Monday, October 8, 2012

PORTLAND, Ore. - A pair of shutout victories including a 1-0 win over Montana State Billings Saturday has earned Western Oregon’s women’s soccer team the GNAC Team of the Week award for the Week of Oct. 1-7.

The Wolves blanked Saint Martin’s 2-0 last Thursday at Monmouth, then followed that up with the win at Billings.  MSUB came into the latter contest ranked fifth in the NCAA Division II West Region.  They were also among “others receiving votes” in last week’s national poll.

Lindsay Bauman’s goal in the 109th minute earned WOU its third consecutive shutout victory.  The Wolves had not blanked three opponents in a row since 1999 and had never accomplished that feat since moving into NCAA Division II.

With just a little less than two minutes remaining in the second overtime period, Bauman (Sr., Portland, OR  -  Wilson) collected the ball about 15 yards from the goal and fired a shot over the arms of the MSUB goalkeeper and into the net.

“Lindsay had an incredible strike to give us the win,” WOU second-year head coach Steve Ancheta said.

Bauman also figured in all the scoring against Saint Martin’s, earning an assist on a goal by Marina Austin (Sr., Olympia, WA) in the 22nd minute and then scoring herself on a shot from 20 yards in the 69th minute.

On the season, Bauman, who was selected the GNAC Red Lion Offensive Player of the Week, leads the Wolves in scoring with four goals and has also had two assists.

Hillary Lutz (So., Olympia, WA) was in goal for both contests and recorded nine saves, including a career-high eight against the Yellowjackets.

Lutz currently ranks third in the GNAC with a 0.89 goals against average.  She also ranks fourth in save percentage with a .814 average.

Last week’s two wins gives the Wolves (6-5-1, 4-3-1) a four-point lead over both Northwest Nazarene and Saint Martin’s in the battle for fourth place in the conference standings.  WOU is unbeaten in its last four games including a 1-1 draw with defending champion Seattle Pacific on Sept. 27.

The top four teams will advance to the conference tournament which begins Nov. 1 at the Starfire Sports complex in Tukwila, Wash.  The winner of the tournament will earn the GNAC’s automatic berth in the NCAA West Regionals which begin the following week.