Thursday, November 14, 2019

SEATTLE – Central Washington exhibited some of its best defense of the season in their first trip to the postseason since 2016, but it was not enough to hold off the offensive juggernaut that is Western Washington as the top-seeded Vikings downed the No 4 seed Wildcats, 2-1, in the semifinals of the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships at Interbay Stadium.

The match was tied 1-1 at halftime after Vikings’ senior forward Karli White Wildcats’ freshman forward Bella Brown scored within two minutes of each other. Sophomore Dayana Diaz scored the game-winner in the 65th minute, connecting from eight yards out off of assists by Estera Levinte and Makenzie Burks.

Western Washington (17-2-0) will play either No. 2 seed Seattle Pacific or No. 3 seed Western Oregon in Saturday’s final. It is the eighth consecutive year that the Vikings have reached the final match. Central Washington finishes the season with an 8-9-1 record.

While the score was close, the rest of the numbers were not. Western Washington outshot the in-state rivals 23-5 and limited the Wildcats to just five shots on goal. The Vikings had all five corner kicks in the match.

Western Washington controlled the offensive pace early, rattling off three shots on goal in the first 10 minutes of the match. White took her first quality opportunity in the sixth minute from the far corner of the 18-yard box, but Central Washington goalie Emily Thomson was in place for the save. In the 10th, Liv Larson had another solid look from the just inside the 18-yard box that once again was stopped by Thomson.

The Vikings finally broke through in the 31st minute. Darby Doyle sent the ball into White, who turned from the center of the box for her fifth goal of the season.

Just two minutes later, the Wildcats responded in kind. Crisp cross-pitch passing by Sophia Keenan and Paige Devine allowed Brown to pull Vikings’ goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx out of position. Brown struck from 16 yards out to the lower left for the goal. The strike made CWU the first conference team to score more than one goal on the Vikings this season.

Western had two more opportunities in the opening period. The best came off of the foot of Lindsey Fujiwara, who launched a shot off the crossbar in the 40th minute.

The Vikings kept the offensive pressure on in the second half, getting good looks by Fujiwara in the 51st minute and by Larson with a header in the 61st. Diaz netted the game-winner a minute later. All three of her goals on the season have been game-winners.

Thomson finished with two saves for the Wildcats while Dierickx had one save for the Vikings.