WOU WOMEN'S SOCCER (4-3-8, 4-1-5 GNAC, 17 points - 4th in GNAC)

GNAC STANDINGS | GNAC STATS | WOU STATS | WOU STAT RANKINGS
 
SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
vs. Western Washington (9-2-4, 8-0-2, 26 points - 1st), 2:30 p.m.
Monmouth, Ore.
SATURDAY
vs. Simon Fraser (10-3-1, 6-3-1, 19 points - T-2nd), 10 a.m.
Monmouth, Ore.
Live Stream & Stat Links
 
THE WOLVES HEADING INTO THE WEEK
The Wolves played a pair of scoreless draws on the road at Seattle Pacific on Thursday and at Montana State Billings on Saturday to push their shutout streak to six games and to 617 minutes, 33 seconds. In the draw against SPU, WOU keeper Sophia Pierce had a career-high 12 saves to help her earn GNAC Defensive Player of the Week.

The Wolves are 36th in D-II in goals against average (0.667) and 16th in save percentage (0.872). WOU looks to break a recent scoring slump (has played scoreless draws in four of last five matches) and improve their scoring average of 0.87 - which is 200th out of 251 teams.

THE OPPONENTS HEADING INTO THE WEEK
Western Washington enters Thursday on a 10-match unbeaten streak (8-0-2), a six-match win streak and a three-match shutout streak after defeating Northwest Nazarene 2-0 on Thursday and Central Washington 4-0 on Saturday - both game at home. WWU's last non-win? A 1-1 draw at home against Western Oregon - which is also the last game the Wolves have allowed a goal in.

Simon Fraser is coming off a high-powered week at home, defeating Central Washington 3-1 Thursday before blasting Northwest Nazarene 6-1 on Saturday.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Western Washington
ALL-TIME: 7-37-3
STREAK: Tie 1
LAST WOU WIN: Sept. 30, 2023 in Monmouth, Oregon
LAST WOU LOSS: Nov. 9, 2023 in Ellensburg, Washington (GNAC Semifinals Match)
LAST TIE: Oct. 5, 2024 - 1-1 in Bellingham, Washington

Simon Fraser
ALL-TIME: 10-14-3
STREAK: Loss 1
LAST WOU WIN: Oct. 28, 2023 in Burnaby, British Columbia
LAST WOU LOSS: Oct. 3, 2024 - 2-1 in Burnaby, British Columbia
LAST TIE: Oct. 29, 2022 in Monmouth, Oregon

NOTES
DRAW ... 8
WOU with its eight draws this season in its first 15 matches already has set a new program record - the previous high was six, done twice (2013, 2023).

Pierce named GNAC Women's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 28)
Western Oregon goalkeeper Sophia Pierce was named the GNAC Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 28 in a week where she played a big part in keeping the Wolves' school-record scoreless streak going. Pierce collected 16 saves during the week while posting shutouts against Seattle Pacific on Thursday and Montana State Billings on Saturday - both scoreless draws for the Wolves. Against SPU, Pierce came up big with a career-high 12 saves while facing 23 shots. Against MSUB, the junior had four saves and faced seven shots. 

Pierce has a WOU-record scoreless streak of 572 minutes, 33 seconds - 16th in GNAC history. As a team, the Wolves have a streak of 617 minutes, 33 seconds without allowing a goal and six consecutive shutouts - both a school records. Because Pierce split time in the win over Saint Martin's (played 45 minutes), she wasn't credited with a shutout in that contest so her shutout streak is at two.

Pierce's 14 career shutouts in less than two seasons has her third on the WOU all-time list, behind only Cyrstal Wells (17, 1997-2000) and Amanda Rose Johnson (15, 2013-14). Her career goals against average of 0.70 and 0.840 save percentage is second on WOU's all-time list - behind only Johnson in both categories (0.59 GAA, 0.875 save percentage).

This season, Pierce is third in the GNAC in GAA (0.714), second in save percentage (0.861 - 28th in D-II) and first in minutes played (1,260 - 25th in D-II) and shutouts (seven - 21st in D-II).

Garcia named GNAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week (Sept. 30)
WOU sophomore forward Ciara Garcia was named GNAC Women's Soccer Offensive Player of the Week after scoring 2 goals and recording an assist during the previous week. Garcia had a two-goal performance in the Wolves 4-2 win at Northwest Nazarene while also picking up an assist on the only goal scored during WOU's GNAC opener against Saint Martin's.

First 2-0 start to GNAC play in school history
With WOU's 2-0 start to conference play, the Wolves start conference play without a loss or tie for the first time since entering the GNAC in 2001. The last time WOU started conference play 2-0 was in 2000, starting 4-0 during its inaugural season in the NCAA as part of the PacWeat - the only year it would play as part of the conference. The last time the Wolves started conference play undefeated was in 2014 when they won, then tied.

Ranked Opponents Unbeaten Streak Continues
The Wolves continue to shine against top competition as they are 2-0-3 against ranked opponents in their previous five games after picking up a draw against No. 6 UCCS on Sept. 5. 

• 1-1 tie vs. #6 UCCS, 9/5/24
• 1-1 tie vs. #22 Seattle Pacific, 10/19/23
• 2-1 win at #5 Western Washington, 10/27/22
• 1-0 win at #20 Sonoma State, 8/25/22
• 1-1 tie vs. #14 Western Washington, 11/4/21

First season-opening draw in program history
The Wolves' 1-1 draw against No. 6 UCCS on Sept. 5 marked the first time the program has opened the season with a draw since the program began in 1996.

Wolves picked fourth in GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll
The Western Oregon women's soccer team was picked fourth in the GNAC Women's Soccer Preseason Coaches Poll.

WOU picked up 37 points in the poll, finishing behind Western Washington (59), Seattle Pacific (55) and Simon Fraser (52) and ahead of Northwest Nazarene (30), Central Washington (22), Montana State Billings (19) and Saint Martin's (15). The Wolves are coming off a third-place finish in the conference in 2023 - going 5-4-5 in GNAC play and 8-5-6 overall, tied for the second-most wins for the program and the fewest losses since the 2013 team went 9-4-6. WOU last season qualified for the GNAC Championships, falling the semifinals to Western Washington.