ELLENSBURG, Wash. (Oct. 3) – The Central Washington University women's soccer team heads to Northwest Nazarene before hosting No. 18 Western Washington University on Saturday.
GAME INFORMATION
Thursday at 12:30 p.m. PT
At Northwest Nazarene
Nampa, Idaho
NNU Soccer Field
Live Stats |
Live Video
Saturday at 7:00 p.m. PT
vs. No. 18 Western Wash.
Ellensburg, Wash.
Tomlinson Stadium
Live Stats |
Live Video
QUOTABLE
"It's a full week against a pair of good programs," CWU Head Coach
Michael Farrand said. "Mary [Trigg] has done a great job at NNU to build a strong team. They are a well-coached group. Travis [Connell] has done a phenomenal job with his girls. No. 18 in the country, they'll present a tough challenge. We get to play them under the lights at the new Tomlinson Stadium. We need to focus on doing what we do well and playing tight defensively. We are coming off one of our strongest games of the year where we were a bit unlucky offensively. We need to build off that effort and play a strong 90 minutes."
SCOUTING NORTHWEST NAZARENE
The Nighthawks open the week at 5-4-1 on the year, including a 1-4-0 record in conference play.
Northwest Nazarene opened the season with a pair of exhibitions. The first came against DI Boise State, before playing Northwest College.
They opened the regular season with a 1-0 victory over Cal State Monterey Bay, opening a four-game winning streak. The Nighthawks then beat Adams State (4-3), Minnesota Crookston (5-0), and Northern State (2-1) before drawing to Minot State (1-1).
In GNAC play, NNU came out to a strong start by downing Saint Martin's 6-1. Since that victory, the Nighthawks have not recorded a win. They have dropped four consecutive one-goal games to Concordia (1-0), Western Oregon (1-0), Montana State Billings (2-1), and Seattle Pacific (2-1).
Maddy Parton and Madi Taylor lead the Nighthawks with five goals each. Rikki Myers sits only a goal behind the team lead at four. Brooke Felzien and Ashley Parton have each scored two goals, rounding out the multi-goal scorers for NNU.
Kaisa Tsuruta has opened teammates for scoring opportunities all season, generating four assists. Myers and Chandler Kauffman sit tied for second with two assists each.
Thus far on the season, NNU has outscored their opponents 21-12.
In goal, Chloe Sholtz has handled all 920 minutes on the season for the Nighthawks. She has made 33 saves and posted a goals against average of 1.17. She has accumulated two clean sheets as well.
SCOUTING NO. 18 WESTERN WASHINGTON
The Vikings enter the week on a three-game clean sheet streak. They blanked Simon Fraser (1-0), Saint Martin's (4-0), and Western Oregon (3-0). The Vikings have not allowed a goal in 277:24, dating back to their 2-1 win over nationally-ranked Colorado School of Mines. Currently, the Vikings' record stands at 8-2-0 with a 3-1-0 record in GNAC play.
Within the shutout streak, Western has allowed just three shots on goal per game. In both of their games last weekend, the Vikings' defense held their opposition to zero shots on goal and held Saint Martin's to just one shot overall.
Western Washington is 4-2-0 on the road in 2018 after compiling a 12-1-0 record away from home in 2017.
Dayana Diaz leads the Vikings in goals, tallying five in 10 games so far. Gabriela Pelogi has accumulated four goals on the season. Pelogi scored in the 84
th minute last season in Ellensburg, before recording a hat trick in Bellingham with goals in the first, 77
th, and 86
th minutes.
Taylor Haliquist is the clubhouse leader in assists, picking up three in nine games. Alice Hiebert, Jordyn Bartelson, and Liv Larson have each tallied a pair of assists.
Natalie Dierickx has handled all but 82 minutes in goal for the Vikings this season. She has allowed just five goals on 86 shots. Dierickx has made 30 saves and posted a goals against average of 0.54. She has also recorded two clean sheets and been a part of a third.
LAST TIME OUT
The Wildcats walked away with a point against Western Oregon in a 0-0 draw last Thursday. They then fell 1-0 to Simon Fraser University on Saturday.
Lady Luck was not with the Wildcats last week as they had two goals called back on offsides calls and rung the frame of the goal on multiple occasions.
TOMLINSON STADIUM
Central Washington will play at Tomlinson Stadium, under the lights, on Saturday. It is the first night home game for the Wildcats and will be the third contest to be played on the newly renovated turf surface. Gates open at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.
