NAMPA, Idaho – The No. 15 nationally-ranked Western Washington University women’s soccer team won its fifth consecutive game and extended its unbeaten streak to 11 straight with a 2-0 road shutout at Northwest Nazarene Thursday afternoon in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
The Vikings improved to 14-2-1 overall and moved to 9-1-1 in GNAC play with one regular-season game remaining. WWU began the day in a tie for first place in the conference with Concordia, which plays tonight at home against Seattle Pacific. Over the last 11 games, WWU is 10-0-1 and has matched a season-high with the five-game winning streak.
NNU, a GNAC Championships qualifier a year ago, slipped to 7-8-1 overall and 3-8-0 in conference play.
“It was definitely a team effort today, with our depth proving to be very helpful to get this result to start the road trip,” said WWU head coach Travis Connell. “NNU had a solid game plan against us, and challenged us to execute in the final third. I thought our players stepped up to that challenge, creating chances and executed at a very high level today.”
The Vikings got off to one of their trademark quick starts, taking a 1-0 lead over the Nighthawks late in the 7th minute of the game. Sophomore forward Zoe Milburn (Maple Valley, WA/Tahoma) tucked a ball just under the crossbar with a shot from the top of the box at the 6:51 mark with an assist by junior forward Liv Larson (Arlington, WA).
WWU scored an insurance goal early in the second half when junior defender Emily Nelson (Puyallup, WA/Bellarmine Prep) connected on a header goal off a corner kick from Larson in the 58th minute. The goal was Nelson’s second of the season.
Larson assisted on both goals, giving her at least one assist in four consecutive games and a team-high 7 assists on the season.
Western redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx (Kirkland, WA/Inglemoor/Colorado State) made one save in 75 minutes of action, with senior Alyssa Treptow (Flagstaff, AZ) closing out the shutout over the final 15 minutes. WWU recorded its 10th shutout of the season, including the 8th in the last 10 games. WWU has now posted a clean sheet in 8 of 11 GNAC contests and allowed only 3 goals in conference play.
The Vikings defense allowed only 5 shots in the game, with 2 on goal.
“Hattie (North) was fantastic back there getting the start today, and our wide players (Peyton Chick, Taylor Hallquist, Lindsey Fujiwara) were really good as well,” added Connell, “They were asked to go one-on-one a lot and they really stopped played. I was impressed with their work today.”
The Vikings (14-2-1, 9-1-1 GNAC) close out the regular season on Saturday continuing East to face Montana State Billings at 1 pm MT/12 pm PT on Saturday. The seeding and schedule for the four-team GNAC Championships that will be played Nov. 1-3 will be announced Sunday night.
“We want to continue to get better and Saturday is another opportunity to add to our tool belt,” said Connell on Saturday’s match at MSUB to close out the regular season. “We are facing a team on their senior day, so there will be emotions and they will be up for the match. Every time we play is an opportunity for us to improve.”
GAME NOTES
Liv Larson recorded an assist in her fourth consecutive game…she assisted on both goals and now leads the team with 7 assists on the season, passing teammate Peyton Chick (6)…junior forward Emily Bunnell made her season debut after recovering from a knee injury sustained in the preseason…WWU swept the season series vs. the Nighthawks with matching 2-0 final scores…Western leads the all-time series vs. NNU 35-1-1, with a current 16-game winning streak and 29-game unbeaten streak (28-0-1).
