Photos and captions by Max Aquino
A chilly 45 degree afternoon greeted the crowd at Harrington Field in Bellingham for the Elite 8 game between the Western Washington University Vikings and the Dallas Baptist University Patriots. No. 2 ranked Western Washington reached the tournament quarterfinals with wins over Seattle Pacific and Azusa Pacific, riding a 19 match unbeaten streak. No. 6 ranked Dallas Baptist defeated Colorado Mines and St. Edward’s to reach the Elite 8, riding a 15 match unbeaten streak of their own.
Western Washington was on the early attack, with Gabriela Pelogi floating out wide and regularly providing service into the box.
Savanna Moorehouse provided the first opportunity of the game, heading a ball just wide of the frame. Minutes later, Moorehouse again almost converted early, but her shot rang off the post and the game remained level.
A counterattack by Western began when Caitlyn Jobanek intercepted a pass against the run of play and provided the attack into the box.
GOAL! Caitlyn Jobanek finished what she started and opened the scoring on the day, collecting a rebound and firing a shot into the upper left corner of the net.
Western continued to apply pressure, not providing any relief for the Patriots. Delanee Nilles almost doubled the Vikings’ lead, flicking a free kick on frame.
The Vikings were unlucky not to score again during the half, largely winning the aerial battle on several subsequent corner kicks.
Brave goalkeeping by Jenna Ackerly kept the scoreline close, as the Patriots only registered one shot of their own in the entire opening half.
Ackerly was aided by off-the-line clearances by Lindsay McManus and Emilie Macdonald, keeping the Patriots within one entering halftime.
Dallas Baptist, determined to get back into the game, came out firing in the second half. A promising attack by Jolee Patterson was absorbed by defender Taylor Hallquist.
GOAL! Dallas Baptist’s aggressiveness paid off. The Patriots equalized off a short corner when Makenna Namken’s shot deflected off a Viking defender and found its way into the net to knot the score 1-1.
Dallas Baptist almost struck again off another short corner, but this time goalkeeper Ashley Haden was ready to save the header.
The goal seemed to wake up the Vikings, as Dallas Baptist’s momentum almost immediately ended. Jenna Ackerly came up big again, using her fingertips to deflect a shot into the crossbar.
Minutes later, Dallas Baptist goalkeeper Jenna Ackerly misplayed a cross, losing control of the ball well off her line and getting beaten to the loose ball by Catherine Miles.
GOAL! Catherine Miles slotted the loose ball home, again giving the WWU Vikings the lead.
This time, Dallas Baptist was unable to mount a strong comeback, as Western Washington continued to pile on the pressure, resulting in several more corner kicks. Emily Webster was on point, consistently curling the ball into the danger zone between the six yard box and the penalty spot.
GOAL! Webster’s accuracy on the corner kicks paid off, as a header by Catherine Miles beat an onrushing Ackerly and slipped by the defenders on the post, giving Western Washington a 3-1 lead.
At this point, the floodgates seemed to open, as the strong Dallas Baptist defense finally seemed to break.
Dallas Baptist tried to mount a desperate comeback with long balls, but Western Washington continued its aerial dominance, especially from center defender Sierra Shugarts.
Western Washington wasn’t content to bunker, however, and continued to press the counter-attack, preventing Dallas Baptist from pushing numbers up the field.
The writing was on the wall, however, when a last-gasp corner kick for the Patriots was punched away by Ashley Haden in the 85th minute.
Time expired, and the Western Washington Vikings advanced to the Final Four with a 3-1 victory. Despite a valiant effort, the Dallas Baptist Patriots saw an end to their season with 15 wins, 4 losses, and 3 draws.
The Western Washington University Vikings advance to the Division II Final Four in Pensacola, Florida. They will face the Grand Valley State Lakers in the semifinals on December 3 at 3 PM EST (Noon PST).
