ELLENSBURG, Wash (Oct. 9) – The Central Washington University women's soccer team defeated Northwest Nazarene University by a score of 2-0 as the Wildcats continue to push towards the top of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings.

With the win, the Wildcats move to 5-5-1 overall and 4-2-1 in the GNAC as the Crusaders fall to 3-5-3 overall and 2-4-1 in the GNAC.

The Wildcats and the Crusaders played to a stalemate in first half. Offense wasn't an issue as the Wildcats controlled the pace of play throughout the first 45 minutes. The team attempted three more corner kicks than the Crusaders in the first half but couldn't find a goal. The Wildcats attempted seven corner kicks to the Crusaders' three throughout the game.

Senior Keeper Kayla Lipston continued her dominance as she logged her third straight shutout and recorded three saves in the process.

"We replaced our entire backline and had a lineup change, we have been a work in progress," Head Coach Micael Farrand said speaking of the defense. Abbie Litka, Allie Bohnett, and Maghan Ward have been play well as our back three, and Aubrey Rodgers had a solid game. She has been our rock back there and played consistent through the whole game.

The Wildcats came out of halftime with a sense of urgency. Freshman Viktoriya Vasina (Auburn, WA, Auburn Mountainview ) put the Wildcats ahead early in the second half with her third goal of the season as the assist went to Stephanie O'Hara (Kent, WA, Kent-Meridian).

"Vicky made something out of nothing," Farrand said. "Stephanie did a great job cleaning out the weak side and delievering a entry great ball to Vicky, and she buried the ball from a tough angle. But that's what she does, she's a good finisher."

Two minutes after the go-ahead goal, Whitney Lowe (Olympia, WA, Black Hills ) attacked the Crusader backline and was fouled in the box for a penalty kick. The free kick was taken by Hadli Farrand (Ellensburg, WA, Ellensburg) who struck the ball off the far right post and was then cleared.
Farrand remained persistant, she would break free in the 54^th minute and head a corner kick wide right. Finally, the senior forward would get her fourth goal of the season as she dribbled down the middle of the NNU defense, beating multiple defenders and drilling a shot past the outstretched goalie.

"I'm just trying to work on creating more chances for my teammates, and focusing on finishing more." Hadli Farrand said smiling.

The Wildcats will battle Montana State University Billings, Saturday, Oct. 11. The Wildcats are looking for a season split with the Yellowjackets as they dropped the first matchup 1-0 in Bilings.

"We want to try and build momentum towards Western so we are trying hard to get six points every week," Hadli said of Saturday's matchup. "We are excited to show them what we can do, we didn't play very well when we played them over there and we want to play our style of soccer. It's good to get a win today and build momentum towards the next team we face.

Kickoff is set for Noon at the CWU Soccer Complex.

"MSUB beat Seattle Pacific and us at their place and picked up six big points," Coach Farrand said. "So we have to get some points back from them and stay ahead of them and MSUB,but it's a big game for us."