MONMOUTH, Ore. – Lilly Nowatzke found the perfect time to record her first collegiate hat trick to help lead the Western Oregon University women's soccer team to the 4-2 win over Central Washington in Great Northwest Athletic Conference on Saturday at the WOU Soccer Field. It was a season-high in goals for the Wolves, breaking the previous high of three that was set at Central Washington back on Oct. 7.

"It was great to see the team have some new accomplishments today. This is the most amount of goals we've scored all year in one game. It was also our first hat trick of the season. Lilly had a standout game and was a difference maker for us. Overall the team really battled at the end of the game to get the result we needed," head coach Kacey Bingham said.

It's the second hat trick this calendar year for the Wolves as Alyssa Tomasini tallied a trio of goals against Humboldt State back on Apr. 11 in a 4-1 victory.

WOU (5-7-2, 4-4-2 GNAC) was on the attack throughout the first half holding a 9-2 shot advantage. After Central Washington (3-11, 2-8 GNAC) fired a shot on goal that was saved just over a minute in by Darien Walton, the Wolves took over.

Jenna Efraimson had a couple of chances just miss and after Chloe Smith's shot went wide, a chance by Hannah Rispler was saved. A few minutes after Rispler's chance, Nowatzke started the road to her hat trick. Rispler sent the ball ahead to Piper Matson who found Nowatzke who was breaking in from the side. Nowatzke's shot hit off the goalie's hands and into the net for the goal in the 13^th minute.

Right after that goal, Jada Foster had a chance that was saved. The next rush for the Wolves would lead to the second goal of the afternoon.

Efraimson fired a shot into the goal mouth that was blocked and after a Central Washington defender hit the ball off the post, Nowatzke was there to tap it just into the corner of the net for a 2-0 lead in the 23^rd minute. Alyssa Talkington also added an assist for the Wolves sending the ball up into the attacking half of the field.

The Wildcats didn't go away quietly the remainder of the half as they hit the crossbar in the 27^th minute and had a corner kick chance. WOU had another couple of looks before the break with Efraimson's shot being blocked and a corner kick by Nowatzke just missing a possible goal in front.

Momentum switched to start the second half with Central Washington generating several chances. In the 52^nd minute, the Wildcats had a shot from in close that was blocked and then as the ball bounced around, it ended up going off of a Wolves' defender and into the net for an own goal to leave WOU with a 2-1 lead.

Walton came up big over the next several minutes recording saves in the 55^th and 58^th minute. Nowatzke and Efraimson then tallied a pair of strong shots on goal in the 59^th and 61^st minute that forced saves by Liz Canton.

In the 63^rd minute, the Wildcats pulled even off a corner kick. Off the kick, Sydney Lowe was able to pickup a rebound chance off a shot by Sophia Keenan to tie the game at two.

After that, Central Washington had a few more chances to try and take the lead, but the shots missed the net. As the clock ticked down, WOU was able to put the game away.

In the 81^st minute, WOU was able to keep the ball in and eventually score the go-ahead goal. Matson fired a shot that was saved and after her rebound shot hit the crossbar, Nowatzke was there to get the shot past the goalie for her hat trick goal and 3-2 lead in the 83^rd minute. Following her three goals on the day, Nowatzke now has a team-high four on the season.

After a few rushes by Central Washington were turned away including a save by Walton, WOU put the game out of reach. In the 88^th minute with the Wildcats pressuring, Nowatzke was able to send the ball ahead to Efraimson and as the goalie came out to challenge, she tucked home the shot for the 4-2 lead. It was Efraimson's second goal of the season.

WOU held a 16-12 edge in shots, including 9-6 on goal. Each team had three corner kicks and there were 15 fouls whistled in the game, nine called on the Wildcats.

Haley King, Liz Parker, Nowatzke, Foster, Matson and Walton played all 90 minutes. Efraimson led the way with seven shots, while Nowatzke added four and Matson with two. Walton started and played the entire way in goal for the Wolves, coming away with four saves.

Jaxyn Farmen, Keenan, Lowe and Makinzie Packwood all had two shots to lead the Wildcats. Canton started in goal and played all 90 minutes, coming away with five saves.

Today's game was also a GNAC Unity Game, The GNAC is committed to actively taking steps to provide meaningful & purposeful learning experiences to prepare student-athletes for citizenship in a diverse, inclusive, global interconnected world. One way the GNAC would like to show commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion is by having each GNAC institution host a "GNAC Unity Game" each year.

With the win, the GNAC Championships race gets even tighter as the top four teams advance to the postseason. Seattle Pacific won at Simon Fraser, Western Washington won at home over Montana State Billings and Northwest Nazarene won at Saint Martin's. What that means is that WOU is still in fifth, but just a point back of Simon Fraser for the fourth spot as WOU has 14 points and SFU at 15. Northwest Nazarene is third with 19 points, Western Washington is second with 24 points and Seattle Pacific leads with 25 points. Montana State Billings is in sixth with eight points and both Central Washington and Saint Martin's are tied in seventh with six points.

There are four games left in the regular season, as the Wolves will play three of those away from Monmouth. This coming week, WOU will travel to Montana State Billings on Thursday for a 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time start. The Wolves close the week on Saturday at nationally-ranked Seattle Pacific starting at 2 p.m.