Women's Soccer | 11/11/2016 8:53:00 PM
BELLINGHAM, WASH. (Nov. 11) – With the final whistle Thursday the Central Washington University soccer team punched its ticket to the second round of the NCAA West Regionals with a 2-1 victory over Seattle Pacific University.
The Wildcats' first-ever trip to the NCAA postseason extends to a second match against an opponent seasoned with postseason experience, No. 1 Western Washington.
"They are going to come at us hard and heavy," CWU Head Coach Mike Farrand said. "The game we played up here earlier this year, I'm not sure we were ready. We gave up some goals early and had to fight our way back. We got a goal back just after half time and then it slipped away from us a bit."
The score line from Oct. 22 in Bellingham favored the Vikings, 4-1, as Western tallied twice in each half.
The Vikings are making their fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament, led by eight Great Northwest Athletic All-Conference selections, GNAC Tournament MVP Gabriela Pelogi, and GNAC Player of the Year Sierra Shugarts.
Over the course of the season, Western Washington tallied 15 shutouts, one shy of tying the program's single-season record. The Wildcats, however, were not one of the blanked opponents.
Abbie Litka notched her lone goal of the season in the 50
th minute off a service from
Allie Bohnett. Litka's goal was one of six the Vikings allowed during the 2016 season.
The Wildcats' offense posted 33 goals from 14 different goal scorers with
Mackenzie Nolte and
Keilin Farrand leading the way, tallying 16 points each.
Central's defense held opponents to just 99 shots on goal over 20 games and averaged only a goal against.
In their latest outing, the Wildcats tallied in the early minutes of each half with a pair of goals from
Whitney Lowe. Central fired 15 shots of SPU keeper Molly Stinson and held the Falcons to just seven shots. Freshman goalkeeper
Emily Holt turned five shots aside.
The Wildcats play in the neutral third of the pitch was a key factor in their victory over the Falcons. The play of midfielder
Karlee Goehner and defenders
Allie Bohnett,
Abbie Litka,
Meghan Ward, and
Jessica Haga kept the Falcons from obtaining sustained attacks and routinely forced Seattle Pacific to recoil into its own end.
In the attacking end the Wildcats earned six corners, including five in the second half, in part due to their dominating possession game, anchored by Farrand and
Reilly Retz, and
Bailey Martoncik's ability to find space and passing lanes in the attacking third.
Depth has been a decisive factor for Central Washington throughout the season. Only once in 2016 have the Wildcats failed to play all 18 of their field players, when healthy.
"For us it is going to be 100% effort," Farrand noted. "We need to really concentrate on both sides of the ball and continue to build off the game we had with SPU, do the things that we do well, and get Western off their game a bit."
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Harrington Field. Live stats and video are available via wildcatsports.com.
