ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Central Washington University women's soccer team hosted No. 10 Western Washington at the CWU Soccer Complex. Sophia Keenan buried her second goal of the season, but it wasn't enough as the Vikings downed the Wildcats 2-1 on Saturday afternoon. 
 
The Wildcats (6-6-1, 4-3-1 GNAC) had to deal with a tough Vikings (13-2-0, 9-0-0) team early and often throughout the contest. The visitors gained a lead in the fourth minute. Grace Eversaul scored on a pass from Peyton Chick. Eversaul was deep into the box and was able to nail a shot from close range, giving the Vikings a 1-0 lead. 
 
"In terms of our team shape, we stayed behind the ball a little more," CWU Head Coach Michael Ferrand said. "We didn't get too many balls put behind us. I'm disappointed in the first five, because we gave up a soft goal there."
 
The Vikings were able to get off 10 shots in the first half to the Wildcats' three. The second half featured six shots from the Vikings with the Wildcats only trailing by two. In total, the Vikings fired 16 shots, 11 of which were on goal. 
 
Emily Thomson was active between the posts for the Wildcats. She made nine saves over 90 minutes of work. 
 
"I think our one on one defending, compared to last time, was much better," Keenan said. "We were able to keep them in front of us. If they did beat us, we were able to pick up slack behind us. We were also able to clear when we needed to." 
 
Late in the 23^rd minute, Sydney Lowe had a chance to even the score at 1. She drilled the ball over the top left corner of the goal. In the 34^th minute, Jaxyn Farmen ripped a shot at the goal that also came up empty. The Wildcats trailed 1-0. 
 
Early in the second half, Peyton Vogel had a chance to knot the game. Vogel found enough room to get a shot off that skipped across the ground and into the arms of Viking keeper Natalie Dierickx. 
 
The Vikings would double their lead in the 55^th minute. Liv Larson found the back of the net off a pass from Eversaul. Larson drilled a shot from the top right corner of the box that was just past Thomson's reach. The Vikings secured a 2-0 lead.  
 
"Even going down 2-0, we didn't fold," Coach Ferrand added. "I think that is important for us heading into the rest of conference play. We got a good goal from Sophia [Keenan]. It was a great finish. We should have maybe created a few more chances. I thought we earned corners well. I thought we limited what they were able to do offensively. We still had chances to play and play through them." 
 
The Wildcats didn't go away quietly as the team continued to chip away at the Viking lead. Madison Bradley tried to cut into their lead in the 58^th minute. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, her shot didn't find the back of the net. 
 
Keenan's goal came in the 67^th minute of action. Olivia Sloan hooked up Keenan with a pass that led to the goal. Keenan punished the ball past the keeper for her second goal of the week and the season. 
 
Keenan put up one last effort to tie the game before the final horn sounded. The shot came in the 90^th minute and was saved by Dierickx. The Vikings would go on to secure the game 2-1. 
 
"Liv [Sloan] played an amazing ball through and the defense was caught forward," Keenan said. "I sunk behind and settled the ball and took my shot. I've been really focusing on making sure I have composure in front of the goal." 
 
The Wildcats travel to Billings, Mont. for a match against Montana State University Billings on Thursday at 2 p.m.