The Vikings’ smothering defense and timely scoring were on display yet again | Bellingham Herald

Defending national champion Western Washington University is headed to the NCAA II West Regional Final for the fifth time in the last six seasons after a 2-0 win over Sonoma State Saturday at Harrington Field.

The Vikings received goals from freshman midfielder Grace Eversaul and junior forward Karli White. They will now will play either No. 1-seed UC San Diego or No. 5-seed Concordia (OR) next week at a to be determined site.

“Sonoma is a great opponent and they pushed us today and forced us to be really, really good in pretty much every aspect of the game, and we were able to rise to the occasion,” WWU coach Travis Connell said. “We got off to a good start, played add-on with a goal in the second half and defended really well to finish the match.”

The Vikings limited the Seawolves to four shots in the game, with WWU senior goalkeeper Ashley Homer making three saves while recording her 11^th clean sheet of the season. Western has not allowed a goal in three postseason games and totaled 14 shutouts in 19 games this season (0.31 goals against average).