Monday, December 19, 2022

PORTLAND, Ore. – After leading Western Washington to its second national championship, the Vikings’ coaching staff has been selected as the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Coaching Staff of the Year.

Led by head coach Travis Connell, with assistant coaches Jamie Arthurs and Claire Morgan, the staff guided the Vikings to the Division II title with a 2-1 victory over West Chester in the championship match in Seattle on December 3. Western Washington finished the season with a 19-2-4 overall record.

The GNAC champions and West Region champions, Western Washington finished the season on an eight-match win streak and lost just one match after the start of conference play on September 15. The Vikings outscored opponents by a 46-13 margin, including 14-3 in the postseason, and posted shutouts in 15 matches.

In the Division II statistics, Western Washington ranked seventh in goals against average (0.52), eighth in win-loss percentage (.840), 12th in shutout percentage (.600), 15th in total assists (40), 24th in total points (132) and 26th in total goals (46).

Led by United Soccer Coaches Division II Player of the Year Tera Ziemer, Connell and his staff had three players receive All-America honors, five named United Soccer Coaches All-West Region and four named D2CCA All-West Region. Ziemer and junior Estera Levinte were consensus First Team All-West Region selections, with Ziemer earning First Team All-America and Levinte selected to the second team.

Four WWU players were named to the Division II Championships All-Tournament Team. The quartet was led by Levinte, who was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

The Vikings also landed eight All-GNAC selections, led by first-team selections for Ziemer, Levinte, freshman Morgan Manalili and senior Karina Provo. Manalili was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year while Connell received his seventh GNAC Coach of the Year award.

This marks the second time that Western Washington has been named the Division II Women’s Soccer Coaching Staff of the Year by the United Soccer Coaches. They also received the honor in 2016 following the Vikings’ first run to the championship.