BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team closed out the regular season with a 3-0 Senior Night victory over Montana State Billings at Harrington Field.

 

WWU completed the regular season with a 12-4-3 record, tying for the seventh-most wins in a season in program history. The Vikings wrapped up GNAC play at 8-4-0, currently in second place in the conference with 24 points (one game will be played Sunday in the GNAC).

 

The Vikings received a second-half brace from freshman forward Albin Jonsson and the game-winning goal late in the first half from redshirt freshman Hatcher Manning, who was making his collegiate debut. 

 

WWU celebrated its eight-player senior class with a pregame ceremony. Seniors Alessandro Tomasi and Danny Fazio each tallied assists on their senior night, with the three goals scored by freshmen.

 

Manning got the scoring started in the 42nd minute late in the first half, poking home his first career goal off a pass from Fazio inside the six-yard box. A failed clearance by the MSUB defense set up the go-ahead goal.

 

Jonsson scored his second-half goals in the 64th and 77th minutes, finishing the regular season with a GNAC-leading nine goals. Jonsson's first goal at the 63:56 came off a long goalkeeper throw by Brandon Locke, and after a few juke moves slotted his right-footed shot inside the far (right) post. The final goal of the game came off a through ball from Tomasi that Jonsson touched home to the lower right corner of the goal.

 

Making his third start of the season, Locke made six saves to record his second shutout in 2022 and 11th of his career to rank sixth in program history. WWU's defense recorded the 10th shutout of the season to set the single-season program record.
 
Senior midfielder Gus Diehl made his 75th career start to set the all-time WWU record, breaking the previous mark of 74 starts by Ben Dragavon (2002-05) and Drew Farnsworth (2017-21).
 

MSUB finished its season at 5-9-3 overall and 3-6-3 in GNAC play. The Yellowjackets were playing on 24-hours rest after having their scheduled game Thursday at Simon Fraser snowed out and played Friday night tying SFU 2-2.

 

The Yellowjackets held a 17-14 edge in shots over the Vikings with a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal.

 

The Vikings (12-4-3, 8-4-0 GNAC) will now wait for Monday's NCAA Selection Show that airs on NCAA.com at 3:30 pm PT/6:30 pm ET to see if they will advance to the postseason. WWU entered the week ranked No. 10 in the Super-Region 4 and went 1-1-0 during the final week of the regular season.

Western Washington 3, Montana State Billings 0

Date: November 5, 2022

Field: Harrington Field     Site: Bellingham, WA

Attendance: 281

 

Goals by period               1  2    Tot

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

Montana St. Billings........  0  0  -  0

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

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.       41:09     WWU     Manning (Fazio)

2.       63:56     WWU     Jonsson (Locke)

3.       76:45     WWU     Jonsson (Tomasi)

 

Shots: MSUB 17, WWU 14

Shots on Goal: MSUB 7, WWU 4

Saves: WWU 7 (Locke – 6, Team - 1), MSUB – 1 (Campagnolo – 1)

Corners: WWU 3, MSUB 2 

Fouls: MSUB 10, WWU 8

Offsides: WWU 7, MSUB 0

Kits: WWU (White), MSUB (Navy)

Records: WWU (12-4-3, 8-4-0), MSUB (5-9-3, 3-6-3)
 

The Vikings celebrated the eight-player senior class prior to the start of Saturday's regular-season finale vs. Montana State Billings. 

 

• Johan Espinoza – East Wenatchee, WA
• Gus Diehl – Bellingham, WA
• Dakota Stamnes – Mount Vernon, WA
• Elliott Rains – Olympia, WA
• Alessandro Tomasi – Bellingham, WA
• Danny Fazio – Bellingham, WA
• Teagan Eldridge – Enumclaw, WA
• Patrick Restum – Okemos, MI

 

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

 

 

Swept the season series vs. Montana State Billings, recording a 2-0 road win on October 27 and tonight's 3-0 victory. WWU leads the all-time series 23-11-3 with a current seven-game undefeated streak (5-0-2). The Vikings improved to 13-6-0 all-time vs. MSUB in home games with a 5-3-0 record at Harrington Field.

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2022 season schedule and results following Saturday's 3-0 Senior Night victory over MSUB. WWU finished the regular season 12-4-3 and went 8-4-0 in GNAC play:

 

 

Here is a look at GNAC table following the two Saturday games, with Simon Fraser hosting Saint Martin's in the final GNAC contest of the season Sunday. WWU is currently in second place in the conference with 24 points (8-4-0) finishing the regular season with a 12-4-3 overall record.

 

 

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 nine of the last 10 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 63 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 71 GNAC All-Academic selections over the last six years.