BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Makena Rietz scored just 51 seconds into the contest Thursday, starting fourth-ranked Seattle Pacific on its way to a 3-0 victory over No. 12 Western Washington in a clash of the top women's soccer teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
 
"It's was a dream start. You don't plan for that. You don't expect that, neither team does," exclaimed SPU coach Arby Busey. "We did a decent job of managing that moment after we had scored and kind of surviving the storm that we knew was going to come after we scored."
 
The win was the Falcons first at Harrington Field, WWU's on-campus venue that opened in 2014. The Vikings are difficult to defeat on their home turf and their 32-game home undefeated streak (29-0-3) came to an end. They lost for just the third time in 74 all-time games at Harrington (67-3-4).
 
The Falcons (10-1-1) leapfrogged Western, improving to 7-1-1 in league play to take a one-point lead in the GNAC standings. They won the lasts three encounters with the Vikings.
 
WWU (10-2-2) dropped to second place with a 7-2-0 league ledger. Each of the Vikings' defeats were dealt by SPU, which swept both regular-season matchups for the first time since 2012. The Falcons were 1-0 overtime victors over Western on Oct. 9 in Seattle.

MAKENA RIETZ GOAL

Sophia Chilczuk assisted on the early goal and capped the scoring with one of her own, in the 57th minute. In between, defender Madison Ibale headed home a free kick in the 40th minute.
 
For the second time this season, covering nearly 185 minutes, the SPU defense kept a clean sheet against a potent Vikings attack. Starting goalkeeper Riley Travis recorded five saves before being replaced in the 85th minute by Kaitlynn Knocke. That duo combined for the team's ninth shutout.
 
"It was a little smoke-and-mirrors at times, but a ton of attitude and conviction and commitment to each other, fighting to keep that ball out of the net," Busey said of his defense that used numerous players along the backline during the course of the game.
 
"This Western teams asks a ton of questions of opponents and we were there again tonight in the right spots at the right time. That's a testament to some really intelligent players, some great leadership from the back and kids that are willing to put their body on the line. It gets physical in and around the goal in games like this so it was a great performance defensively."
 
Natalie Dierickx was credited with five saves for the Vikings, who were outshot by a slim 14-11 margin.
 
Rietz has displayed a penchant for quick goals this season. She scored 52 seconds into the Falcons home win over Northwest Nazarene on Sept. 25. The senior midfielder has five goals this season and four of them were game-winning strikes.
 
In the first meeting with Western it took 94-minutes, 56-seconds for the Falcons to find the goal.
 
Only 51 seconds expired before they scored on Thursday.
 
A poor trap by a Vikings defender enabled Chilczuk to swoop in and steal the ball on a full sprint. She dribbled to the edge of the box before the onrushing goalkeeper induced her to lay the ball off to her left for an easy, open-goal finish from five yards by Rietz.
 
The second goal came off a set piece. A left-side free kick from 12 yards outside the box was served into the goalmouth by Emmy Moore. Ibale rose among several players and rammed a firm header into the back of the net at 39:03. That was her second goal of the season.

MADISON IBALE GOAL

The hosts had a 7-5 shooting edge in the first-half, yet trailed 2-0 on the scoreboard.
 
"We were super fortunate to be in the position we were at halftime. It wasn't our best half," said Busey. "They were better than us in the first half and we were pretty fortunate to be sitting on a 2-0 lead. We made the most of the few opportunities that we had and were in a spot that maybe we didn't deserve at that point.
 
"We showed some character in the second half in terms of adding to that lead and playing a bit better."
 
Western had some solid chances during the opening 45 minutes. In the ninth minute, Darby Doyle looped a 28-yard free kick that Travis managed to tip off the crossbar and out of play for a corner kick.
 
Ten minutes later, Tera Ziemer lobbed a shot from outside the box that carried just high of upper-right of the SPU goal. One minute after that, the ball bounded out to the right side of the box and Ellie Busik's put-back drive went wide, into the outside netting.
 
The visitors came out aggressive after halftime and outshot Western 9-4 in the second period. They squelched any hope of a Western comeback with a goal at 56:46.
 
The final tally was a wonderful display of teamwork.
 
Chloe Gellhaus was in the top of the box and slid the ball to the left flank to Sophie Beadle, who sent a waist-high cross that Chilczuk volleyed into the goal.
 
Chilczuk picked up her league-leading seventh assist on the opening goal and notched her own fourth goal on the final score. She ranks fifth among all-time Falcons with 34 career goals, is tied for fourth with 24 assists and her 92 total points represent the fifth-high figure in school history.

SOPHIA CHILCZUK INTERVIEW

NEXT GAME
The Seattle Pacific women conclude a four-game road trip on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. outing at Simon Fraser.
 
Their next home game is Thursday, Oct. 28 versus Saint Martin's. Kick-off is 7:00 p.m. at Interbay Stadium.
 
NCAA WOMEN'S SOCCER
Thursday, October 21, 2021
Harrington Field / Bellingham, Wash.
 
(#4) Seattle Pacific 3, at (#12) Western Washington 0
 
Scoring – 1, SPU, Makena Rietz (Sophia Chilczuk), 0:51; 2, SPU, Madison Ibale (Emmy Moore), 39:03; 3, SPU, Chilczuk (Sophie Beadle, Chloe Gellhaus), 56:46.
 
                          1   2  --  TOTAL
Seattle Pacific           2   1  --    3
Western Washington        0   0  --    0
 
Shots – SPU 14, WWU 11.
Shots on Goal – SPU 8, WWU 5.
Saves – SPU 5 (Riley Travis 5, Kaitlynn Knocke 0), WWU 5 (Natalie Dierickx).
Corner Kicks – SPU 0, WWU 2.
Fouls – SPU 7, WWU 10.
Offsides – SPU 1, WWU 0.
 
Records
Western Washington 10-2-2,  7-2-0 GNAC
Seattle Pacific 10-1-1,  7-1-1 GNAC
 
Next SPU Women's Soccer Game
 (#4) Seattle Pacific at Simon Fraser
Saturday, October 23, 2:00 p.m.
Terry Fox Field / Burnaby, B.C.