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Oct. 27, 2009

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Western Washington University women's soccer team will be going for a sweep of defending NCAA Division II national champion Seattle Pacific on Wednesday (7 p.m.) in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest at Seattle's Interbay Stadium.

The Vikings, who upset the then No.1-ranked Falcons, 3-2 on Oct. 3 at Bellingham, are riding a season-best four-game winning streak, all of them shutouts. They lead the GNAC standings by one point at 7-1-1 and are 10-4-2 overall.

Seattle Pacific, ranked No.6 in this week's National Soccer Coaches Association of America/NCAA II Coaches Top 25 Poll, are second in the league at 7-1-0 and 14-2-0 overall. The Falcons, who have won all 10 of their home games this fall, lost 2-0 at Cal State Dominguez Hills last Saturday.

A victory at Seattle Pacific would give the Vikings an excellent chance of defending its GNAC title and earning an automatic berth in the West Regional playoffs. They were ranked eighth in the latest official regional poll and would probably need to be rated fifth to receive an at-large berth

Western, which is coming off a 3-0 win over Montana State Billings, completes its regular season by entertaining Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, Nov. 5 (4 p.m.) and traveling to MSUB on Saturday, Nov. 7 (1 p.m.).

The Vikings have three players tied for the team scoring lead with 13 points each. They are forward Emily Frankland (Jr., Sammamish/Skyline), midfielder Kelly Irving (Sr., Gig Harbor) and forward Molly Shannon (Jr., Bellingham).

Irving is tied for the league lead with seven assists and has three goals, all of them game winners. Her four-year career total of 25 assists is one short of the school record of 26 set by Cindy Gordon from 1981 to 1984.

Frankland has scored a team-high six goals, and Shannon has five goals and three assists.

Goalkeeper Kylie Broadbent (Sr., Spokane/Lewis & Clark) is tied for first among league leaders in shutouts with eight and is second in goals against average at 0.74, and third in save percentage at .791. She has 16 career shutouts.

Seattle Pacific has allowed just five goals this season, three to Western and two to Cal State Dominguez Hills. The Vikings' first goal snapped a Falcons' streak of 11 straight shutouts that was the fourth longest in NCAA II history.

Seattle Pacific's last home loss was 1-0 to Seattle University on Sept. 30, 2006. The Falcons have compiled a 39-0-2 record since then.

Notes: Western is 3-12-3 against Seattle Pacific, but 2-1-1 in the last four meetings ... The Vikings' win over Seattle Pacific snapped a 21-game winning streak and a 27-game unbeaten streak by the Falcons ... Western's loss at Saint Martin's ended a 21-game unbeaten streak in GNAC counters (18-0-3) ... Western won last year's GNAC title with a 10-0-2 record and reached the championship game of the Far West Regional, losing 1-0 in overtime to Seattle Pacific ... The Vikings, coached by Travis Connell (7th year, 81-46-10), were ranked No.12 in the NSCAA/NCAA II Preseason Poll.