Box Score
HTML Box Score
SEATTLE (Nov. 2) -- Junior
DANIELLE BRANDLI (Bellevue/Interlake HS) scored her ninth goal of the season at the seventh minute, and the Central Washington University women's soccer team made that tally stand up as the Wildcats defeated Seattle Pacific University, 1-0, in the regular-season finale on Saturday afternoon at Interbay Stadium.
The Wildcats, 11-5-1 overall and 10-3-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play, completed a sweep of their regular-season series with the Falcons for the first time in school history. CWU also defeated Seattle Pacific by a 1-0 count on Oct. 10 in Ellensburg. The Wildcats and SPU (13-5-0, 10-4-0 GNAC) will face each other again in the semifinals of the GNAC Tournament next Thursday (Nov. 7) at 4 p.m., with CWU earning the number two seed for the four-team tournament.
"Today was a great way for us to finish the regular season," CWU head coach
Michael Farrand said. "Danielle scored a fantastic goal for us, and
KAYLA LIPSTON handled numerous saves for us in the goal that kept us in the lead. And overall, our defense was really solid in getting us another shutout today."
Brandli fired a shot from 21 yards away, beating Seattle Pacific goalkeeper Natalie Harold on a shot that grazed the bottom of the crossbar for a 1-0 lead.
Seattle Pacific had several chances to tie the game, threatening the Wildcats with eight total corner kicks in the match including five in the first half. However, of the Falcons' 14 shot attempts for the match, only three were on goal against CWU junior
KAYLA LIPSTON (Federal Way/Decatur HS) including a header with 20 seconds left in the contest.
CWU was credited with just four shot attempts in the match, coming from four different players. The Wildcats' only other on-goal try came from sophomore
CASSIE RIPLEY (Vancouver/Skyview HS) at the 31st minute.
The shutout was the sixth of the season for the Wildcats, who have allowed just 15 goals -- the fewest in school history -- this season.
"We're excited that we're moving to the GNAC Tournament this Thursday and get to face a quality program like SPU," Farrand explained. "This has been a season of a lot of firsts for us -- finishing second in the conference, qualifying for the postseason tournament, and we look forward to seeing where the postseason takes us."
The Wildcats' qualification for the second annual conference tournament will mean just the second-ever postseason berth for the program in its 27-year history. The last playoff contest for CWU in women's soccer was in the 1997 Pacific Northwest Athletic Conference Tournament, when the Wildcats lost to Simon Fraser University.