NAMPA, Idaho – The Western Washington University women's soccer team has never missed a trip to the GNAC Championships in the 10-year history of the event…and has now made it 10-for-10 advancing to the championship match.

 

The No. 10 nationally-ranked Vikings and top seed in the four-team championship moves on at the GNAC Final with a 3-0 victory over No. 4 seed Simon Fraser University Thursday evening at NNU Soccer Field. With Thursday's shutout victory WWU is now 15-2-2 all-time in the GNAC Championships.

 

The Vikings improved to 13-2-4 on the season with their 12th shutout of the season. WWU won its ninth GNAC regular-season title going 11-1-2 in conference play and is poised to make a 10th consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II Championships.

 

"We are proud of these accomplishments working extremely hard as a program to get here," said WWU head coach Travis Connell on his team playing in a 10th consecutive GNAC final. "We are also grateful for the opportunity and consider it an honor to get the chance to play for another trophy."

 

WWU will meet No. 2 seed and tournament host Northwest Nazarene in the championship game, which will kick off at 12 pm MT/11 am PT on Saturday. Fans can watch a live webcast of the championship game via GNAC.tv.

 

"The beginning of the game was tight, because this is a championship event and SFU knows us well and was motivated. But we were clinical enough in creating chances and eventually got those two first half goals that really lifted us," said Connell, the 2022 GNAC Coach of the Year. "We had a lot of players contribute for us today, which showcases our depth and allows us to be as fresh as we can be for Saturday without missing a beat."

 

After a few early scoring opportunities came up empty, the Vikings struck through with a pair of goals just under four minutes apart in the 30th and 33rd minutes.

 

Levinte made a long run down the left flank and created space with a juke move inside the six-yard box, unleashing a strong shot that was turned away SFU goalkeeper Nicole Anderson. Morgan Manalili pounced on the loose ball pushing it into the back of the net for her team-leading seventh goal of the season.

 

Just under four minutes later at the 32:41 mark, Levinte again did a bulk of the work for the Vikings second goal sending a cross from the left sideline into the box that Minji Rauch finished into the bottom left corner of the goal with a left-footed shot for her second goal of the season.

 

"Estera created both of those early scoring plays and it just shows how dangerous she can be in big games," added Connell on the First Team All-GNAC selection. "It's been a while since we've had Estera healthy at the end of a season and she had a massive impact with her play today."

 

The second half featured both teams playing solid defense until sophomore defender Chloe Unflat headed home her first career goal in the 84th minute off a perfectly placed corner kick by Manalili.

 

WWU played 18 players in the game, with nine logging minutes listed as a freshman or sophomore. 

 

"We are deep in a lot of areas and have players that are super motivated to come into the game and make an impact," said Connell. "It is pretty cool to see that, especially in a championship semifinal like today. Our team works hard for moments like today."

 

Junior goalkeeper Claire Henninger made a pair of saves for the Vikings, recording her eighth shutout of the season and lowering her GNAC leading goals against average to 0.56.

 

SFU had its four-game unbeaten streak snapped to finish its season at 5-7-7 overall.

 

#10 Western Washington 3, Simon Fraser 0

Date: November 3, 2022

Field: NNU Soccer Field   Site: Nampa, ID

Attendance: 52            Weather: 45-degrees

 

Goals by period              1  2    Tot

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

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

Western Washington.........  2  1  -  3

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.      29:09     WWU     Manalili (Levinte)

2.      32:41     WWU     Rauch (Levinte)

3.      83:15     WWU     Unflat (Manalili)

 

Shots: WWU 20, SFU 9

Shots on Goal: WWU 11, SFU 3

Saves: WWU 3 (Henninger – 2, Team - 1), SFU 8 (Anderson - 8)

Corners: WWU 6, SFU 5

Fouls: WWU 11, SFU 5

Offsides: WWU 3, SFU 0

Kits: WWU (Light Blue), SFU (Red)

Records: WWU (13-2-4), SFU (5-7-7)

 

The Vikings are the No. 1 seed for the four-team GNAC Championships that is being played in Nampa, Idaho on the Northwest Nazarene University campus. WWU has qualified for each of the 10 GNAC Championships, is a five-time winner of the event (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019) and has now advanced to the title game every season of the GNAC Championships. WWU is 15-2-2 all-time in the GNAC postseason. WWU and SPU are the only teams to qualify for every GNAC Tournament and have combined for eight of the nine titles (WWU 5, SPU 3, Concordia 1).

 

 

The tournament will feature a live webcast on YouTube on GNAC.tv (search gnacsports on YouTube). Leonard Barry will serve as the play-by-play voice for the 2022 GNAC Championships.

 

WWU went 3-0-0 vs. Simon Fraser during the 2022 season, winning 3-0 at home, 2-0 on the road and 3-0 today in the GNAC Championship Semifinals. WWU continues to lead the all-time series vs. the Red Leafs 35-1-3 with a current 23-game winning streak (since 2011) and a 27-game unbeaten streak (25-0-2). WWU is now 3-0-0 all-time vs. SFU in GNAC Championships play.

 

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

 

 

The Vikings won their ninth regular-season title, adding to conference regular-season championships in 2008, 2012-16 and 2018-19. WWU has finished first or second in the final GNAC table in each of the last 10 seasons dating back to 2012.
 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2022 season schedule and results following the semifinal victory in the GNAC Championships:

 

 

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 eight of the last 10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season titles (2022 Champions) 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 136-18-13 (.853) record. 

 

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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