Saturday, November 11, 2017

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – No. 7 Western Washington used a dominant defensive display to stifle No. 25 Sonoma State 2-0, Saturday afternoon at Harrington Field in the 2017 NCAA West Region semifinals.

The win advanced the Vikings to the third round of the NCAA Championships, where they will take on the winner of tomorrow’s Concordia/UC San Diego match for the West Region Championship later in the week.

With a little less than 10 minutes left in the first half, Grace Eversaul laced a 17-yard effort to put Western Washington up 1-0. After Vikings’ defender Taylor Hallquist saw her cross bounce around in the penalty box, Liv Larson was able to find Eversaul atop the box, as the freshman struck a near-post effort to score her sixth goal of the season. Both Larson and Zoe Millburn were credited with the assist.

Carrying her regular-season goal-scoring form into the second half, Vikings’ forward Karli White doubled her side’s advantage with 25 minutes left in regulation. Receiving a pass from midfielder Darby Doyle, White was able to find the net for the 10th time this season.

The Vikings came close to finding the opener in the 29th minute after a Sierra Shugarts shot sailed waywardly. The defender’s effort from 30 yards out caught Sonoma State goalkeeper Kristen Spear off her line, but saw her attempt go over the crossbar for a goal kick.

With three saves in the match, Western Washington goalkeeper Ashley Homer recorded her 11th shutout of the season and her 25th shutout since joining the team last season. The Vikings outshot their opponents by a 25-4 margin to improve to 18-1-0 this season.

No. 3 UC San Diego hosts No. 16 Concordia tomorrow at 2 p.m. inside Triton Soccer Stadium. A Cavaliers win would give the Vikings home-field advantage for the West Region Championship, while a win by No. 1-seeded UC San Diego would make WWU the visitors in its upcoming playoff fixture.