• FINAL STATS

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Western Washington wasted precious little time getting the jump on Seattle Pacific, scoring in the opening two minutes, and went on to drub its longtime rival, 4-0, in a matchup of Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer contenders at Harrington Field on Thursday night.
 
The 18th-ranked Vikings allowed the Falcons (7-3-1, 3-2-0 GNAC) only five total shots in posting their fifth straight win and fourth among those by shutout. Western (9-2-0, 4-1-0 GNAC) gained ground on GNAC leader Concordia, which tied Simon Fraser. It was the second loss in three outings for SPU.
 
Gabriela Pelogi got things started with her 41st career goal–and her fifth versus Seattle Pacific–at 1:58. Mariah Roggow and substitutes Zoe Milburn and Dayana Diaz also tallied for the Vikings.
 
The victory squared the 42-game series at 18-18-6. Western is unbeaten in the last 17 meetings (14-0-3) since 2012, winning the last 10. It was the Falcons' worst loss since an identical scoreline versus WWU in October 2016.
 
Before the Falcons could cross midfield, the Vikings were on the scoreboard. Emily Nelson won possession in the center circle and immediately looked for Pelogi. On her second touch after taking the feed, running from left to right across the top of the box, Pelogi hammered her shot back low to the left post, past Riley Travis.
 
Seattle Pacific produced two rapid-fire chances to equalize in the 16th minute.  Makayla Sonstelie drove to the endline and crossed to Kasey Reeve for a point-blank header that was batted back by WWU keeper Natalie Dierickx, and Reeve's follow-up header was caught cleanly by Dierickx. Western had allowed only three shots on goal in the last three games.
 
The Vikings doubled the lead with just under 10 minutes left in the half. Darby Doyle cutback in the box, onto her right foot and shot from 15 yards off the right post. The rebound fell to Milburn for a first-time shot past Travis from 14 yards. Less than a minute after the restart, on a solo counter attack, Taylor Hallquist clipped a looping 20-yard try off the left post.
 
Early in the second period, SPU forward Sophie Chilczuk, the GNAC scoring leader, caused some alarm in the WWU goalmouth. Her right-wing cross was bobbled by Dierickx, but then gathered an instant before Reeve could pounce on the loose ball.
 
Roggow put the game out of reach in the 67th minute. After SPU was unable to clear after a long throw, Roggow stabbed at a bouncing ball from 23 yards and it flew over Travis and into upper right corner to make it 3-0.
 
Two minutes after Pelogi forced her third save from Travis, Diaz sealed matters. She took a throw on the left, cut inside and curled a 22-yard strike inside the right post.
 
Travis was called upon to make 10 saves on Western's 25 shots. Seattle Pacific's previous low shot total was seven this season.
 
This is the only regular season meeting between the teams this year.
 
SPU flies to Montana State Billings for a Saturday GNAC match that begins at 11:30 a.m. Pacific Time.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018
Harrington Field / Bellingham, Wash.
 
at (#18) Western Washington 4, Seattle Pacific 0
 
Scoring – 1, WWU, Gabriela Pelogi (Emily Nelson) 1:58; 2, WWU, Zoe Milburn (Darby Doyle) 35:01; 3, WWU, Mariah Roggow (Grace Eversaul) 66:25; 4, WWU, Dayana Diaz (Peyton Chuck) 79:07.
 
Seattle Pacific          0   0  --  0
Western Washington       2   2  --  4
 
Shots – SPU 5, WWU 25.
Shots on Goal – SPU 3, WWU 14.
Saves – SPU 10 (Riley Travis), WWU 3 (Natalie Dierickx).
Corner kicks – SPU 1, WWU 5.
Fouls – SPU 10, WWU 5.
Offsides – SPU 1, WWU 0.
 
Records
Seattle Pacific 7-2-1, 3-2-0 GNAC
Western Washington 9-2-0, 4-1-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Seattle Pacific at Montana State Billings
Saturday, Oct. 6, 11:30 a.m. PDT
Yellowjacket Field / Billings, Mont.