ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Sept. 23) – The Central Washington University soccer team heads to Burnaby, British Columbia to take on the Simon Fraser University Clan in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference fixture.
Simon Fraser has posted a 2-0-2 record thus far in 2015. Their only GNAC match came against Seattle Pacific University and ended in a 0-0 draw. The Clan dropped Humboldt State in their season opener, 3-1, before drawing 0-0 against the University of Hawaii at Hilo. Simon Fraser has also recorded a 1-0 win over Hawaii Pacific. Two of the Clan's four matches have gone to double overtime.
Christina Dickson leads Simon Fraser with two goals and one assist. Dickson has take 12 shots, eight of which have been on net. Allyson Dickson and Olivia Agular added the two other goals the Clan have scored.
Priya Sandhu has played all 400 minutes in goal for Simon Fraser and she has only allowed one goal, while making 17 saves. Sandhu has recorded three clean sheets and faced 37 total shots.
"Annie [Hamel] has done a tremendous job. Simon Fraser is off to a great start, undefeated, great goals against average, and is playing at a different level then they have been previously," Wildcat Head Coach Michael Farrand said. "They had a great game last week against Seattle Pacific; they kept the shot total low."
Simon Fraser has tallied 65 shots, while putting 40 on target, forcing opposing keepers to come up with 36 saves. The Clan's defense has held opposing teams to 38 shots with 18 on target.
The Wildcats enter the match 2-4-0 on the season after falling in their first GNAC match to Concordia, 2-0. Central Washington picked up wins against San Francisco State University and California State University Monterey Bay.
Whitney Lowe leads CWU players with two goals on eight shots. Reilly Retz, Shaina Mitchell, Alyssa Navlet, Cassie Ripley, and Michaela Wallace have each recorded one goal. Mackenzie Nolte leads the Wildcats with three assists. She also leads the team in shots (12) and shots on goal (7). Mitchell and Ripley have tallied game winning goals for Central Washington.
"There are some real challenges for us, playing and travelling in the same day," Farrand added. "We definitely do not want to go 0-2 in conference. One of the top teams in the conference gave up some points so this is a great opportunity for us to gain some ground."
Amanda White has accumulated 540 minutes in net for the Wildcats. She has faced 82 total shots, while making 33 saves, and allowing 10 goals. White has registered one clean sheet.
The Wildcats' back line, anchored by Navlet and Allie Bohnett, has limited opposing teams to just 44 shots on goal.
Freshmen Michaela Wallace and Lexsi Manning have played themselves into minutes and impact with the Wildcats this season. Manning has played 192 minutes and tallied three shots. Wallace has been on the pitch for 49 minutes in four games and has registered one goal.
Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. in Burnaby. Live stats will be available at Simon Fraser's Stretch portal, here. Live video is available on Youtube, here.
