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SEATTLE – Dayana Diaz netted the first goal Thursday and initiated the second for seventh-ranked Western Washington, which completed its Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer slate with a perfect record after a 2-0 victory over Seattle Pacific at Interbay Stadium.
 
Diaz scored in the 24th minute with an easy one-yard poke and then delivered a pass into the box that eventually led to a 61st-minute goal by teammate Liv Larson.
 
Goalkeeper Natalie Dierickx was credited with three saves for the Vikings en route to her eighth clean sheet. That was the team's 13th shutout.
 
WWU compiled a 16-11 advantage in the shots category and doubled SPU in attempts directly on target, 6-3.
 
Riley Travis stopped four shots for the Falcons.
 
"The competitor in all of us bubbles to the surface and makes these games enjoyable to play," SPU coach Arby Busey said of the rivalry matchup. "It was a frustrating result for us to be on the wrong end of, but I'm so proud of the way that our kids approached the game and the way they played. They emptied their tank tonight and it bodes well for the future for us.
 
"Playing against the best team in our league, that's the benchmark and we're inching closer to getting to a place where we can challenge these guys."
 
Top of the Table
The regular-season champion Vikings (16-2-0) completed the conference campaign with a 12-0-0 record. They have outscored GNAC opponents by a combined 45-3 margin.
 
SPU (10-7-0) lost for just the second time in seven outings, the other setback being a 3-0 defeat in the first meeting with Western on Oct. 24 in Bellingham. The Falcons' league ledger moved to 8-3-0.
 
These are the two dominant GNAC schools, having captured 16 of 19 all-time regular-season crowns. The Falcons are eight-time champions and Western matched that figure this year with its eighth title.
 
They are the only teams in the conference to have won NCAA Division II women's soccer championships. SPU was the national titlist in 2008 and the Vikings in 2016.
 
Lone First-Half Goal
Western scored at 23:28 on a wide-open tap-in at the goal line by Diaz. Peyton Chick lofted the ball toward the crossbar from 35 yards out near the right sideline. Travis was able to leap and get a hand to the ball, but it dropped straight down for Diaz to punch in with her second goal of the season.
 
All goals count the same, according to Busey, with no additional points awarded for style.
 
"One of the reasons Western is so successful and they've gotten the result they've gotten is they've been able to find a way to put the ball in the net. Sometimes it's brilliant stuff and other times fortune shines on them. But, they make their fortune.
 
"She did a great job of working hard to put herself in a good place to find a goal. They do that consistently. They work really hard to put themselves in those spots better than any team that we play, and that's why they find themselves ahead on the scoreboard."
 
The Vikings put one in the back of the net 10 minutes earlier, but Karli White's apparent score was disallowed as she was whistled for offside.
 
SPU wasn't without its first-half chances despite being outshot 8-4 during the opening 45 minutes.
 
In the 30th minute, Makena Rietz coerced the first Vikings save of the game. Her low, 18-yard shot was collected by Dierickx.
 
SPU's Samea Aljundi fired a low shot from outside the box that traveled just wide of the left post as time expired in the first half.
 
Second-Half Insurance
Play was fairly even in the second half with the visitors gaining a slim, 8-7 edge in shots. One of those attempts netted an insurance goal.
 
The Falcons forced the issue coming out of intermission and fired four consecutive shots. The finest was a 58th-minute blast by Claire Neder from 30 yards out that barely cleared the crossbar.
 
Western made good on its first attempt of the second half, at 60:39.
 
Diaz flipped the ball in the box toward Larson, whose first touch bounced off a defender. Larson regained the ball, spun and lined a 17-yard shot that appeared to be saved by Travis on a dive to the left post. Somehow the ball snuck under the goalkeeper and trickled across the goal line.
 
"It's hard because we built some momentum and really were growing in stature in that moment. It's why they are a great team," Busey described. "They were able to deal with the pressure that we put them under and respond with a goal in their first opportunity.
 
"I really appreciate the way our kids responded to that because going down 2-0 to them can be the end of the night for a lot of people. We stayed after it and created a lot of decent chances beyond when it went to 2-0. We had opportunities. I never felt like that game ever got out of control for us."
 
A wonderful 67th-minute opportunity didn't produce a result for SPU.
 
Sierra Smith made a clever move to shed a defender in the box, but was unable to put too enough force on a 15-yard shot that slid directly to the goalkeeper.
 
Series Success
The Vikings have dominated the series over the last several seasons and won on Thursday for the 12th consecutive time. They have not lost to SPU since Oct. 27, 2012, producing a 16-0-3 record during that span.
 
Defense has been the key to that series success as the Falcons have been held scoreless in the last six meetings while conceding 13 goals to WWU.
 
Since Hannah Huesers scored for the Falcons in the 67th minute of a 3-1 GNAC Tournament championship game loss on Nov. 5, 2016, Western has held them scoreless for over 563 minutes.
 
GNAC Tournament Bound
These teams may meet again next week in the GNAC Tournament at the same venue. If so, it would come on Saturday, Nov. 16 in the 1 p.m. championship game as Western is the top seed and SPU has secured the No. 2 seed.
 
"It would be exciting," Busey said of a rematch with the Vikings. "We have a game on Saturday and a second one beyond that to earn the opportunity to set that up again. And Western would have to beat a good team in a GNAC semifinal as well.
 
"Both teams would relish the opportunity to play each other again, but there's a lot of things that need to happen between now and then for that to occur."
 
Western Oregon and Central Washington have clinched the other two playoff spots, but their seedings will not be determined until Saturday's results are in the books.
 
The 2019 GNAC Tournament will be contested at SPU's Interbay Stadium. WWU will play the 4 p.m. semifinal on Thursday, Nov. 14 and the host Falcons play at 7 p.m.
 
Tickets for next week's championships are available online at:  www.gnactickets.com
 
Next Game
The SPU women complete the regular season on Saturday against Northwest Nazarene. Kick-off is 4:30 p.m. at Interbay Stadium as the opener of a soccer doubleheader with the Falcons men, who play Saint Martin's at 7 p.m.
 
Saturday is Senior Day for the women, who celebrate the contributions by a quartet of outgoing players. Seniors Asia Cayetano, Mason Minder, Megan Moore and Megan Nielsen will be honored with a pre-game ceremony prior to their final regular-season home playing appearance.
 
"Our attention now turns to four seniors who we honor on Saturday," said Busey. "We really want to invest in that and provide those guys the moment that they deserve for all the work that they put in over their years here. That becomes the most important thing and where all of attention and focus needs to go to."
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, November 7, 2019
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.
 
(#7) Western Washington 2, at Seattle Pacific 0
 
Scoring – 1, WWU, Dayana Diaz (Peyton Chick), 23:28; 2, WWU, Liv Larson (unassisted), 60:39.
 
                       1   2   --  TOTAL
Western Washington     1   1   --    2
Seattle Pacific        0   0   --    0
 
Shots – WWU 16, SPU 11.
Shots on Goal – WWU 6, SPU 3.
Saves – WWU 3 (Natalie Dierickx), SPU 4 (Riley Travis).
Corner Kicks – WWU 4, SPU 1.
Fouls – WWU 6, SPU 8.
Offsides – WWU 1, SPU 4.
 
Records
Western Washington 16-2-0,  12-0-0 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 10-7-0,  8-3-0 GNAC
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
Northwest Nazarene at Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Nov. 9, 4:30 p.m. PDT
Interbay Stadium / Seattle, Wash.