Three transfers, all from four-year universities, are expected to make a big impact on the Western Washington University women’s soccer team this fall as the Vikings vie for a fourth straight NCAA Division II national playoff appearance.
The trio includes goalkeeper Ashley Homer from College of Saint Rose (NY), defender Malia Maack from New Mexico Highlands University and midfielder Savannah Moorehouse from Central Washington University.
“We are excited to add three players of this quality,” WWU coach Travis Connell said in a news release. “They are talented soccer players with great character that have experience playing in important college soccer games. We are very fortunate they chose to attend WWU and look forward to see the impact they make on our soccer program.”
Homer, a junior from Puyallup, started all 25 games at Saint Rose last fall, helping the Golden Knights to a 21-1-3 record, conference and regional titles and the semifinals of the NCAA II national tournament. She played a national-leading 2,354 minutes, allowing just 10 goals, making 61 saves and posting 16 shutouts. Her 0.38 goals against average ranked fifth nationally and she had a .859 save percentage.
Maack, a sophomore from Spokane and a graduate of Mead High School, played in 19 games, making 16 starts, as a freshman in 2014 at New Mexico Highlands. She had one goal and three assists.
Maack helped Mead place fourth at the Class 4A state tournament as a senior, earning second-team Greater Spokane League all-star honors.
Moorehouse, a senior from Bonney Lake, attended WWU last year, but did not compete, after transferring from Central Washington. There she was a second-team National Soccer Coaches Association of America and Daktronics West Region all-star and first-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference all-star for the second straight year as a junior in 2013.
Moorehouse led a Wildcats’ team that finished 11-6-1 overall, placed second in the GNAC at 10-3-1 and made school’s first post-season appearance since 1997, reaching the semifinals at the GNAC Tournament. She started all 18 games, scoring six goals, two of them game winners, and having four assists for 16 points.
WWU is working on a three-year string of national post-season trips with an overall record of 55-7-5. The Vikings reached the second round at nationals last season after going to the NCAA II semifinals in 2013 and the West Regional final in 2012.
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