(Left) Gabriela Pelogi scored 1:58 into the game to lead WWU to a 4-0 victory over Seattle Pacific. Photo: WWU Athletics. (Right) Senior Stephen Jinneman goes up for a header while playing all 110 minutes in a 1-1 tie. Photo: MSUB Sports Information.
WWU Soccer: #18 Women Win, Men Tie
October 5, 2018
No. 18 Vikings Win Fifth Straight With 4-0 Blanking of SPU
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington University senior forward Gabriela Pelogi scored just 1:58 into the match, setting the tone in the No. 18 Vikings 4-0 victory over rival Seattle Pacific University Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference women’s soccer action at Harrington Field.
WWU tallied its fourth consecutive shutout to win its fifth consecutive game, improving to 9-2-0 overall and gained sole possession of second place in the GNAC standings with a 4-1-0 conference record. With 12 points, the Vikings are now four points behind league leader Concordia (8-0-2, 5-0-1) in the standings. Seattle Pacific had its dropped to 7-3-1 overall and slipped to fourth place in the standings at 3-2-0 in conference play.
“I thought it was one of our better performance of the season,” said head coach Travis Connell. “We had a quick start with the early goal, and in an emotional rivalry game like this, that is key. That was our goal, get off to a good start and gain the momentum in our favor.”
WWU’s total team effort saw eight different players contribute to the scoring Thursday night. Pelogi (2’), sophomore forward Zoe Milburn (36’), senior midfielder Mariah Roggow (67’) and freshman forward Dayana Diaz (80’) all scored goals. Four additional players tallied assists, including junior defender Emily Nelson, sophomore midfielder Darby Doyle, sophomore midfielder Grace Eversaul and junior defender/forward Peyton Chick.
“I thought our players did a really nice job during training on working on things we needed to improve, and then went out today and executed the game plan,” added Connell.
The Vikings wasted little time jumping ahead with the first score of the game coming just 1:58 into the contest. Nelson (Puyallup, WA/Bellarmine Prep) intercepted a pass near midfield and threaded a perfect pass to a streaking Pelogi (Federal Way, WA). Pelogi broke away from the defense and fired a shot at the far post from 17-yards out for her fifth goal of the season.
SPU had a scoring opportunity in the 16th minute when Kasey Reeve connected on a header from inside the box, but redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx (Kirkland, WA/Inglemoor/Colorado State) gathered the save.
WWU went up 2-0 in the 36th minute when Zoe Milburn (Maple Valley, WA/Tahoma) scored her third goal of the season. Doyle (Spokane, WA/Gonzaga Prep) fired a shot through the defense from the far left wing that caromed off the post, where Milburn collected the ball and fired a shot over the SPU keeper from 16-yards out.
Roggow (Kelso, WA/Oregon State) extended the lead to 3-0 in the 67th minute with an assist Eversaul (Vancouver, WA/Skyview). Roggow connected on a shot from 23-yards out over the keeper for her first goal of the season.
Diaz (Granite Falls, WA) continued her mid-season scoring binge with her team-leading sixth goal of the season coming in the 80th minute. Diaz, the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week in consecutive weeks, converted on a shot from well outside the box to the far post over the keeper.
Western held a 25-5 advantage in shots, including a 15-3 margin in the second half. The Vikings recorded 14 shots on goal, compared to SPU’s three.
Dierickx recorded her third shutout of the season making three saves. WWU has now recorded four consecutive shutouts and has not allowed a goal over the last 366:24 minutes of play.
SPU goalie Riley Travis recorded 10 saves in the game.
The Vikings (9-2-0, 4-1-0 GNAC) return to the road this weekend with a Saturday night showdown with Central Washington University at 7 pm in Ellensburg in the first night soccer game in renovated Tomlinson Stadium. The game will be streamed live online and feature live stats via GNAC.tv.
GAME NOTES…WWU has a current 17-game unbeaten streak vs. Seattle Pacific, going 14-0-3 dating back to the 2013 season…current 10-game winning streak vs. the Falcons…all-time series is now 18-18-6…WWU (2016) and SPU (2008) are the only GNAC women’s soccer teams to win NCAA II national championships…WWU has out-scored its opponents 14-1 during the current 5-game winning streak….Gabriela Pelogi scored her 41st career goal, moving up to a tie for 7th in GNAC history (remains 6th in WWU history)…also passed the 100-point mark for her career (41 goals, 19 assists), and is tied for 8th in GNAC history with 101 points (5th in WWU history).
Vikings Tie Montana State Billings 1-1
BILLINGS, Mont. – The Western Washington University men’s soccer team earned a hard-fought 1-1 tie at Montana State Billings on Thursday afternoon in a tightly-contested Great Northwest Athletic Conference game at Yellowjacket Soccer Field.
The Vikings move to 5-4-1 on the season and pick up a point in the GNAC standings at 1-2-1. MSUB is now 4-6-2 overall and 1-3-1 in conference play.
Playing their second overtime game of the season, the Vikings had a decisive 26-6 edge in shots in the 110-minute contest, but the margin was much closer at 10-5 in shots on goal. WWU also had a 10-3 advantage in corner kicks. Defense prevailed in the overtime periods, with neither able to get off a shot in the pair of 10-minute periods under the golden goal scenario.
“It was a good performance by both sides today and I am really happy with our team effort today,” said head coach Greg Brisbon. “We played Billings two weeks ago and definitely improved from that game, on both offense and defense. We created a lot of scoring opportunities today, but credit to MSUB as their goalkeeper had a fantastic game.”
After a scoreless first half, the Yellowjackets put the go-ahead goal on the board less than three minutes into the second half. Brady Tesch scored at the 47:50 mark with a low right-footed shot from the top right of the box to the lower left corner of the goal.
WWU netted the equalizer in the 71st minute on a penalty kick goal by Cholewa at the 70:44 mark. Senior defender Louis Genty (Toulouse, France) drew a foul in the box to setup the PK, with Cholewa converting his second of the year firing to the upper right quadrant past the diving MSUB keeper.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Brandon Wolter (Vancouver, WA/Union) recorded 4 saves in goal for the Vikings, while MSUB keeper Ludvig Rhodin stopped all of WWU’s shots on goal in the run of play.
The Vikings (5-4-1, 1-2-1) return to GNAC play on the road on Saturday traveling to Nampa, Idaho to face Northwest Nazarene at 4 pm MT/3 pm PT. The game will be streamed live via GNAC.tv.
“It’s a tough road trip, but we’ll get into Boise tonight, get some rest, have a training session tomorrow and get ready for Saturday’s game vs. a tough team,” added Brisbon.
Game Notes: Georg Cholewa scored his team-leading 5th goal of the season and is 2-for-2 on penalty kicks…WWU recorded its first tie of the season after setting the program single-season record with 5 ties in 2017…Jeremiah Lee (D), Georg Cholewa (M), Gus Diehl (M), Louis Genty (D), Stephen Jinneman (D) and Brandon Wolter (GK) played all 110 minutes for the Vikings…WWU went 0-1-1 vs. MSUB this season and holds all-time series lead at 15-6-4…series is 2-2-3 over last 7 meetings dating back to 2015 season…WWU is now 0-2-1 in its all black kits this season…temperature at kickoff was reported at 35°.
