BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Oregon women's soccer team fell to No. 17 Western Washington, 2-0, in the 2016 Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener on Saturday afternoon at Harrington Field.
 
The Wolves dropped to 3-5-0 on the year and 0-1 in the GNAC. Western Washington improved to 5-0-1 and 1-0 in the league.
 
WWU struck in the 32^nd minute to take a 1-0 lead. The Vikings got the opening goal when Elise Allward took a rebounded shot saved by Caitlin Kastelic and tapped it past the keeper to the left side for the lead.
 
The Vikings then made it 2-0 in the 85^th minute when Payton Chick received a give-and-go pass from Liv Larson and blasted a six-yard shot to the far post for a goal.
 
The Wolves' best chance on goal came in the 61^st minute, when Meli Cortez took a shot after Taylor Higa initiated a corner kick. Cortez's effort was saved by WWU goalkeeper Ashley Homer. Dacia Alexander had an 88^th minute shot blocked away and Allison Sprecher's last effort header went wide in the final minute.
 
Overall, Western Washington outshot the Wolves, 28-8, with WOU taking four shots in each half. Cortez was the only WOU player to take more than one shot during the match with two. Kastelic made eight saves in 90 minutes.
 
Western Oregon will see a split week upcoming as they play Montana State Billings on the road on Thursday, Sept. 22 (2 p.m. Mountain) before returning home for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday, Sept. 24 against Northwest Nazarene. The home match against NNU will be WOU Soccer Youth Day and feature a post-match autograph session. It will also be televised on KWVT in Salem.