The Western Washington women’s soccer team has found a way to slow the pace of the nation’s top scoring team.
That, along with the first two goals of the season from sophomore Sophie Bearden Croft, led the Vikings to a 2-1 victory over Columbus State in the NCAA Division II national semifinals on Thursday night at Seattle’s Interbay Soccer Stadium. I was.
The No. 3 seed in the Final Four, Western Washington (18-2-4), will face top seed West Chester, Pennsylvania, for the national title at 3:00 p.m. Saturday at Interbay.
Western Washington coach Travis Connell, who led the Vikings to a national title in 2016 and a title fight in 2019, said: to Columbus. They pushed us to our limits. “
No. 2 seed Columbus State entered as the nation’s highest-scoring women’s Division II team, averaging 3.87 points per game. But the Cougars (20-3-1) were facing West Washington, the nation’s third-best Bellingham team with .478 goals allowed. game.
In this match, one chalks one to defense over offense.
With no goals scored in the first half, both teams had few chances to score. It took West Washington goaltender Claire Henninger about 33 minutes before she had a shot on goal, but she easily saved. Columbus, Georgia had seven shots in the first half, but he scored just one.
The Vikings struggled to find scoring opportunities in the first half despite great encouragement from Washington’s pro-Western crowd. They scored two goals on just four shots in the first half.
“Honestly, they really dominated the first half and we survived,” Connell said. “We regrouped in the locker room and really challenged each other.
“It wasn’t so much about tactics, it was about winning battles. Some guys stepped up big.”
It took less than four minutes in the second half for Western Washington to finally have a great scoring opportunity, and the Vikings converted.
Dayana Diaz, appearing in her school-record 100th game, ran down center toward Columbus State’s goal before delivering a pass to Sophie Bearden Croft.
Croft, a Portland sophomore, hit a curling shot into the top left corner of the net from 12 yards out.
Then Croft scored again in the 76th minute from four yards out. Midfield Terra Ziemer ran down the field before making a pass to Morgan Manali. She delivered a perfect pass to Croft who made no mistakes.
“The two balls, Day and Morgan, were absolutely perfect,” Croft said. “I didn’t have to do much. They played me the perfect ball.”
Croft said it was hard to believe she scored her first goal of the season, but Connell said he expected Croft to score the winning goal, so West Washington assistant Jamie Arthurs wasn’t surprised. Told.
The game got even more tense when Columbus State scored to make it 2-1 in the 85th minute. But Western Washington, with 15 shots in the second half and three by Columbus State, held on.
“I’m very proud of how we turned around in the second half,” Ziemer said. “In the first half they brought it to us and it was a wake-up call.
“Everybody was looking at each other and it was like, ‘We’re either playing the right way or we’re going to lose.'” I’m so proud of everyone. “
Final Four number one seed West Chester beat fourth seed Ferris State 2-1 in the first semi-final on Thursday night. Westchester (23-1) broke his 1–1 tie on Maggie Lena’s 12-yard shot in the 65th minute to earn a ticket to the national title match.
Ferris State University (12-6-7) of Big Rapids, Michigan, put a lot of pressure on the tying goal and led 11-2 on goal shooting in the second half. West Chester goalkeeper Haley McGee made some great saves to help the Golden Rams hold on in the final minutes.
West Chester coach Betty Ann Kemp-Townsley describes how she felt after winning: “As the night will go on, tonight’s performance was exceptional.”
