BELLINGHAM, Wash. – In a battle of two nationally-ranked teams and the top two teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, No. 7 Western Washington University defeated No. 25 Northwest Nazarene 1-0 Saturday evening at Harrington Field.

 

The Vikings extended their unbeaten streak to 13 straight on a 74th-minute goal by sixth-year senior Karina Provo to improve to 11-1-4 overall and 10-0-2 in GNAC play. NNU dropped to 10-2-4 overall and 8-1-3 in conference play.

 

WWU dominated the stat sheet holding a 18-6 advantage in shots and 7-2 edge in shots on goal in the second meeting between the schools this season. Playing at Harrington Field for the first time since October 1, the Vikings improved to 5-0-1 in home games this season.

 

The Vikings had a pair of early-scoring chances in the 20th and 22nd minute on shots by freshman Claire Potter that were smothered by NNU goalkeeper Alexis Montoya.

 

NNU had a scoring chance of its own early in the 67th minute when Alejandra Jaramillo took a shot from distance that WWU goalkeeper Claire Henninger leaped to punch over the crossbar to keep the game scoreless.

 

The Vikings goal came on a free kick just outside the box on the right wing. Freshman Morgan Manalili drew a foul by Jaramillo to set up the game-winning play. Freshman Emily Rice placed the ball into the box on the free kick, that was headed by senior Tera Ziemer. Provo pounced on the loose ball one-timing her shot into the lower left corner for her first career goal in her 43rd career game. 

 

WWU had an earlier goal in the 65th minute by Rice waved off due to an offsides call.

 

Henninger made a pair of saves to record her sixth shutout of the season. WWU is tied with NNU for the GNAC lead with 10 shutouts on the season.

 

Montoya made six saves for the Nighthawks and GNAC leading scorer Madison Grande recorded four of the Nighthawks shots.

 

WWU (11-1-4, 10-0-2 GNAC) completes the regular season next week with a pair of home games at Harrington Field hosting Western Oregon on Thursday (4 pm) and Saint Martin's on Saturday (7 pm) for Senior Day. The complete 2022 season schedule with links to webcast info, live stats, updated statistics and team information is available at wwuvikings.com/22_WSOC.

 

#7 Western Washington 1, #25 Northwest Nazarene 0

Date: October 22, 2022

Field: Harrington Field   Site: Bellingham, WA

Attendance: 433

 

Goals by period              1  2    Tot

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

#25 Northwest Nazarene.....  0  0  -  0

#7 Western Washington......  0  1  -  1

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.      73:03     WWU     Provo (Ziemer, Rice)

 

Shots: WWU 18, NNU 6

Shots on Goal: WWU 7, NNU 2

Saves: WWU 2 (Henninger – 2), NNU 6 (Montoya – 6)

Corners: WWU 5, NNU 2

Fouls: WWU 5, NNU 4

Offsides: WWU 2, NNU 0

Kits: WWU (Navy), NNU (White)

Records: WWU (11-1-4, 10-0-2), NNU (10-2-4, 8-1-3)

 

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 Saturday's 1-0 victory over Northwest Nazarene. WWU holds a five-point lead in the standings heading into the final week of conference play. WWU, NNU and Seattle Pacific have all secured a spot in the four-team GNAC Championships that will be held November 3-5 in Nampa, Idaho:

 

 

The Vikings earned the win over NNU Saturday to take the regular-season series 1-0-1. WWU and NNU played to a scoreless tie September 24 in Nampa, Idaho. Western leads the all-time series 39-2-2 with an undefeated 22-0-1 record in home games (8-0-0 at Harrington Field).

 

The Vikings have 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.

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2022 season schedule and results. WWU is 11-1-4 on the season and 10-0-2 in GNAC play to sit in first place in the conference standings. WWU has a current 13-game unbeaten streak (10-0-3):

 

 

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 four 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 134-17-13 (.857) record. WWU's 179 wins during the 2010s decade were the 6^th-most out of 1,043 NCAA women's soccer programs.