IRVINE, Calif. – Locked in a one-score game through the first 60 minutes of a battle of nationally-ranked teams, No. 17 Concordia University Irvine scored three goals over a three-minute span to help knock off defending national champion and preseason No. 1 nationally-ranked Western Washington University Monday afternoon at Golden Eagles Field in non-conference play.

WWU ended its season-opening road trip to Southern California with a 1-1-0 record after opening the campaign Thursday with a 2-0 victory at Biola. Monday's loss snapped a 9-game winning streak for Western dating back to the 2022 national champion season. CUI registered its first victory of the season to improve to 1-1-0 after falling to No. 24 Cal State LA 1-0 in its season opener on Thursday at home.

After a back-and-forth first 20 minutes of action, the Golden Eagles struck first in the 22nd minute executing a set-piece goal off a corner kick. Riley Walkington lofted a corner to the far post and defender Brianna Guerra poked it up inside the right post to put CUI up 1-0 midway through the first half.

CUI put the game out of reach scoring three goals over a three-minute span just over 15 minutes into the second half. Walkington found the back of the net off a free kick just outside of the center of the 18-yard box at the 61:22 mark to put CUI up 2-0. Within the next three minutes the Golden Eagles added two more goals to take a 4-0 lead, with Bella Barrett placing a ball in the upper-left corner and Antonella Russo following up her own penalty kick for a goal.

Missing their top offensive weapon with All-American forward Estera Levinte out due to an early-season injury, the Vikings were held off the scoreboard in a non-conference regular-season game for the first time since the second game of the 2021 season in a 0-0 tie at Colorado School of Mines. The four goals allowed are the most since a 4-0 loss in the 2021 GNAC Championships final vs. Seattle Pacific.

"We didn't play well enough to match our opponent today, and you have to give CUI a lot of credit. They played really well and deserve the line score," said WWU head coach Travis Connell, who recorded his 300th victory leading the program on Thursday. "This is how you get better. You play good teams in tough environments. Today just wasn't our day and we make no excuses. We will learn from this game and we know what we need to work on."

CUI held a 14-5 advantage in shots, with nine of those on target. WWU senior goalkeeper Abigail Trengove made five saves, including stopping a penalty kick in the second half (follow-up was scored).

The Vikings (1-1-0) will make their official Harrington Field debut Saturday hosting No. 24 nationally-ranked Cal State Los Angeles (1-0-1) with kickoff scheduled for noon. Tickets will be available at the Harrington Field Box Office starting at 11 am with advance tickets sales available online at wwuvikings.com/Tickets. All current WWU students will receive free admission to all home athletic events in 2023-24.

"We have a great group here and I have no doubts they will bounce back and give a good performance in our home opener Thursday against a good Cal State LA squad," added Connell.

#17 Concordia 4, #1 Western Washington 0
Date: September 4, 2023
Field: Golden Eagles Field   Site: Irvine, CA
Attendance: 158

Goals by period                 1  2    Tot
--------------------------------------------
#1 Western Washington.........  0  0  -  0
#17 Concordia.................  1  3  -  4

SCORING SUMMARY:
1.      21:50     CUI     Guerra (Walkington)
2.      61:22     CUI     Walkington (Free Kick)
3.      63:50     CUI     Barrett (Russo)
4.      64:22     CUI     Russo (follow from PK)

Shots: CUI 14, WWU 5
Shots on Goal: CUI 9, WWU 3
Saves: WWU 5 (Trengove – 5), CUI 3 (Urquiza – 3, Ihlein - 0)
Corners: CUI 4, WWU 2
Fouls: CUI 12, WWU 9
Offsides: CUI 2, WWU 0
Kits: WWU (Navy), CUI (White)
Records: WWU (1-1-0), CUI (1-1-0)

Monday's match marked the third meeting between WWU and CUI, all coming in the last two seasons. The series is now level at 1-1-1 between the two schools, with the Vikings defeating the Golden Eagles 1-0 in the West Regional title game on November 17, 2022 in Bellingham.

The Vikings (1-1-0) return home to face No. 24 Cal State LA Thursday on Saturday with kickoff scheduled for noon at Harrington Field. The complete 2023 schedule can be viewed online via wwuvikings.com/23_WSOC.

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.

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 eight seasons (since 2015), the Vikings have combined for a 143-19-13 record (.854 winning pct.).