Western junior midfielder Kelly Irving congratulates her teammates after the final goal in the Vikings' 4-1 win over Western Oregon University Saturday at Whatcom Community College's Orca Field. The victory clinched the conference title for Western. Photo by Jon Bergman.
The Western women’s soccer team scored four goals in the second half of the last season game, leading to a 4-1 victory against Western Oregon University Saturday at Whatcom Community College’s Orca Field.
Ranked first in the Far West Region, Western will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs and will play the second-round match of the Far West Regional Nov. 16.
With an unbeaten streak of 15 games, the Vikings finished the regular season 16-2-2 and won the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title with a record of 10-0-2. Western is ranked 15th in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America/National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II Coaches Poll.
“We have a good chance of doing well [at regionals],” Western junior forward Lucy Miller said. “We’re just going to keep playing hard.”
Western Oregon junior midfielder Jessica Hicks scored the first goal of the game.
Miller’s rebound from Western junior defender Brynn Regan’s shot tied the game 1-1 in the 55th minute. In 20 minutes, the Vikings rallied with three more goals.
Miller broke the tie with a left-footed shot in the 69th minute.
“The offense had a lot better game in the second half,” Miller said. “We were talking about what to do, pushing up; the midfielders had more time, giving forwards more time to get into the box.”
Western scored the last two goals in the two-minute and 22-second range. Western sophomore forward Emily Frankland scored in the 85th minute with an assist by junior defender Kasey Hostetler. In the 87th minute, senior defender Katie Warner scored.
“The first half of the game was kind of frantic; there was lots of running around and we weren’t focused with what our main goal was,” Western senior defender Shelby Marcell said. “We settled down and crossed the ball in calming down in the second half.”
Western Oregon completed its season 7-11-2 overall and 3-7-2 in the conference.
Western head coach Travis Connell said the Vikings keep coming back in the second half of games, but relying on comebacks can be a risk.
“Competition is going to get tougher and tougher as the [regionals] go on,” Connell said. “We are going to have to play the full 90 minutes instead of 45.”
Western is now preparing to play in the second-round match of the Far West Regional at 1 p.m. Nov. 16 at Orca Field.
The Vikings will play the winner of the first-round match between San Francisco State University and California State University, Dominguez Hills.
San Francisco State holds a record of 12-6-3 and 10-3-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while California State University, Dominguez Hills is 13-9-0 overall and 9-5-0 in the same conference.
The last time the Vikings went to play the postseason was 2006 when they reached the regional semifinals.
Connell said he feels good going into regionals with the unbeaten streak and believes the Vikings deserve to play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II National Championship.
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