There wasn’t much time left for the Western Washington women’s soccer team to celebrate Thursday night’s national semifinal victory over Columbus State, the nation’s top-scoring team.
That’s because another big challenge awaits the Vikings (18-2-4) in the NCAA Division II tournament title match at 3pm Saturday. 4, at Seattle’s Interbay Soccer Stadium.
Western Washington coach Travis Connell, who led the Vikings to national titles in 2016 and 2019, said: title game.
Western Washington, the third seed, is also doing well. The Vikings were certainly impressive against Columbus State, who were averaging 3.87 goals per game.
The Vikings held Columbus State scoreless through the final five minutes and dominated the second half, with the Cougars holding 2 of 11 shots in the second half.
“We ran into a really good team in West Washington,” Columbus State coach Jay Entrich said after Thursday’s game. It’s the best I’ve seen from start to finish.
“…The culture of their program that Travis has built has been amazing. …I think it will be a great final.”
Connell is in his 20th season as the West Washington Women’s coach and has reached five Final Fours with the program. He played for the Seattle Pacific in college, but when asked what it meant to win a national title on his alma mater’s home turf, he said it wasn’t about him.
“It’s really about the players, but having friends and family here is the best,” Connell said. “Whenever you share a big experience in life, it doubles in your heart. That’s what we do now. We share these experiences with all our friends and family. It’s incredibly special because you live one.
Of the 30 Vikings on the roster, 20 are from Washington and 14 are from the Seattle area. So it was no wonder Thursday’s stands were packed with Western Washington fans. Saturday will no doubt be the same.
Sophie Bearden Croft, who scored both goals for Western Washington on Thursday, said it was like playing on the home field of the team in Bellingham. Said it was very helpful.
“When you were tired and didn’t know how much you could contribute, just listening to people and knowing that the fans were in the crowd was like the biggest boost we could have. And it made a big difference.”
While some Vikings played in the 2019 title match as Western Washington lost to Grand Valley State in double overtime, Ziemer said, “It’s a new year and what happened in the past. It doesn’t matter what happened.”
“I have a lot to prove and all I have to do is play. That’s it.”
