Saturday, November 14, 2015

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Catherine Miles’ 85th minute goal advanced Western Washington in the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Championships with a 1-0 victory over rival Seattle Pacific, Saturday at Harrington Field.

Miles netted her 11th goal of the season and the most important of the year as the Vikings and Falcons looked to be headed for overtime in the final five minutes of the match.

With the victory, the Vikings improved their record to 19-1-1 on the season and will host the NCAA Division II West Region finals on Friday, Nov. 20. The Vikings will face the winner of the Azusa Pacific and Sonoma State match.

Savanna Moorehouse and Gabriela Pelogi picked up assists on Miles’ game-winning goal. Moorehouse dished a pass to Miles inside the box, who then beat SPU goalkeeper Molly Stinson from eight yards out.

Western Washington outshot Seattle Pacific 16-7 and a corner kick advantage of 11-5 in the closest match of the season between the two teams. The Vikings defeated SPU all four times they played this year.

Stinson made five saves for the Falcons in the loss while Vikings’ goalkeeper Ashley Haden made two saves.

Seattle Pacific finished the year 14-5-2 and was one of two teams to represent the GNAC in the national tournament this year. They placed third in the regular season and were the runner-ups at the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships.