BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Coming off a pair of victories to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, the Western Washington University women's soccer team is back on the road this week for a pair of conference games.

 

WWU (3-1-2, 2-0-0 GNAC) will travel to play Central Washington University (1-4-1, 0-2-0 GNAC) on Thursday in Ellensburg (3 pm) and Northwest Nazarene (4-1-1, 2-0-0 GNAC) on Saturday in Nampa, Idaho (4 pm MT/3 pm PT).

 

Saturday's match vs. the Nighthawks features the GNAC's two undefeated conference teams in a rematch of the 2021 GNAC semifinal won by the Vikings 3-1 in Bellingham.

 

The Vikings defeated Simon Fraser 3-0 to open the 14-game GNAC schedule and went on the road to knock off No. 19 nationally-ranked Western Oregon 3-2. The 2-0-0 start to the conference season earned the Vikings the GNAC Team of the Week Award with freshman forward Claire Potter taking home the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week award.

 

WWU continues its road-heavy first part of the conference schedule with seven of its first 10 GNAC matches away from Bellingham. On the flip-side, the Vikings will complete the GNAC schedule with four consecutive games at Harrington Field to complete the regular season.

 

The complete 2022 schedule can be viewed online via wwuvikings.com/22_WSOC.

 

 

Freshman forward Claire Potter was selected as the GNAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week for games played September 12-18. Potter scored both game-winning goals in the Vikings 2-0-0 start to the GNAC season, tallying the opening goal in a 3-0 victory at home over Simon Fraser and the final goal in a 3-2 road triumph at Western Oregon. Potter's game-winner at WOU came in the 77th minute with a majestic strike from outside the 18-yard box. The freshman forward leads the Vikings and tied for second in the GNAC with three goals in her first six collegiate games. Potter is the first WWU true freshman to earn a GNAC Player of the Week honor since Estera Levinte in October 2019.

The Vikings earned the GNAC Team of the Week Award after opening GNAC play with a 2-0-0 record, scoring a trio of goals in each game. WWU opened conference play with a 3-0 home shutout vs. Simon Fraser and going on the road to defeat No. 19 Western Oregon 3-2. Freshman Claire Potter scored the game-winning goal in each contest, with Payton Neal (2nd career goal), Ashley Nguyen (first career goal), Morgan Manalili (2nd goal this season) and Emily Rice (first career goal) also adding goals.

Here is a look at the series history between the Vikings and upcoming opponents:

 

• Central Washington: WWU leads the all-time series 47-10-8 and carries a 21-game unbeaten streak into Thursday's game in Ellensburg (19-0-2)…last loss against the Wildcats came Oct. 13, 2011…recorded a pair of 6-0 shutout victories last season vs. CWU…20-5-4 all-time in away games vs. the Wildcats.
• Northwest Nazarene: WWU leads the all-time series vs. NNU 38-2-1 with a 17-2-0 record in away games vs. the Nighthawks…went 2-1-0 vs. NNU last season, with each team winning on its home turf during the regular season…Vikings eliminated NNU from the GNAC Championships with a 3-1 semifinal victory with a hat trick by Jenna Killman in the first 14 minutes of the game.

 

The Vikings conclude its string of three consecutive road matches this weekend, extending a run of five of six games away from Bellingham. WWU returns home to Harrington Field next week hosting Montana State Billings (Thursday, 9/29, 7 pm) and Seattle Pacific (Saturday, 10/1, 4 pm). The Vikings will then play four consecutive road games with trips to Lacey (Saint Martin's), Burnaby, B.C. (Simon Fraser), Seattle (SPU) and Billings, Montana (MSUB).

 

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

 

 

News and notes on the 2022 WWU Women's Soccer team heading into this week's road games:

 

• The Record – 3-1-2 overall, 2-0-0 GNAC, 2-0-1 Home, 1-1-1 Away.
• Fleury of Goals – WWU has scored six goals in the last two games, after scoring five in the first four games.
• Balanced Scoring – WWU has scored 11 goals this season – by eight different players.
• Freshman Goals – Of the Vikings 11 goals this season, six have been scored by true freshman player.
• Diaz Goals – Senior Dayana Diaz is WWU's active career leader with 16 goals scored (in 83 games)…with one more goal will tie for 28th-most in program history.
• Trio of Goalkeepers – WWU has played three goalkeepers in the first six games of the season…junior Claire Henninger has made four starts and junior Abigail Trengove has made pair of starts, with sophomore Grace Wales appearing in one game in reserve duty.
• Harrington Success – Owns all-time 72-4-5 all-time playing at the on-campus facility that debuted in 2014 (.920).
• GNAC Champions – Won both the GNAC regular-season and conference tournament titles in 2019, the 8th regular-season title and 5th tournament title in program history…WWU placed 2nd in the 2021 GNAC standings.
• Always Dancing – Advanced to each of the last nine NCAA Division II Championships and played in six consecutive West Regional title matches (8 in last 9 seasons).
• National Champions – 2016 NCAA II National Championship with a 24-0-1 record…also national runner-up finish in 2019 (23-3-0).
• The Gaffer – Travis Connell is in his 20th season leading the WWU Women's program (27th at WWU), and owns an all-time 283-79-35 (.757) as the Western women's head coach…owns 408 career wins including time with WWU men's soccer.
• Roster Breakdown – The 2022 roster features 30 players, with 21 from Washington, five from Oregon, two from California, one from Arizona and one from North Dakota.

 

All WWU home games will stream live online via Vikings TV, with the direct links available at WWUVikings.com/Live, with any updates published to that website. All WWU home games at Harrington Field will feature an HD webcast on WWU's YouTube channel. For easy access, each WWU Women's Soccer game will feature a URL redirect that will send you right to the current game, so bookmark the following links:

 

• Webcast – wwuvikings.com/WS_Watch
• Live Stats – wwuvikings.com/WS_Stats

 

Here is a look at the updated records of the eight GNAC programs following entering the second week of conference play:

 

 

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

 

 

WWU held the No. 10 national ranking in the NCAA Division II United Soccer Coaches Preseason Poll, extending a streak of appearing in the last 76 national polls. Dropped out of the rankings after going 1-1-1 to open the season, snapping a string of appearing in 101 consecutive polls (including receiving votes) dating back to the sixth week of the 2012 season. WWU has advanced to play in the NCAA postseason in each of the last nine seasons (since 2012). WWU is coming off a 15-5-3 campaign in 2021, finishing second in the GNAC with a 10-3-1 record, and played in its sixth consecutive West Regional title game.

 

Since Harrington Field debuted on the south edge of the WWU campus in 2014, the Vikings are 72-4-5 (.920) playing in front of the home crowd. WWU had a 32-game unbeaten streak (29-0-3) at Harrington Field snapped vs. Seattle Pacific early in the 2021 season (previous home loss - Oct. 28, 2017 vs. Concordia). The Vikings are 10-2-0 at Harrington Field in postseason play, hosting NCAA games in 2014 (0-1-0), 2015 (3-0-0), 2016 (1-0-0), 2017 (1-0-0), 2019 (2-0-0) and 2021 (1-0-0), and GNAC Championships games in 2016 (1-0-0) and 2021 (1-1-0).

 

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.

 

The Vikings have made nine consecutive trips to the NCAA Division II Championships and 11 overall appearances in the NCAA postseason in program history. WWU played for the national title in 2019, are 4-0 all-time in national quarterfinal games and 2-2 in national semifinal contests. The program owns an all-time 23-9-1 record in NCAA Championships play (5-1 in 2019, 1-1 in 2021), winning at least one game in nine of 11 trips to the NCAA postseason. WWU was crowned national champion in 2016 with a 24-0-1 record, capped by a 3-2 victory over Grand Valley State in Kansas City, Missouri.

Here is a look at the complete Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll for the 2022 season:

 

 

WWU has won 105 of its last 130 games dating back to the start of the 2016 national championship season, going 105-15-10 (.846) during this stretch. The program has won seven of the last nine GNAC regular-season titles (last in 2019), four of the last six GNAC Tournaments (last in 2019) and advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last nine seasons. During the nine-year stretch of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, WWU has reached the West Regional Championship match eight times and advanced to the NCAA II national semifinals four times (2013, 2015, 2016, 2019). Western has a current streak of 18 consecutive winning seasons for one of the top-10 longest active streaks in NCAA II.

 

Travis Connell is in his 20th 757 leading the women's program as head coach and 27th overall as a coach at WWU. Owns a 283-79-35 (.756) record leading the women's program to rank as the 8th-winningest active coach amongst NCAA Division II head coaches. Overall, he is 11th among all-time winningest NCAA Division II coaches, with a minimum of 10 years as a head coach at a DII school. Connell recorded his 250^th win leading the women's program on October 24, 2019 vs. Seattle Pacific, and including 125 wins as the head coach of the men's soccer program at WWU, Connell has amassed 408 career NCAA head coaching victories. He is assisted by former Viking standouts Claire Morgan and Jamie Arthurs.

 

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 126-17-11 (.854) record. WWU's 179 wins during the 2010s decade were the 6^th-most out of 1,043 NCAA women's soccer programs.