BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's soccer team opened Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with a 2-0 shutout victory over Simon Fraser University Thursday evening under the lights at Harrington Field.

 

WWU improved to 3-2-1 on the season and the defending GNAC champions got off to a 1-0-0 start in conference play.

 

The Vikings got off to a quick start pressuring the Red Leafs, going up 1-0 on an own goal in the seventh minute (6:29).

 

With less than two minutes remaining in the first half, Western doubled its lead when Halle Noeldelivered a picturesque cross that was headed home by Sophie Bearden Croft. Quinn Kassingset up the cross to also gather an assist. 

 

Western goalkeepers Claire Henninger (59 minutes, 1 save) and Abigail Trengove (31 minutes, 2 saves) combined on the shutout. 

 

The Vikings held a 14-10 advantage in shots with 11 shots on goal. SFU goalkeeper Sarah Loewen had 10 saves to keep SFU close.

 

WWU's defense recorded its fourth shutout of the season with Asia Hardin and Katie Watt each playing the full 90 minutes.
 

 

The Vikings (3-2-1) are back in action in GNAC play Saturday traveling to play at Seattle Pacific with a 5 pm game at Interbay Stadium. Saturday's game vs. the Falcons concludes a busy stretch of four games in 10 days for the Vikings. The complete 2023 schedule can be viewed online via wwuvikings.com/23_WSOC.

 

Western Washington 2, Simon Fraser 0

Date: September 21, 2023

Field: Harrington Field   Site: Bellingham, WA

Attendance: 224

 

Goals by period                 1  2    Tot

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

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

Western Washington............  2  0  -  2

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.       6:29     WWU     Own Goal

2.      43:49     WWU     Bearden Croft (Noel, Kassing)

 

Shots: WWU 14, SFU 10

Shots on Goal: WWU 11, SFU 3

Saves: WWU 3 (Henninger – 1, Trengove - 2), SFU 10 (Loewen – 10)

Corners: WWU 9, SFU 1

Fouls: SFU 7, WWU 6

Offsides: WWU 3, SFU 1

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

Records: WWU (3-2-1), SFU (1-1-1)

 

WWU continued its dominance against Simon Fraser winning its 24th consecutive match against the Red Leafs and extended the unbeaten streak to 28 consecutive games (26-0-2).

 

Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2023 season:

 

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2023 schedule and results:

 

 

The complete 2023 schedule can be viewed online via wwuvikings.com/23_WSOC. Single-game tickets for the 2023 season are currently on sale via wwuvikings.com/Tickets. New for the 2023-24 season is FREE tickets for current WWU students to all regular-season home sporting events.

 

Since Harrington Field debuted on the south edge of the WWU campus in 2014, the Vikings are 81-5-6 (.913) playing in front of the home crowd (2-0-1 in 2023, 9-1-1 in 2022). The Vikings are 13-2-0 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), 2021 (1-0-0) and 2022 (3-0-0), and GNAC Championships games in 2016 (1-0-0) and 2021 (1-1-0). Including the men's program, WWU Soccer has a combined record of 125-26-18 (.793) at Harrington Field.

 

WWU has won 124 of its last 155 games dating back to the start of the 2016 national championship season, going 124-18-13 (.842) during this stretch. The program has won eight of the last 10 GNAC regular-season titles (last in 2022), five of the last seven GNAC Tournaments (last in 2022) and advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last 10 seasons. During the 10-year stretch of consecutive NCAA tournament appearances, WWU has reached the West Regional Championship match nine times and advanced to the NCAA II national semifinals five times (2013, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2022). Western has a current streak of 19 consecutive winning seasons for one of the top-10 longest active streaks in NCAA II.

 

WWU will celebrate its 2022 national championship prior to the October 7 game vs. Northwest Nazarene. A championship banner will be unveiled at Harrington Field to show both the 2016 and 2022 national titles and the first 350 fans will receive a special national championship crest sticker.

 

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 10 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Championships and a pair of national championships in 2016 and 2022. WWU has advanced to the NCAA II Final Four in five of the last nine seasons and played for the West Region championship in nine of the last 10 seasons (seven consecutive). The Vikings won the 2022 title with a 2-1 win over No. 1 nationally-ranked West Chester, 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. The program has claimed eight of the last 10 Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season titles (2022 Champions) and won five of the last seven GNAC Tournament titles (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022). Head coach Travis Connell is in his 21st season leading the program in 2023 (28th overall at WWU) and has led the Vikings to 12 trips to the NCAA Championships (10 straight) and 19 consecutive winning seasons. Over the last nine seasons (since 2015), the Vikings have combined for a 145-20-14 record (.849 winning pct.).