Midfielder Brina Sych had a goal and an assist and forward Kristin Maris scored twice within a span of 51 seconds as Western Washington University defeated Saint Martin's University 3-1 in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer game Saturday, Sept. 15, at SMU Field.
The Vikings improved to 5-1-0 overall and 2-0-0 in conference play with their fifth straight victory. The only loss was 1-0 at nationally No. 4-ranked Chico State in their season opener.
"I'm really proud of how we responded to the challenge when Saint Martin's tied it up," said WWU coach Travis Connell. "We handled it really well and just kept clicking. We were confident that the goal would come and it did. I'm very encouraged by their reaction to that situation."
Maris broke the tie on a header in the 83rd minute after Sych had headed a shot off the post. Just 50 seconds later, Maris received a pass from Catherine Miles and put a 12-yard shot into the upper left corner of the net.
Following a scoreless first half, Sych got WWU on the board in the 60th minute with her first goal of the campaign, heading in a rebound of a shot by Kim Cooper.
WWU travels to defending GNAC champion Seattle Pacific at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19.
