MORAGA, Calif. – The top-ranked Western Washington University women’s soccer team concluded its early-season California road trip with a dominating 7-1 non-conference victory over Holy Names Saturday afternoon at the Saint Mary’s College Recreation Field.

WWU (2-0-0) out-scored Holy Names (7-1) and Notre Dame de Namur (3-1) 10-2 during the two-game road trip to northern California, bolstering its preseason No. 1 ranking. The Vikings have now won 26 consecutive games dating back to last year to tie for the 6th-longest winning streak in NCAA Division II history and the current 27-game unbeaten streak (26-0-1) is tied for 10th-longest.

The Vikings were led by a hat trick from junior forward Gabriela Pelogi (Federal Way, WA), who scored in the 10th, 18th and 61st minutes of the contest. The junior comes back from the road trip with four goals and a pair of assists (10 points). It was the first three-goal game by a Viking since Elise Aylward recorded a hat trick on Sept. 26, 2015 at Simon Fraser.

Junior forward Karli White (North Bend, WA/Mount Si/Seattle U.) scored a pair of goals, her first two in a WWU uniform, finding the back of the net in the 3rd and 18th minute.

Western led 6-0 at the half, with all six of those goals coming in the first 28 minutes of the game.

“We came out aggressive and had really good execution right out of the gates,” said head coach Travis Connell. “We were really efficient with our attacking movements. I thought we improved on the areas we identified from the first game and made really good choices in the final third.”

The Vikings again had a quick start to the match with White scoring just 2:25 into the game. WWU also struck quickly in the season opener with Liv Larson (So., Arlington, WA) scoring two minutes into the match.

In addition to the three goals by Pelogi and two by White, Larson scored in the 28th minute for her second goal of the season and freshman midfielder Grace Eversaul (Vancouver, WA/Skyview) recorded her first collegiate goal in the 24th minute.

Holy Names (0-2-0) erased the shutout in the 56th minute when Jaclyn Arballo scored for the Hawks.

WWU out-shot HNU 20-3 in the game, while holding a 11-2 edge in shots on goal.

WWU returns to action Wednesday facing California State-Los Angeles in a neutral-site match in Burnaby, British Columbia at 11 am (hosted by Simon Fraser). Western will play its first five matches of the 2017 season on the road before debuting at Harrington Field in the GNAC opener on Sept. 16 vs. Western Oregon.

Match Notes: WWU extended its winning streak to 26 consecutive games, tied for the 6th-longest streak in NCAA II history…27-game unbeaten streak is tied for 10th-longest in NCAA II history…the Vikings extended its unbeaten streak against West Region opponents to 39 straight (37-0-2)…Gabriela Pelogi scored her 23rd, 24th and 25th career goals, tied for 12th-most in WWU history with current assistant coach Claire Morgan (2007-10)…Pelogi’s three goal game was the first by a WWU player since Elise Aylward at Simon Fraser in 2015 (9/26/15)…the 7 goals are the most by the Vikings since also scoring 7 in a 10/3/15 vs. Trinity Lutheran (7-1 win).

Vikings Edged 3-2 in Double Overtime by Chico State (9-2-17)

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men’s soccer team overcame a second-half deficit to tie the game with a goal in the 80th minute but was eventually edged in the waning seconds of the second overtime as visiting Chico State scored a golden goal with 12 seconds remaining for a 3-2 win over the Vikings on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference game at Harrington Field.

WWU (0-2-0) lost via a golden goal for the second consecutive game after Sonoma State topped the Vikings with a goal in overtime during the season opener on Thursday. The Wildcats, who scored twice in the second half of Saturday’s game to overcome an early first-half goal from WWU, improved to 2-0-0 on the season following a win over Seattle Pacific on Thursday.

Forward Jeremiah Egujie netted the golden goal for Chico State, racing up field from 40 yards out with fewer than 20 seconds to go and holding off WWU defenders before slotting the game-winning goal to the lower-right corner of the net from 12 yards away in the 110th minute. He was credited with the goal at 109:48, just 12 seconds before the end of the second overtime. It was the third goal of the young season for Egujie, who scored twice in Chico State’s season-opening win at Seattle Pacific.

“Tough loss, to have two overtimes and two games in a row,” head coach Greg Brisbon said. “The first half, I thought we played very well and made improvements from the previous game. The second half, we did not do as well and give credit to Chico, they did a great job adjusting and had a lot better energy than we had but we found a way to come back and get it to OT – their player, number 9 (Egujie), was really good and we just couldn’t deal with him on the final goal.”

The Vikings had forced overtime with a header goal from close range by senior forward Anthony Dean (Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Bellevue College) in the 80th minute to tie the game at 2-2. He provided the equalizer off a rebounded shot from senior forward Kyle Danielson (Des Moines, WA/Mount Rainier/Highline CC), as Chico State goalkeeper Damion Lewis blocked Danielson’s shot but was unable to corral the ball before Dean finished the play. It was the first goal of the season for Dean, who led WWU with 8 goals during the 2016 season.

For the second consecutive game, the Vikings had grabbed a lead quickly in the first half as freshman midfielder Georg Cholewa (Leipzig, Germany/Sportgymnasium Chemnitz) scored in the 10th minute for a 1-0 WWU advantage.

Cholewa finished a low cross from 8 yards away that was sent in from the edge of the right side of the 18-yard box by sophomore forward Christian Rotter (Auburn, WA/Auburn Mountainview). Freshman midfielder Mason Rathkamp (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) was also credited with an assist on the play as he found Rotter with a pass. Rotter recorded his second assist in as many games, while Cholewa scored his first career goal and Rathkamp recorded his first career assist.

Chico State tied the 1-1 game early in the second half as midfielder Frankie Palmer finished a cross with a header from 8 yards away to the far post, sent into the 18-yard box from the left side by defender Sasha Peranteau in the 53rd minute.

The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead in the 68th minute when forward Esten Schroeder drilled a shot from 19 yards out to the upper-left corner of the net off a pass dropped back to him by forward Eruvey Arceta.

The WWU defense kept the game tied late in the second half, fending off a pair of scoring chances as senior goalkeeper Tyler Visten (Mount Vernon, WA/Skagit Valley College) made a key sliding save in a one-on-one situation with fewer than 3 minutes left in the half. Just 11 seconds later, a Chico State header shot went off the right goal post.

Chico State held a 23-16 advantage in total shots during the game, putting 10 shots on goal compared with 6 for the Vikings. Each team had 7 corner kicks in the game. The Wildcats out-shot WWU 11-4 in the second half after WWU held a slight 9-8 edge in shots during the opening half.

Each team had 1 shot during the first overtime period, neither on goal, while the Wildcats put 2 of their 3 shots on goal in the second overtime. The Vikings produced a pair shots in the second overtime, including a shot from inside the box that was blocked during a scramble with 5 minutes to play. WWU’s shot in the first overtime was a header attempt by Danielson, who found space from a pass in the right side of the box but saw his shot go wide of the goal.

Visten made 7 saves for WWU, the most in a game since he made 8 saves against Simon Fraser on Oct. 15, 2016. Lewis recorded 4 saves for the Wildcats.

Saturday’s game was the second consecutive season in which WWU and Chico State played each other, with the Vikings winning the previous meeting, 1-0, during the 2016 season opener.

WWU continues the non-conference portion of the schedule next week, traveling to face Colorado Christian next Thursday (Sept. 7, 4 pm MT) and MSU Denver next Saturday (Sept. 9, 6 pm MT). The Vikings will close out the non-conference schedule with a home game against Fort Hays State (Sept. 16, 7 pm).

(WWU-KPUG Staff)