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

GNAC STANDINGS | GNAC STATS | WOU STATS | WOU STAT RANKINGS
 
SCHEDULE
THURSDAY
vs. Central Washington (1-9-5, 0-8-4), 1 p.m.
Monmouth, Ore.
SATURDAY
vs. Norhtwest Nazarene (3-13, 3-9), 6 p.m. (Senior Day - 5:40 p.m.)
Monmouth, Ore.
Live Stream & Stat Links
 
THE WOLVES HEADING INTO THE WEEK
The Wolves come into the week coming off losses to Western Washington (2-0 on Thursday) and Simon Fraser (1-0 on Saturday).

WOU holds a four-point lead on Montana State Billings (17-13) for the fourth-and-final spot into the GNAC Championships with the Wolves hosting last-place Central Washington and MSUB hosting Simon Fraser - who has already clinched a spot and locked into the No. 2 versus No. 3 matchup with Seattle Pacific (Western Washington has already won the regular-season title and will play either WOU or MSUB).

The Wolves can clinch Thursday with any of these results:

• A win (MSUB result doesn't matter)
• An MSUB loss (WOU result doesn't matter)
• A tie and a MSUB tie/loss

A WOU tie/loss and a MSUB win, or a WOU loss and MSUB tie and the Wolves will have to try and clinch Saturday against Northwest Nazarene (MSUB hosts WWU).

2024 GNAC Women's Soccer Standings - Top 5

SCHOOL	POINTS	Conf	CONF %	Overall	OVR %	Home	Away	Neutral	Streak	L10
Western Washington*+	32	10-0-2	.917	11-2-4	.765	6-1-3	5-1-1	0-0	W8	9-0-1
Seattle Pacific*	25	7-1-4	.750	9-2-5	.719	4-2-2	4-0-3	1-0	W2	6-1-3
Simon Fraser*	23	7-3-2	.667	11-3-2	.750	7-1	4-2-2	0-0	W1	6-2-2
Western Oregon	17	4-3-5	.542	4-5-8	.471	2-2-3	2-3-5	0-0	L2	2-3-5
Montana State Billings	13	3-5-4	.417	6-6-4	.500	4-1-2	2-5-2	0-0	T1	3-3-4

Two matches left in the regular season
*-GNAC Championships qualifier | + - GNAC regular-season champion
The GNAC Championships tournament champion earns the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA West Region Championships.

Earlier this season, the Wolves played Central Washington to a scoreless draw in Ellensburg - one of five scoreless draws the Wolves have played this season (a school record). As for Northwest Nazarene, the Wolves beat the Nighthawks 4-2 on Sept. 28 in Nampa, Idaho - a season-high for goals (and tying a season-high for goals allowed). It was the Wolves' first win over NNU since Sept. 22, 2018 - a span of 10 matches (0-5-5).

THE OPPONENTS HEADING INTO THE WEEK
Central Washington enters the week having not won a match since its opener Sept. 5, 1-0 at Cal State Monterey Bay (0-9-5) and are coming off a 2-1 loss on Thursday at home to Seattle Pacific and a 1-1 draw with Montana State Billings (helping WOU's GNAC postseason chances). 

NNU enters this week having lost four straight - all by multiple goals - including losing to MSUB and Seattle Pacific by the same 3-1 score last week.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Central Washington
ALL-TIME: 22-15-11
STREAK: Tie 2
LAST WOU WIN: Oct. 12, 2023 - 2-1 in Monmouth
LAST WOU LOSS: Oct. 25, 2018 - 1-0 in Monmouth (8-match unbeaten streak against CWU, 5-0-3)
LAST DRAW: Oct. 17, 2024 - 0-0 in Ellensburg, WA

Northwest Nazarene
ALL-TIME: 22-15-9
STREAK: Won 1
LAST WOU WIN: Sept. 28, 2024 in Nampa, Idaho
LAST WOU LOSS: Sept. 23, 2023 in Monmouth, Oregon

NOTES
DRAW ... 8
WOU with its eight draws this season in its first 17 matches already has set a new program record - the previous high was six, done twice (2013, 2023).

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.

A record scoreless streak ...
The Wolves put together a school-record scoreless streak of 628 minutes, 49 seconds, this season between Oct. 5-31 with a WOU-record six consecutive shutouts wedged between.

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 eventually set a WOU-record scoreless streak of 583 minutes, 49 seconds. 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 0.75 and 0.833 save percentage are both second on WOU's all-time list - behind only Johnson in both categories (0.59 GAA, 0.875 save percentage).

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.