PELOGI’S 10TH GOAL LIFTS VIKINGS TO 1-0 WIN OVER SEATTLE PACIFIC

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University junior forward Gabriela Pelogi scored in the 18th minute for her 10th goal of the season lifting the No. 3-ranked Vikings to a 1-0 victory over Seattle Pacific in Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer action Thursday night in front of 467 fans at Harrington Field.

WWU’s seventh shutout of the season kept the Vikings unbeaten at 10-0-0 on the season and extended the lead atop the GNAC standings at 6-0-0. Western now owns a 34-game winning streak, 4th-longest in NCAA Division II history, and is unbeaten in its last 35 games (34-0-1) for the 5th-longest streak in Division II. WWU also won its 28th consecutive home game, moving into a tie for 10th place in the DII record book.

SPU falls to 6-4-0 overall on the season and 4-2-0 in GNAC play. The Vikings have won the last seven games vs. the Falcons, and are undefeated in the last 14 games.

“This was a great win and I thought we had one of our best performances of the year,” said head coach Travis Connell. “Both teams were super motivated and played very well. It was a game where one mistake on defense could have cost us, but we played nearly perfect back there.”

After narrowly missing on a few early chances, the Vikings got on the scoreboard first in the 18th minute. Senior midfielder Emily Webster (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) lifted a high corner kick that found a leaping Pelogi who headed it home from 7-yards out for her 10th goal of the season. The Vikings defense did not allow a shot by the Falcons in the first half.

“I felt like we did a great job of creating chances and were dangerous on our set pieces, like we want to be,” added Connell. “We still need to get sharper with our execution, but tonight I thought overall we did a great job in all facets of the game and I am really happy with the result.”

The Vikings dominated the offensive flow of the game, out-shooting the Falcons 26-4, including 13-1 in the first half. SPU managed only one shot on goal in the game, when Casey Reeve’s header in the 84th minute was saved by WWU senior goalkeeper Ashley Homer (Puyallup, WA).

Homer recorded her sixth shutout of the season and extended her scoreless streak to 679:27 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal. Overall the Vikings have allowed just three goals in 10 games this season.

The Vikings are off this weekend, returning to GNAC play Tuesday hosting Saint Martin’s at Harrington Field at 7 pm. Early releases of the schedule had the Vikings hosting Evergreen State College on Saturday, but that game was cancelled prior to the start of the season.

WWU BLANKS SPU 2-0 FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE WIN

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Sophomore forward Christian Rotter and junior defender Stephen Jinneman each scored in the second half as the Western Washington University men’s soccer team posted its fourth consecutive victory with a 2-0 win over visiting Seattle Pacific in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on Thursday night at Harrington Field.

The Vikings (5-2-2, 4-0-0 GNAC) scored in the 49th and 65th minutes, extending their unbeaten streak to seven games while recording their first shutout of the year in completing a sweep of the regular season series against the Falcons (6-3-1, 2-2-1). WWU is atop the conference standings through five games with 12 points as the lone conference school without a loss in league play.

Rotter (Auburn, WA/Auburn Mountainview) broke the 0-0 tie in the 49th minute, taking a lead pass from junior forward Jose Castillo (Bellevue, WA/Interlake) and dribbling down the left side of the field before firing a low shot from a tough angle to the far post for his second goal of the season. Castillo recorded his second assist of the season on the play.

In the 65th minute, senior midfielder Luke Olney (Enumclaw, WA) sent a free kick from the right side into the 18-yard box that Jinneman (Redmond, WA) headed off the right post and into the goal. It was the first assist of the year for Olney and the third goal of the season for Jinneman, who has a goal in each of his last three games and has tallied at least 1 point in four straight contests.

In addition to his assist, Olney nearly had a goal of his own when he fired a shot from the top of the 18-yard box off the left post in the 32nd minute. He came close again in the 48th minute by blasting a shot from well outside the 18-yard box that was saved by Seattle Pacific goalkeeper Kary Whitney. Whitney dove to stop the shot and then immediately dove again to clear the ball off the goal line after the initial shot was blocked and slowed by his dive, but still nearly went into the goal.

The Falcons also came close to scoring with shots off the goal frame, with forward Gabe Kellum firing a shot off the post in the 63rd minute before a follow-up shot from the rebound was sent high. In the 78th minute, a free kick from midfielder Trevor Lee was saved by a diving Tyler Visten (Sr. GK, Mount Vernon, WA) who got a hand on the shot to deflect it up off the crossbar and out of play.

“A great game, I thought everyone played well,” head coach Greg Brisbon said. “Different people at different key parts of the game – Visten had a key save, Rotter’s goal was fantastic, a number of things. (Marcus) Tinsley I thought was very solid tonight and the result is a 2-0 win.”

Visten made 5 saves in the game, including 3 during the first half, for his second-highest save total of the season. It was the 11th career shutout for Visten, which ranks 5th-best in program history. Whitney totaled 4 saves for Seattle Pacific.

“We finally got a shutout,” Brisbon said. “That was good, Visten made a huge save and the win is important for us getting those three points.”

WWU held an edge in total shots (13-9) and shots on goal (6-5). The Falcons had 3 corner kicks while the Vikings had 2 corner kick chances.

Saturday’s victory extended WWU’s unbeaten streak against SPU to four games at 2-0-2 after the program’s tied in both matchups last year and WWU won the first meeting between the teams in 2017 with a 3-2 (OT) victory on a golden goal from Jinneman on Sept. 23 in Seattle. Saturday’s win was the first WWU shutout against SPU since Nov. 6, 2010 and marked the first time WWU had topped SPU twice in the same year (according to WWU records).

The Vikings, who have not lost since the second game of the season, will take their seven-game unbeaten streak and four-game win streak into Saturday’s home game against Northwest Nazarene.

“We’re two overtime losses away from being undefeated, so we’re starting to click and getting better every practice and game so hopefully we can keep it up,” Brisbon said.

The Vikings host Northwest Nazarene at 7 pm on Saturday. WWU remains at home next week, facing Montana State Billings on Thursday (Oct. 12, 7 pm) and No. 22 Simon Fraser (Oct. 14, 7 pm).

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