Five Vikings earn D2CCA All-West Region Women’s Soccer Honors

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Five Western Washington University women’s soccer players have earned Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) All-West Region honors, announced last Wednesday.

The Vikings placed four players on the First Team and had one Second Team selection as well.

·         First Team: Gabriela Pelogi

·         First Team: Karli White

·         First Team: Emily Webster

·         First Team: Sierra Shugarts

·         Second Team: Taylor Hallquist

Pelogi (Jr., F, Federal Way, WA) led the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with 36 points and 15 goals while tying for 4th among conference leaders with 4 assists. A D2CCA All-West Region Second Team selection last year, Pelogi is a three-time All-GNAC honoree as well and was named to the All-GNAC First Team for the second time in 2017. Pelogi started all 20 games and had at least one point in 13 games, including six game-winning goals, and her 90 career points and 36 career goals each rank 6th in program history.

White (Jr., F, North Bend, WA/Mount Si/Seattle U.), named the GNAC Newcomer of the Year and an All-GNAC First Team selection after transferring from Seattle University, totaled 28 points during the season (3rd-most in GNAC) while ranking 2nd in assists (8) and tied for 3rd in goals (10). During her first season as a Viking, White tallied four-game winning goals and had at least one point in 10 of 18 games played, with three multi-goal games and three multi-assist games.

Webster (Sr., M, Bellingham, WA/Sehome) earned All-West Region accolades for the third consecutive season, repeating as a First Team All-West Region choice after earning All-West Region Second Team honors in 2015 as a sophomore. A 2016 D2CCA Second Team All-American and a versatile force for the Vikings on offense, defense and set pieces, she started all 20 games and recorded 6 assists (T-4th in GNAC) along with one goal during the season. Webster is a four-time All-GNAC selection and three-time First Team honoree, including the 2016 GNAC Defensive Player of the Year.

She led all WWU non-goalkeepers in minutes played (1,551) and ranks among program all-time leaders in games played (90 games, 3rd) and career assists (24 assists, 5th).

Shugarts (Sr., D, Federal Way, WA/Decatur) joined Webster in repeating as an All-West Region First Team selection after also being named to the First Team last season before earning D2CCA First Team All-America honors. A First Team All-GNAC selection for the second straight year and a three-time All-GNAC selection, Shugarts was the 2016 NCAA Division II National Player of the Year and GNAC Player of the Year.

She appeared in 84 games over her career (T-8th most in WWU history) and during 2017 helped anchor a defense that allowed just 8 goals, posting 14 shutouts and ranking 5th nationally with a .397 goals-against average and 6th nationally with a .700 shutout percentage.

Hallquist (Vancouver, WA/Columbia River) started all 20 games, joining Shugarts in helping to lead the Vikings strong defense. A two-time All-GNAC honoree, including a Second Team selection in 2017, she had 4 assists during the year and totaled 1,336 minutes on the field to rank 2nd on the team among non-goalkeepers in minutes played.

The five WWU selections were the most of any school honored and part of a total of nine GNAC players recognized on the All-West Region teams.

The D2CCA teams are voted on by sports information directors in the West Region, consisting of the GNAC, the Pacific West Conference and the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

WWU (18-2-0, 11-1-0 GNAC) recently concluded the 2017 season after advancing to the NCAA Championships for a sixth consecutive season and reaching the NCAA II West Regional Final for the fifth time in the last six seasons. The Vikings won the GNAC Championships tournament before entering the NCAA Championships as the No. 2 seed in the West Region, topping No. 3 seed Sonoma State, 2-0, before falling, 2-0, to No. 1 seed UC San Diego.