MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Washington University men's soccer team conceded a pair of first-half goals and had its second-half comeback fall just short in a 2-1 loss Thursday afternoon against first-place Western Oregon in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
The Vikings slipped to 4-5-2 overall and 1-3-1 in GNAC play with its second consecutive loss. WWU is 1-4-2 on the road this season while building a 3-1-0 record at Harrington Field. Western Oregon improved to 7-2-1 overall and remained unbeaten in conference play at 4-0-1 to keep hold of the top spot in the standings.
WOU scored a pair of goals just over five minutes apart in the first half. Gabriel Silva netted the first goal late in the 15th minute and Alex Grignon doubled the Wolves lead at the 20:03 mark.
Down 2-0 with just over 20 minutes remaining in the contest, the Vikings got a goal back to cut the deficit to one score.
Kaydin Wall lifted a corner into the center of the box where
Joar Tidblom dueled a WOU defender for an attempted shot. The Wolves defender attempted to clear the ball, but it fell right to
Ryan Rotter, who chested the ball cleanly and volleyed home a left-footed strike into the upper right corner of the goal.
WWU had two late scoring chances, both by leading scorer
Albin Jonsson, but came up short on both opportunities to drop their third one-goal decision of the season.
UP NEXT
WWU (4-5-2, 1-3-1 GNAC) is off this weekend and returns to Harrington Field next week for a pair of home GNAC games hosting Montana State Billings on Thursday (10/21, 7 pm) and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday (10/23, 4 pm). The complete 2023 schedule can be viewed online via
wwuvikings.com/23_MSOC.
QUICK STATS
Western Oregon 2, Western Washington 1
Date: October 12, 2023
Field: WOU Turf Field Site: Monmouth, OR
Attendance: 87
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
-----------------------------------------
Western Washington......... 0 1 - 1
Western Oregon............. 2 0 - 2
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 14:52 WOU Silva (Grignon, Labate)
2. 20:03 WOU Grignon (Cisneros, Ocampo)
3. 68:54 WWU Rotter, R.
Shots: WWU 17, WOU 10
Shots on Goal: WOU 6, WWU 5
Saves: WWU 4 (Locke - 4), WOU 4 (Suarez – 4)
Corners: WWU 4, WOU 4
Fouls: WWU 15, WOU 13
Offsides: WOU 1, WWU 0
Kits: WWU (Navy), WOU (White)
Records: WWU (4-5-2, 1-3-1), WOU (7-2-1, 4-0-1)
RECORD BREAKDOWN
Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2023 season:
| 2023 RECORD BREAKDOWN |
| Overall Record |
4-5-2 |
| Streak |
L2 |
| Home |
3-1-0 |
| Away |
1-4-2 |
| Neutral |
0-0-0 |
| GNAC Record |
1-3-1 |
| Non-Conference |
3-2-1 |
| Ranked Opponents |
0-0-0 |
| Scoring First |
4-0-0 |
| Opponent Scores First |
0-5-1 |
| Lead at the Half |
4-0-0 |
| Tied at the Half |
0-2-2 |
| Trail at the Half |
0-3-0 |
| Record by Jersey |
| White |
0-3-1 |
| Navy Blue |
2-2-1 |
| Light Blue |
2-0-0 |
