Saturday, November 7, 2015

BURNABY, B.C. - After two straight defeats to Seattle Pacific in penalty kick shootouts, Western Washington took away all drama in the 2015 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships with a 3-1 victory over SPU.

The Vikings’ Caitlyn Jobanek was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player with two goals and one assist.

With the victory, Western Washington completed an undefeated season against GNAC opponents and extended its unbeaten streak to 17 matches. The Vikings earned the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Championships. The tournament field will be announced Monday.

In the 24th minute, Western Washington opened the scoring on an own goal by SPU. Emily Webster took a corner kick that curved on net from the right corner, deflecting off two Seattle Pacific defenders into the goal.

Gabriela Pelogi scored her first goal of the tournament on a header at the 47th minute mark. Jobanek picked up her first assist and fifth point of the tournament on the goal.

Western Washington scored again quickly in the 51st minute after a shot by Erin Russell deflected off two SPU defenders once again, finding its way into the back of the net.

Seattle Pacific’s lone goal came in the 67th minute on a penalty kick by Isabel Farrell, her second of the tournament. The Falcon’s continue a furious attempt at a comeback in the second half, but fell short against the stingy Western Washington defense.

The Falcons still have hopes to make the national tournament. The NCAA will announce the Division II Women's Soccer Championships seeding on Monday, Nov. 9 at 3 p.m. Pacific time. Seattle Pacific entered the week ranked No. 5 in the NCAA Division II West Region Poll. The top-six teams from the region are invited to the tournament.