Goalkeeper Jamie Arthurs broke school and conference records for career shutouts as Western Washington University blanked Central Washington University, 1-0, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference women's soccer contest Sunday afternoon, Oct. 8, at Yakima Valley CC.
Midfielder Ashton Griffen scored the game's only goal in the 51st minute for the Vikings, who improved to 10-2-0 overall and stayed all alone atop the GNAC standings at 7-1-0.
It was the fifth consecutive win for WWU, all of them shutouts. The Vikings have outscored their opponents 16-0 during that stretch and 30-4 this season.
Central fell to 3-7-2 overall and 2-5-1 in GNAC action.
"It was a real gutty win," WWU coach Travis Connell said. "Central was very energetic and made it difficult for us to grind out an important win."
Arthurs made four saves in bringing her shutout total to 32 for her four-year career. That broke the WWU and GNAC records set by Teresa Fish (2003-05, 2007).
"The girls just swarmed her after the game," Connell said. "It was a special moment."
Arthurs has nine shutouts this season, two short of her WWU record of 11 set in each of the last two seasons. The whitewash was Arthurs' fifth straight and extended her scoreless string to 450:15 minutes.
Griffen's goal came on a blast from 18 yards on a free kick after Brina Sych was fouled at the top of the box.
It was Griffen's second goal of the season, both game winners. She has scored four goals during her collegiate career, all of them game winners. The other two came as a freshman at Southern Oregon.
WWU had a 19-10 shot advantage over the Wildcats.


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