Western Washington University junior forward Karli White scored in the 51st minute and sophomore Emily Bunnell added an insurance goal late in the second half to lead the No. 2-seed Vikings to a 2-0 victory over No. 3-seed Seattle Pacific Thursday afternoon in the first semifinal game of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Championships at Tuominen Yard.
After having its 39-game winning streak snapped last week vs. Concordia, nationally 12th-ranked WWU got back to its winning ways with the shutout victory to improve to 16-1-0 on the season. The road win improved WWU to 11-0-0 away from Bellingham this season, and extended the road undefeated streak to 23 consecutive games dating back to the start of last year’s national championship season (22-0-1).
The Vikings are now undefeated at 9-0-2 all-time in GNAC Championships play and will play in the championship game for the sixth consecutive season. WWU will face the winner of tonight’s 7 pm game between No. 1-seed Concordia and No. 4-seed Northwest Nazarene at 1 pm on Saturday for the GNAC title. Seattle Pacific falls to 10-7-0 on the season, losing to the Vikings for the third time in 2017.
With Thursday’s 2-0 victory over Seattle Pacific, the No. 2 seed Vikings (16-1-0) have advanced to the championships match of the GNAC Tournament for the sixth consecutive season (every year of the event) and will be playing for the program’s fourth conference championship stripe. WWU will take on No. 1 seed and tournament host Concordia on Saturday at 1 pm at Tuominen Yard in Portland. The game will be streamed live via GNAC.tv and WWUVikings.com/Live.
WWU won the inaugural event in 2012, came in 2nd in the next two championships in games decided by a penalty kick shootout, and is the two-time defending champion. The Vikings are 16-1-0 on the season, entering the four-team tournament as the No. 2 seed after having its 39-game winning streak snapped last Saturday vs. Concordia.
Saturday’s rematch comes exactly one week after the Cavaliers beat the Vikings 2-0 on Harrington Field in Bellingham, giving CU the regular-season GNAC title with an undefeated 11-0-1 record, finishing one point better than the Vikings in the standings.
In Thursday’s semifinal victory over SPU, the nationally 12th-ranked Vikings received a pair of second-half goals, with GNAC Newcomer of the Year Karli White (North Bend, WA/Mount Si/Seattle U.) netting the eventual game-winner in the 51st minute and sophomore Emily Bunnell adding an important insurance goal in the 79th minute. The 12th shutout of the season improved WWU to 9-0-2 all-time in the GNAC Championships.
The defending NCAA Division II national champions have won 40 of its last 41 matches, and are 40-1-1 since the start of the 2016 season. Heading into Saturday’s championships final, WWU’s defense has the 3rd-best goals against average in the nation at 0.353 and is the 8th-ranked offense in NCAA II averaging 3.06 goals per game. WWU has outscored its opponent 52-6 this season, limiting the opposition to only 1.82 shots on goal per game.
The Vikings are led by the conference’s leading scorer in junior forward Gabriela Pelogi (Federal Way, WA), who is 21st in the nation with 34 points (14 goals, 6 assists). Pelogi was one of nine Vikings to be named to the GNAC All-Conference team, joined by White, senior midfielder Emily Webster (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) and senior defender Sierra Shugarts (Federal Way, WA/Decatur) as first-team selections.
