BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Montana State University Billings women's soccer team would be bested by Western Washington University on Thursday night, falling 3-0 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
It would be all Vikings (4-1-3, 2-0-1 GNAC) from the jump, with the Yellowjackets (1-2-4, 1-1-1 GNAC) being outshot 19-1 in total shots during the match. The MSUB backline would limit the amount of quality looks, allowing just five shots on goal, but a Viking goal in the first half would set the hosts up to lead the majority of the match, before a pair of late goals would boost the final scoreline for Western Washington on their way to the win.
Tenley Leffler would make a pair of saves in the match, while
Ava Curtright would put MSUB's lone shot in the match on goal.
After a slow opening five minutes, the Vikings would take control of the momentum early in the match, never letting up in the first half as they outshot MSUB 8-0 overall. The Vikings would be denied in the early stages, with room hard to come by while the 'Jackets defense battled. Western Washington would nearly get things started with a shot off the left post in the 13
th minute, but they would only have to wait until the 26
th minute to find their opening, with a long throw into the box creating a scrum, with the ball finding it's way to Madeline Mays to poke home, putting the Vikings ahead 1-0. The 'Jackets would limit Western Washington to just one shot for the rest of the first half from there, but would be unable to find a way through the Viking defense as the scoreline would hold until halftime.
The 1-0 lead would hold for the majority of the second half too, with Western Washington continuing to control the flow of the game as the clock ticked onward. The 'Jackets would find their only chance of the game on a free kick from Curtright, which would challenge Vikings goalie Ellie McGowan, but she would pull off the save to keep the 'Jackets off the scoreboard. Then with just minutes remaining in the match, Mays would strike twice more, scoring an impressive solo effort 85:47 into the match to double her side's lead before completing her hat-trick just 25 seconds later, tacking on a pair of late goals to seal the win for Western Washington.
THE BUZZ: Completing the full 90 minutes for MSUB would be Curtright, Leffler,
Kelsie Cox,
Ava Gibbs, and
Kennedy Craig, with Craig doing so for the first time in her career.
UP NEXT: The Yellowjackets will look to conclude their run of five consecutive road matches on a high note on Saturday, September 26, when the 'Jackets square off against Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. Kickoff is set for 1 PM (12 PM PT) at Terry Fox Field, with live video available on the
GNAC Network, and live statistics
available here.
