ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Following Central Washington's (1-5-3) first win of the season, they head out of state to take on the Montana State University Billings Yellow Jackets (2-2-4) on Thursday at 6 p.m. Both teams did not have quite the start to the season they hoped for, but both teams seem to have recently found some momentum. The Wildcats' second match of the week does not get any easier as they take on #23 ranked Seattle Pacific University (5-3) on Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
LAST MATCH:
 
Following the Wildcats 2-3 loss vs Western Oregon, the team kept up their strong offensive momentum heading into the first half of play vs the Saint Martin's Saints. The team attempted 16 shots alone in the first half of the game compared to Saint Martin's 4. It was nearing halftime when the Wildcats finally were able to finish one of their many opportunities to take the lead against their opponent. Shana Mellick rose in the air and headed the ball into the net on a pretty pass from Alexa Stanfield and the team went into halftime up 1-0. The offense was still in a groove for the second half of play as 13 more shots were put up by the 'Cats. However, the defense was debatably even better as the Saints could only manage to get two shots off in the entirety of the second half. As the game was nearing a close, it was still 1-0 and the Saints looked like there was nothing they could do. Before the match could end, the Saints committed a foul in the goalie box resulting in a penalty kick for CWU. Jaylee Reynolds took advantage of her chance and tucked the ball in the bottom right corner to give CWU a 2-0 lead at the 84-minute-mark.
 
LOOKING AHEAD AT MSUB:
 
Montana State University Billings has had a strong start to conference play on the year sitting at 2-1-1. Their only loss in the GNAC so far is against Western Washington University in a 0-3 loss. The Wildcats tied with Western Washington 0-0 not allowing any goals opposed to the Yellow Jackets three allowed. The team has won two of their last three games as they are playing with confidence. They have yet to win this year on their home turf though as CWU looks to keep that trend alive. Last season the Wildcats beat the Yellow Jackets 3-0 in their first match of the year, but MSUB struck back the next chance they got with a 2-1 win in their next match against each other. The last 10 matches of this series have seen it go in favor of the Yellow Jackets with a record of 5-3-2 against the 'Cats.
 
LOOKING AHEAD AT SPU:

Seattle Pacific University is going into the week with a 5-3 record after letting two games slip past them after their 5-1 start. A 0-5 road loss to Simon Fraser University and 0-3 road loss to Western Washington University sets this team back a little from where they want to be, but the team is still plenty talented regardless. Even after those two shutout losses the Falcons remain ranked at #23 as they look to be a formidable opponent for the Wildcats. A win on Thursday for the 'Cats heading into this match up would be another big momentum builder as they look to upset a ranked opponent. It would be an unreal win for the Wildcats as they have not beat the Falcons in just under 10 years. The last time CWU won this match up was on November 3, 2016, at a neutral site played in Bellingham, Wash.
 
NEXT UP:
Following these two road match ups for the 'Cats, the team will be back home to host Simon Fraser for their Thursday night match and Northwest Nazarene for their Saturday match. Even just one win heading into these games would be a step in the right direction for the squad.