Thursday, November 9, 2023
by Thomas Lal

Ellensburg, Wash. – No. 2 seed Western Washington took a familiar first step toward the GNAC title by taking a 2-1 victory over No. 3 seed Western Oregon in the first semifinal of the 2023 GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships.

The Vikings have not missed a GNAC Championships final since the inception of the tournament in 2012 and kept that record going with two goals off of set pieces in the first half. Senior goalkeeper Claire Henninger locked in the result for WWU with four saves in net.

“Definitely our players came up big when we needed it and I’m really happy about that,” Western Washington head coach Travis Connell said following the match “Coach Jamie (Arthurs) does a lot on our restarts and trains these kids. We spend a lot of time on it so some of the credit has to go to her, but the kids made some big plays today and that’s what you’ve got to do to win against tough teams like we just played.”

Western Washington came out of the gates hot on a chilly night in Ellensburg, scoring two goals in the first frame, including Claire Potter’s opening tally in the 11th minute. The goal came shortly after a corner kick that was initially cleared by WOU goalkeeper Sophia Pierce. The bouncing ball found the feet of Western Washington freshman midfielder Mie Cairns tapped the ball to Potter for a back-heeled goal for her first assist of the night.

Cairns tallied her second helper of the game just over 10 minutes later , firing a shot from just outside of the box that Pierce couldn’t hang on to and landing it at the feet of freshman forward Jane Hmura who deftly tucked the ball into the back of the net.

“We fought all game long,” Potter said after the match. “We got a couple of goals in the first half early and then the second half was just a fight. Western Oregon played a tough game. They came out hard and we just had to find it in us and we pushed each other and worked hard and in the end we got the result.”

Despite the two-goal deficit, Western Oregon would not be kept off the scoresheet in the first 45 minutes. Making her first appearance of the match, senior forward Chloe Smith took delivery of a beautiful arcing pass by senior defender Elizabeth Parker from the right wing and headed the ball over Henninger to slash the lead in half with 10 minutes left to play in the frame.

Smith finished the game with 44 minutes under her belt, the most she has played since the first month of October. The goal concluded a four-season career for Smith where she scored 10 goals and tallied eight assists.

The Wolves continued to push in the second, matching the Vikings with three shots through the remainder of the match. Through the midfield battle, WOU pushed more long balls up over the WWU backline but couldn’t crash the net off the wing. Junior forward Raeanne Jones had one of WOU’s best chances in the half with about 11 minutes left in the game, picking up an errant pass at the top of the box and firing a shot in that Henninger saved cleanly.

As the game wore on, Western Washington’s midfield strength began to show, winning battles before burning time in the corner. While she didn’t factor on the scoresheet, sophomore forward Morgan Manalili was a critical piece of the WWU offense, creating several dangerous looks and getting involved in the physical battles.

With the win, the Vikings advance to the final of the GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships on Saturday at 1 p.m. where they will face the winner of the second semifinal between No. 4 seed Simon Fraser and No. 1 seed Seattle Pacific.