0) – 3 games
• 2015 (2-0-1) – 3 games
• 2000 (3-0-0) – 3 games

 

Not only is WWU off to its best undefeated start to a season in program history (10 games), but the Vikings are one of just 10 NCAA Division II men's soccer programs that are still undefeated:

 

• Davis & Elkins (8-0-0)
• Franklin Pierce (11-0-1)
• Mercyhurst (10-0-1)
• Saginaw Valley State (8-0-2)
• Cal State Dominguez Hills (8-0-2)
• Western Washington (7-0-3)
• Florida Tech (5-0-3)
• Montevallo (6-0-3)
• Rockhurst (5-0-3)
• St. Mary's-TX (5-0-4)

 

WWU is back in action next week with a road match at Simon Fraser on Thursday (7:30 pm) and back home at Harrington Field on Saturday hosting Saint Martin's (7 pm). The complete 2022 schedule can be viewed online via wwuvikings.com/22_MSOC.

 

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

 

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2022 season schedule and results. WWU is 7-0-3 on the season and 3-0-0 in GNAC following Saturday's 3-1 win over Seattle Pacific:

 

 

Since moving home games to Harrington Field on the south edge of campus in 2014, the Vikings have combined to go 39-20-12 for a .634 winning percentage. WWU is 22-8-5 at Harrington Field over the last five seasons (since 2018). Combining with the WWU women's team, both programs are 113-24-17 (.789) playing at Harrington Field.

 

Here is a look at the early-season GNAC table and how the conference's seven teams have fared through the first two weeks of conference play. WWU leads the GNAC with a perfect 3-0-0 record and nine points:

 

 

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 2017 (currently have three ties).

 

The Western Washington University men's soccer program is led by head coach Greg Brisbon, who has spent over 20 seasons affiliated with WWU Soccer. The Vikings won the 2019 Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship, the third league trophy in program history, and advanced to the NCAA II Championships for the second time. The program is in its 43rd season in 2022 and has recorded an overall record at or above the .500 mark in eight of the last nine seasons, including a 13-5-1 mark in 2019 and 11-6-1 in 2018. In 2016 the Vikings advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships for the first time in program history, using a late-season surge that saw the Vikings 5-0-1 over the last six matches to advance to the postseason. Overall the program has produced 58 GNAC Players of the Week selections, 30 First Team All-GNAC players and 4 GNAC Players of the Year since joining the conference in 2001. Off the field, WWU has built a strong academic reputation with 60 GNAC All-Academic selections over the last five years.