BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The defending NCAA Division II national champion Western Washington University women’s soccer team has officially announced its 2017 preseason and regular-season schedule.
Head coach Travis Connell released the schedule that includes 18 regular-season matches, beginning with a pair of games in Northern California on August 31 at Notre Dame de Namur and September 2 at Holy Names. The regular-season slate features six non-conference games and 12 Great Northwest Athletic Conference matches.
“We are excited to get back on the field when the team reports in August,” said Connell. “Last year we celebrated a wonderful season with the national championship, but this year is a new season, presenting difficult opponents and obstacles as we look to continue our success.”
The Vikings have a road-heavy slate, opening the season with five consecutive road games, and will play only seven of 18 regular-season games at Harrington Field in Bellingham. Western’s home opener will be on Saturday, September 16 in the first GNAC match of the season against Western Oregon.
“We love the home field advantage of Harrington Field and having all our fans create a wonderful atmosphere,” said Connell. “But this year we will be on the road a bit more and we love that challenge.”
In addition to the home opener vs. Western Oregon, WWU hosts Simon Fraser (Sept. 21), Seattle Pacific (Oct. 5), Evergreen State College (Oct. 7), Saint Martin’s (Oct. 10), Central Washington (Oct. 21) and Concordia (Oct. 28) at Harrington Field. The Vikings have won 25 consecutive home games, tied for the 13th-longest streak in NCAA Division II history, and have a 26-game undefeated streak in home games vs. league opponents (18-0-1 at Harrington Field).
In addition to the five consecutive road games to open the regular season, WWU will also travel to play Saint Martin’s (Sept. 23), Central Washington (Sept. 28), Montana State Billings (Sept. 30), Simon Fraser (Oct. 12), Seattle Pacific (Oct. 19) and Northwest Nazarene (Oct. 26). WWU carries a streak of 53 consecutive matches against GNAC opponents without a loss.
The top four teams in the regular-season standings will play in the GNAC Championships in Portland, Oregon, hosted by Concordia Nov. 2 and Nov. 4. The NCAA Championships will be hosted on campus sites Nov. 10-12 (1st & 2nd rounds) and Nov. 16-19 (West Regional Final & NCAA II Quarterfinals), and the Final Four returns to Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri, Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
WWU will play three exhibition matches to prepare for the season, all against Canadian schools. The Vikings host Fraser Valley on August 17 at Harrington Field, and then cross the border to play at the University of British Columbia (Aug. 22) and Trinity Western University (Aug. 24). The squad will host its first team practice on Monday, August 14.
The Vikings are coming off a 24-0-1 season in which they won the NCAA Division II National Championship with a 3-2 victory over three-time defending champion Grand Valley State. WWU has won a record five consecutive GNAC regular-season championships, advanced to the NCAA Championships in each of the last five seasons and played in the NCAA II Final Four in three of the last four seasons. Over this span the Vikings have combined to go 100-9-7 (.892), the second-best winning percentage among all NCAA Division II programs.
The 2017 Vikings return 20 players from last year’s national championship squad, including seven starters and several key reserves. Highlighting the returning players are 2016 GNAC Player of the Year Sierra Shugarts (Sr., Federal Way, WA/Decatur), 2016 GNAC Defender of the Year Emily Webster (Sr., Bellingham, WA/Sehome), 2016 GNAC scoring leader Gabriela Pelogi (Jr., Federal Way, WA) and All-American goalkeeper Ashley Homer (Sr., Puyallup, WA).
WWU also added a talented recruiting class of seven prep players, and three transfers to fill out the roster.
