BURNABY, B.C. – Senior midfielder Tera Ziemer scored a pair of first-half goals to lead the No. 14 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women's soccer team to a 2-0 shutout victory over Simon Fraser University Saturday afternoon at Terry Fox Field at SFU Stadium.

 

Ziemer scored in the 13th and 23rd minutes for her second brace in 32 games as a Vikings.

 

The Vikings extended their winning streak to four consecutive games and unbeaten streak to nine straight games to improve to 8-1-3 overall. WWU remains in first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with 22 points and a 7-0-1 league record.

 

WWU out-shot Simon Fraser 23-4 and held a 10-2 advantage in shots on goal. The Vikings defense recorded their seventh shutout of the season, with junior goalkeeper Claire Henninger making a pair of saves for her fourth clean sheet of the season.

 

Ziemer's first goal came on a free kick taken just outside the 18-yard box that went over and around the wall into the upper left part of the goal. Ziemer put the Vikings up 2-0 with her second goal of the game at the 22:06 mark. Junior defender Katie Watt initiated the goal with a long ball to Ellie Busik down the right side of the field. Busik used a touch pass to find Ziemer, who gathered the ball with a touch and drove a shot from just inside the 18-yard box into the left corner of the net.

Simon Fraser (3-5-4, 2-4-2) received seven saves from goalkeeper Sarah Loewen and Giuliana Zaurrini recorded a pair of shots for the Red Leafs.

 

WWU concludes its string of four consecutive road games next week traveling to play at Seattle Pacific on Thursday (10/13, 7 pm) and Montana State Billings on Saturday (10/15, 12 pm MT).

 

#14 Western Washington 2, Simon Fraser 0

Date: October 8, 2022

Field: Terry Fox Field at SFU Stadium   Site: Burnaby, B.C.

Attendance: 109

 

Goals by period              1  2    Tot

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

#14 Western Washington.....  2  0  -  2

Simon Fraser...............  0  0  -  0

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.      12:02     WWU     Ziemer

2.      22:06     WWU     Ziemer (Busik)

 

Shots: WWU 23, SFU 4

Shots on Goal: WWU 10, SFU 2

Saves: WWU 2 (Henninger – 2), SFU 8 (Loewen – 7, Anderson - 1)

Corners: WWU 8, SFU 1

Fouls: SFU 10, WWU 5

Offsides: WWU 2, SFU 2

Kits: WWU (White), SFU (Red)

Records: WWU (8-1-3, 7-0-1), SFU (3-5-4, 2-4-2)

 

Recorded the season sweep over Simon Fraser, out-scoring the Red Leafs 5-0, also earning a 3-0 win in the GNAC opener on September 15 at Harrington Field…WWU leads the all-time series 34-17-3 with a current 22-game winning streak…also has a 26-game unbeaten streak (24-0-2) dating back to 2008…Vikings have allowed only three goals in the last 25 meetings in the series…extended winning streak to 11 consecutive games at Terry Fox Field at SFU Stadium.

 

The Vikings continue a string of four consecutive road games next week facing Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings before ending the regular season with four consecutive home games at Harrington Field. Links on how to follow the Vikings in all games are available via wwuvikings.com/22_WSOC.

 

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 Saturday:

 

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2022 season schedule and results. WWU is 8-1-3 on the season and 7-0-1 in GNAC play following the 2-0 win at Simon Fraser:

 

 

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 131-17-11 (.855) record. WWU's 179 wins during the 2010s decade were the 6^th-most out of 1,043 NCAA women's soccer programs.