BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University women's soccer team opens the postseason this week as the No. 1 seed in the GNAC Championships.

 

The Vikings carry a 14-game unbeaten streak (11-0-3) into Thursday's semifinal facing No. 4 seed Western Oregon at 4 pm at Interbay Stadium in Seattle. No. 2 Seattle Pacific takes on No. 3 Simon Fraser in the 7 pm semifinal. All games during the tournament will stream live at GNAC.tv and tickets are available to purchase at GNACTickets.com.

 

WWU won its 10th GNAC regular season title by going undefeated in conference play at 11-0-3. The Vikings are 12-2-5 overall during the 2024 season and receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches national poll. WWU is also listed No. 6 in the West Region rankings and heads into the postseason with the No. 6 performance index and No. 3 RPI in the West Region according to InkBlotSports.com.

 

With Thursday's semifinal kickoff at 4 pm the Vikings will have appeared in all 12 versions of the GNAC Women's Soccer Championships since its debut in 2012 and will be aiming for its seventh postseason conference title. WWU is 17-3-2 all-time in the GNAC Championships and has played in all 11 previous championship games.

 

Western heads into the postseason with one of the best defenses in the nation ranking 18th with a 0.474 goals against average and tied for 15th with 11 shutouts. In 14 conference games the Vikings led the GNAC averaging 2.143 goals per game and were led by conference leading scorer senior forward Kyrsten McGuffey (8 goals) and junior midfielder Morgan Manalili (8 assists, 2 goals). Senior goalkeeper Abigail Trengove has the lowest goals against average in the conference (0.401) and has recorded 10 shutouts. Junior defender Asia Hardin has played all but 15 minutes in the 19 games.

 

WWU and WOU played twice during the regular season with the Vikings and Wolves tying 1-1 in Bellingham on October 5 and the Vikings winning 2-0 on the road on October 31 in Monmouth.

 

The Vikings (12-2-5, 11-0-3 GNAC) head into the postseason as the No. 1 seed and carries a 14-game unbeaten streak in the GNAC Championships facing No. 4 Western Oregon in the first semifinal Thursday at 4 pm at Interbay Stadium in Seattle. More information and ticket information for the GNAC Championships are available online at GNACSports.com. The complete 2024 schedule can be viewed online via wwuvikings.com/24_WSOC.

 

The 2024 GNAC Women's Soccer Championships will be held November 14-16 at Interbay Stadium in Seattle with the four-team tournament hosted by Seattle Pacific University and the GNAC. WWU earned the No. 1 seed winning its 10th regular-season title and will face No. 4 Western Oregon in the 4 pm semifinal Thursday. No. 2 Seattle Pacific and No. 3 Simon Fraser will play in the second semifinal at 7 pm. Both semifinal games are a rematch of the 2023 semifinal round with WWU and SFU advancing to the final. The championship match will be played on Saturday with kickoff at 1 pm. The winner of the GNAC Championships will receive the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA regionals. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased at GNACTickets.com. The tournament will also feature a live webcast on YouTube on GNAC.tv (search gnacsports on YouTube). 

 

 

The Vikings are making their 12th appearance in the GNAC Women's Soccer Championships, advancing to play in the four-team tournament every season the tournament has been in existence since it debuted in 2012. WWU has also won all 11 semifinal games to advance to the championship game each time and is six-time champions in the tournament (2012, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022). WWU heads into Thursday's semifinal vs. Western Oregon with a 17-3-2 all-time record in the GNAC Championships.

 

 

The tournament will feature a live webcast on YouTube on GNAC.tv (search gnacsports on YouTube).

 

Here is a preview of the WWU vs. Western Oregon semifinal published on GNACSports.com:

 

Semifinal 1 – No. 4 seed Western Oregon vs. No. 1 seed Western Washington

The Wolves battled the Vikings to a 1-1 draw in Bellingham on October 5 and fell 2-0 to WWU on Halloween in Monmouth in the teams' two meetings this fall. Thursday afternoon will mark the fourth meeting between the teams at the conference tournament, with WWU winning each of the previous three. The Vikings won 2-0 in 2012, 2-1 in overtime in 2013 and 2-1 last season in Ellensburg with each affair coming in the semifinal round of the event.
 

Western Washington claimed its 10th GNAC regular-season title this fall with 36 points, going 12-2-5 overall and 11-0-3 in conference play. The Vikings went unbeaten in conference play for the sixth time overall and the first time since posting a perfect 12-0-0 league record in 2019. WWU, which received votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches top-25 rankings, brings a 14-match unbeaten streak into the conference tournament. Its last loss was a 2-0 defeat to then No. 3 Colorado Mines on September 22. WWU has appeared in all 11 GNAC Championships tournaments since the event was founded in 2012 and has the most tournament titles of any GNAC team with six. Its last tournament crown came in 2022, when the team went on to win its second NCAA Division II national title.
 

The Vikings will face Western Oregon in the opening round, as the Wolves made their second straight GNAC Championships tournament and their fifth in program history. WOU will be in search of its first GNAC title this week at Interbay Stadium. The Wolves clinched their tournament berth on Thursday and finished fourth in the GNAC standings with 23 points. WOU went 6-5-8 overall and 6-3-5 in conference play and is coming off a 1-0 win over Central Washington Thursday and a 2-0 triumph against Northwest Nazarene on Saturday.

 

Here is a look at the final regular-season standings for the GNAC with the Vikings securing its 10th title. WWU (No. 1), Seattle Pacific (No. 2), Simon Fraser (No. 3) and Western Oregon (No. 4) will compete in the four-team GNAC Championships this week in Seattle with the winner receiving the automatic bid to the NCAA II West Regional Championships. Updated conference standings, schedules, results and statistics can be found online at GNACsports.com.

 

 

The Vikings won their 10th GNAC regular-season title to earn the No. 1 seed in the GNAC Championships. WWU added to titles won in 2022, 2018-19, 2012-16 and 2008 to tie Seattle Pacific for the most GNAC titles in conference history (regular season). The Vikings have finished first or second in the final GNAC table in each of the last 12 seasons dating back to 2012.

 

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