Tuesday, October 1, 2013

PORTLAND, Ore. – Two of the top teams in the land will meet Thursday, as No. 2 Western Washington plays host to No. 23 Seattle Pacific in the most highly anticipated match of the season thus far.

The Vikings and Falcons are both undefeated in GNAC play, have each won seven consecutive games, and have outscored opponents by a combined 34-4 margin in 2013.

The GNAC’s best two women’s programs have cruised through their respective schedules thus far, with Seattle Pacific posting a string of five consecutive shutouts spanning Sept.7-26.

The only goal that Western Washington has allowed this season was an own goal in a 4-1 victory, and in 630 minutes on the pitch the Vikings have not trailed for a single second in 2013.

As a team, the Vikings are fourth in the nation in goals against average at .143 with the Falcons eighth in the same category at .375. SPU and WWU both rank No. 10 in assists per game with 2.0.

Individually, SPU’s Alexa Diaz (D, 5-4, Jr., Burien, WA – Kennedy) rankes No. 9 in the NCAA with .67 assists per game, while WWU’s Elise Aylward (F, 5-9, Fr., Renton, wA – Lindbergh) is tied with Diaz and Central Washington’s Tarah Duty (D, 5-4, Sr., Black Diamond, WA – Tahoma) for No. 22 in total assists with four.

Defensively, Alyssa Beauchamp (GK, 5-7, Sr., Vancouver, WA – Mountain View) has been stellar between the posts for WWU, ranking No. 6 in goals against average with a microscopic .16.

LAST WEEK

While the focus was on nationally ranked WWU and SPU, Central Washington (4-3-0, 3-1-0 GNAC) made a loud statement last week with a pair of conference victories to earn six points.

Tarah Duty, the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week assisted teammate Savanna Moorehouse (M, 5-11, Jr., Bonney Lake, WA – Bonney Lake), the GNAC Offensive Player of the Week on three goals as the Wildcats rolled over NNU 4-1 on Thursday and scored twice late on Saturday to disappoint MSU Billings 2-1 in overtime.

Moorehouse scored twice against NNU, but saved her most important goal for Saturday. With the Wildcats trailing the Yellowjackets 1-0 in the 71st minute, the forward received a pass from Duty and evened the score at 1-1. The goal set up Tarah’s sister Lauren Duty (F, 5-6, So., Black Diamond, WA – Tahoma) to score the game-winner in the first period of overtime.

Tarah Duty had five total assists on the weekend and played every minute on the Wildcats’ back line.

WWU (7-0-0, 4-0-0) cruised to a pair of GNAC wins that pushed its win streak to seven straight and its point total to 12. Catherine Miles (F, 5-7, So., Anacortes, WA – Anacortes) scored in each game, pushing her team-high goal total to five on the season.

Beauchamp was called upon to make just three saves on the weekend, as WWU’s back line contained both Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon and allowed just eight shots in the two games.

For the second consecutive week a victory did not come nearly as easily for Seattle Pacific (7-1-0, 4-0-0), as the Falcons found themselves staring face-to-face with a 1-0 deficit in the 80th minute against Montana State Billings on Thursday. Late-game heroics from Ashley Shaw (M, 5-3, So., Seattle, WA – Seattle Lutheran) in the 81st and Demi Waitley (M, 5-9, Jr., Coronado, CA – Coronado) in the 85th pushed SPU to the dramatic comeback victory to extend its win streak to six games.

Two days later, SPU enjoyed a first half offensive barrage, slotting three goals against Northwest Nazarene in a 3-0 decisive victory.

Despite jumping out to an early lead in both of its games – including a 1-0 advantage in the first minute against CWU on Saturday – MSU Billings (2-3-1, 1-3-0) came away empty handed twice and remained in neutral with three points in the GNAC standings.

Western Oregon (3-2-3, 1-2-1) had difficulty finding the net as the scoreless Wolves lost and tied, picking up a single point and falling to fourth in the conference standings.

Saint Martin’s (2-5-0, 1-3-0) enjoyed its first conference win of the season over Simon Fraser, a 2-0 triumph on Thursday.

The Clan (0-4-2, 0-2-2) earned their second GNAC point with the draw on Saturday, while NNU (1-5-1, 0-3-1) failed to pick up any ground with a pair of defeats on the road.

COMING UP

All eyes will be focused on Bellingham this week, not only for the Vikings’ matchup with SPU, but also when CWU brings its two-game win streak to town on Saturday. 

MSU Billings will remain on the road with determination to win at SMU and WOU after suffering two heartbreaking defeats last week.

The Saints will look to break into the top-four in the conference table as they face the Yellowjackets and Crusaders, while Simon Fraser will prepare for two tough opponents in CWU and SPU.