Saturday, November 16, 2019

SEATTLE – Karli White has been a master of being in the right place at the right time all season and she was again for Western Washington on Saturday.

The senior forward rebounded a saved shot by freshman defender Makenzie Burks in the 81st minute, providing the game-winner for the top-seeded Vikings over No. 2 seed Seattle Pacific, 2-1, in the final of the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships at Interbay Stadium.

White was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player for her performance. She had two goals in the two matches, netting the opening goal in Thursday’s semifinal, and finished with 12 shots.

The late goal was the turning point for another epic postseason meeting between the two teams, which met in the final for the fifth time in eight years. Both teams netted goals in the first half with Seattle Pacific freshman Chloe Gellhaus tallying in the 19th minute and Western Washington senior Jordyn Bartelson scoring in the 26th.

The Vikings outshot the Falcons 15-9 in the match and seized control in the second half, outshooting the home team 8-4. The Vikings also held a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.

With the win, Western Washington (18-2-0 earns the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Championship. Seattle Pacific (12-8-0) will hope for an at-large berth when the tournament field is announced on Monday afternoon.

Both teams pressed offensively early in the match, though Western Washington has three of the first four shots over the opening 18 minutes. White had the best look early for the Vikings with a shot that came off the crossbar in the fifth minute.

A foul early in the 19th minute set up the opening goal of the match for Seattle Pacific. The restart at midfield set long a long run for Gellhaus, who hit unassisted to the lower-left corner of the net for her eighth goal of the season.

While the Falcons kept pressing, the Vikings turned to the set piece to equalize the match. Off of Burks’ corner kick in the 26th minute, Peyton Chick smashed yet another shot off the crossbar. This time, the Falcons did not clear the attempt away and Bartelson sent it back in on the header in the middle of the box for her third goal of the year.

The rest of the half was played mainly in the middle of the field as Seattle Pacific had just more shots in the final 25 minutes. The Vikings held the 7-5 advantage in first-half shots, putting just the Bartelson shot on goal. The Falcons had just two shots on goal.

Western Washington’s offense stepped up the pressure in the second half, but did not get many scoring opportunities until later in the period. White tested Seattle Pacific goalie Riley Travis a couple of times before the game-winner. In the 81st, Burks rifled a shot from 25 yards out, which Travis batted away but could not corral. White was with her in the box and in the right place to tap in the rebound.

Travis finished with three saves in the match while Western Washington goalie Natalie Dierickx made one save in earning her 17th win of the season.

TOURNAMENT NOTES: The selection of Karli White as MVP marks the fifth time in the eight years of the tournament that a Western Washington player has won the award…The goal by Gellhaus was the first by Seattle Pacific against the Vikings since Nov. 5, 2016, when Hannah Huesers scored in the GNAC Championships (the Falcons won the match 3-1)…Western Washington is now 11-1-2 in the GNAC Championships while Seattle Pacific is now 5-6-2 (the two teams played to a shootout in 2013 and 2014, which count as ties in the standings).