BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's soccer team picked up three big points in the GNAC standings with a 1-0 home victory over Simon Fraser University on a rainy and windy Saturday evening at Harrington Field.

 

The Vikings received an 80th-minute goal from freshman Emily Holdridge to secure the victory to remain in first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. WWU improved to 7-2-4 overall with its fourth consecutive victory and remained unbeaten in conference play at 6-0-2 holding a two-point lead over Seattle Pacific in the standings.

 

WWU had two good first-half scoring chances, first when junior midfielder Claire Potter connected on a rebound from outside the box sending a shot towards the upper left of the goal. SFU goalkeeper Sarah Loewen made a diving save to keep the game scoreless. In the 22nd minute Western senior midfielder Lydia Myers was one-on-one with Loewen, but her chip-shot effort went just left of the post. SFU and WWU were scoreless through the first half of play.

 

The Red Leafs recorded the first four shots of the second half with two saves made by senior goalkeeper Abigail Trengove to keep the game scoreless.

 

Western looked to move ahead in the 68th minute when Myers drew a foul in the box setting up a penalty kick chance for the Vikings. Junior Morgan Manalili took her shot towards the right post, but Loewen guessed right saving the penalty shot.

 

The Vikings broke through in the 80th minute to put up the lone goal of the tightly-contested conference game. Senior defender Halle Noel sent a right-footed cross towards the six-yard box where Holdridge redirected the ball into the left netting for her first career goal. Manalili was also credited with the assist setting up Noel for the game-winning cross.

 

SFU played the final eight minutes a player down after Loewen was issued a red card after challenging Holdridge well outside the box.

 

WWU's defense recorded its sixth shutout of the season with Trengove logging a pair of second-half saves.

 

SFU dropped to 8-3-1 overall and 4-3-1 in GNAC play (4th place). 
 

 

The Vikings (7-2-4, 6-0-2 GNAC) remain at home next week hosting a pair of games at Harrington Field, beginning with a 4 pm game vs. Northwest Nazarene on October 24 and wrapping up the regular-season home schedule on Saturday with a 2 pm Senior Day game vs. Central Washington . The complete 2024 schedule can be viewed online via wwuvikings.com/24_WSOC.

 

Western Washington 1, Simon Fraser 0

Date: October 19, 2024

Field: Harrington Field     Site: Bellingham, WA

Attendance: 211

 

Goals by period                 1  2    Tot

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

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

Western Washington............  0  1  -  1

 

SCORING SUMMARY:

1.      79:51      WWU       E. Holdridge (Noel, Manalili)

 

Shots: WWU 7, SFU 4

Shots on Goal: WWU 7, SFU 4

Saves: WWU 2 (Trengove – 2), SFU 4 (Loewen – 3, Fisher - 1)

Corners: WWU 5, SFU 2

Fouls: WWU 10, SFU 6

Offsides: WWU 5, SFU 2

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

Updated Records: WWU (7-2-4, 6-0-2), SFU (8-3-1, 4-3-1)

 

Here is a look at Western's record breakdown for the 2024 season:

 

 

Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings and weekly schedule following Saturday's games to wrap up the fourth week of conference play. Updated conference standings, schedules, results and statistics can be found online at GNACsports.com.

 

 

The Vikings swept the regular-season series vs. SFU also winning 1-0 on September 26 in the GNAC opener on Burnaby Mountain. WWU is 39-13-3 all-time vs. SFU and has won 26 of the last 28 in the series (unbeaten in 31 of last 32). The Vikings improved to 18-8-1 all-time vs. SFU in home games and 9-0-0 in games played at Harrington Field.

 

Here is a look at the Vikings 2024 regular-season schedule. The GNAC Championships will be held November 14-16 at Interbay Stadium in Seattle, and the NCAA Division II Championships open with the first and second rounds November 21-24:

 

 

Since Harrington Field debuted on the south edge of the WWU campus in 2014, the Vikings are 90-7-9 (.892) playing in front of the home crowd (4-1-3 in 2024, 7-1-1 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 139-32-24 (.774) at Harrington Field.

 

Fans can follow WWU women's soccer online at WWUVikings.com/WSOC, and via social media on Twitter/X (@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, appearing in the NCAA Championships in 10 of the last 11 seasons and winning a pair of national championships in 2016 and 2022. WWU has advanced to the NCAA II Final Four in five of the last 10 seasons and played for the West Region championship in nine of the last 11 seasons (seven consecutive from 2015-22). The Vikings won the 2022 NCAA Division II National Championship 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 12 Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season titles (2022 Champions) and won five of the last eight GNAC Tournament titles (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022). Head coach Travis Connell is in his 22nd season leading the program in 2024 (29th overall at WWU) and has led the Vikings to 12 trips to the NCAA Championships and 19 consecutive winning seasons.