Sunday, November 20, 2016

GOLDEN, Colo. – After not trailing at any point all season, Western Washington gave up the first goal for the second match in a row, but that deficit didn’t last long. The Vikings responded with five goals in a row to defeat South Central Region champion Colorado Mines on its home field on Sunday to advance to the NCAA National Championships semifinals with a 5-1 victory.

It is the Vikings’ second consecutive trip to the national semifinals and third in four years as the Vikings look for their first national championship in program history. For GNAC Coach of the Year Travis Connell, it was his 200th career victory and WWU’s 22nd consecutive victory, which is one shy of the GNAC record. That record was set in 2007 by Seattle Pacific, which was the last GNAC women’s soccer team to win the national championship.

Colorado Mines didn’t take long to get on the board with a goal in the second minute of the game off a free kick by Emily Garnier. It was only the second time all season that the Vikings trailed after having given up the opening goal on Friday against UC San Diego.

The Vikings didn’t take long to get the equalizer, doing so in the 11th minute. As usual, GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Emily Webster took a free kick for the Vikings and sent a well-placed cross to the far post where GNAC Player of the Year Sierra Shugarts got her head on the ball and redirected it to the back of the net to even the score. It was Shugarts’ fourth goal of the season after scoring three goals in three consecutive matches earlier in the season.

In the 27th minute, Caitlyn Jobanek assisted Liv Larson on the go-ahead goal. It was Jobanek’s seventh assist this season, which temporarily tied the mark for most in the GNAC. On the other side of halftime, Larson added her seventh goal of the season, scoring unassisted for a 3-1 lead.

Just over two minutes later, the Vikings were pouring it on with a fourth goal as Webster assisted Emily Nelson’s goal on a header from another set piece. For Webster, it was her GNAC-best eighth assist of the season.

The Vikings added a fifth goal in the 83rd minute when Emily Bunnell sent a corner kick into the box. Lauren Carson was the first to get to it and flicked it to Anna DeWeirdt, who sent it into the net. It was the second time this year that the Vikings scored five goals in a match against a nationally-ranked team from out of the West Region after doing so to Bridgeport in September.

The semifinals and championship match will be held in Kansas City. Western Washington will face Kutztown, which defeated Bridgeport, 2-1, in its quarterfinal match. Kutztown is 20-4 on the season and was the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Region.