Monday, November 18, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS – After earning the conference automatic berth to the postseason, Western Washington will head south to face St. Mary’s (Texas) in the NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer Championship.

Earning the No. 6 seed in Super Region 4, the Vikings will play at No. 3 seed St. Mary’s in a second-round match in the regional bracket. The match date and time are to be announced. The winner of that match will advance to the regional semifinal to face either No. 2 seed Cal State LA, No. 7 seed UC San Diego or No. 10 seed Midwestern State.

This marks just the second time in the program’s GNAC history that Western Washington has advanced to the Division II postseason. The Vikings’ last appearance was in 2016 when they advanced to the West Region final.

The GNAC champion, Western Washington enters the tournament with a 13-4-1 overall record. The Vikings rolled through the conference season undefeated before suffering a 1-0 defeat to Simon Fraser on Thursday. The only other blemish on the Vikings’ conference ledger was a 1-1 tie to Saint Martin’s on Oct. 5. Western Washington went 3-3-0 in non-conference play, all against teams in Super Region 4.

Ranked first or second in every major GNAC statistical category, Western Washington enters the West Regional ranked 23rd in Division II in win/loss percentage (.750), 25th in shutout percentage (.444) and 27th in goals-against average (0.76).

Azusa Pacific earned the No. 1 seed in Super Region 4 with a perfect 18-0-0 record. Other teams in the top half of the regional bracket include No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona, No. 5 seed Cal State San Bernardino, No. 8 seed Colorado Mines and No. 9 seed Texas A&M-International.