Western Washington University women’s soccer was upset by Simon Fraser, 2-1, in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship match on Saturday, Nov. 11 at Tomlinson Stadium in Ellensburg.
The No. 2-seeded Vikings (12-5-4), making their 11th straight appearance in the title game, could not find an equalizer after redshirt sophomore Raegan Mackenzie put the No. 4-seeded Red Leafs (8-5-5) up one in the 80th minute.
Simon Fraser, coming off a previous 4-2 upset of top-seeded Seattle Pacific (No. 1 in West Region), won its first GNAC title since the tournament’s inception in 2012 and secured the only automatic bid out of the conference to the six-team West Regional tournament.
Junior Isabella Muzzolini put Simon Fraser in control early, and for most of the game, when she gave the Red Leafs a 1-0 lead just more than a minute into the match.
It wasn’t until the 57th minute that Western junior forward Myka Carr evened things up with her second goal of the season.
Mackenzie’s would-be game-winner came with just 10 minutes remaining in regulation, and it was enough to vault Simon Fraser into the next round.
Western still has a chance to reach its 11th straight regional tournament when final selections are announced at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 13.
The Vikings entered the title match as the No. 4-ranked team in the West Region, but Simon Fraser’s auto berth and Seattle Pacific’s top ranking before its loss will hurt the Vikings’ chances.
