By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications
PORTLAND, Ore. – The top three teams in the Great Northwest Athletic conference women’s soccer standings will go head-to-head this weekend, with a slate of matches that could significantly rearrange the league table.
Simon Fraser (8-1-1, 13 points), which enters the week one point back of Western Washington (5-2-4, 14 points) in second place, will play at Seattle Pacific (5-1-4, 12 points) on Thursday night (5 p.m. PT) before squaring off against the Vikings on Saturday night (7 p.m. PT). All three of the conference’s top teams received votes in the latest United Soccer Coaches national rankings, marking the first time in 2024 that three GNAC teams earned recognition.
WWU is the only team to have beaten SFU this season, earning a 1-0 result on Sept. 26 on the road. The Vikings have climbed to the top of the table going unbeaten in their last six matches. Thursday will mark the first meeting of the season between SFU and reigning GNAC champion SPU, with the Falcons having gone unbeaten in their last seven matches.
| This Week’s GNAC Women’s Soccer Schedule |
| Date |
Away |
Home |
Time |
| Thursday, Oct. 17 |
Northwest Nazarene |
Saint Martin's |
1 p.m. PT |
| Thursday, Oct. 17 |
RV Simon Fraser |
RV Seattle Pacific |
5 p.m. PT |
| Thursday, Oct. 17 |
Western Oregon |
Central Washington |
7 p.m. PT |
| Thursday, Oct. 17 |
Montana State Billings |
RV Western Washington |
7 p.m. PT |
| Saturday, Oct. 19 |
Montana State Billings |
RV Seattle Pacific |
12 p.m. PT |
| Saturday, Oct. 19 |
Northwest Nazarene |
Central Washington |
2 p.m. PT |
| Saturday, Oct. 19 |
Western Oregon |
Saint Martin's |
2 p.m. PT |
| Saturday, Oct. 19 |
RV Simon Fraser |
RV Western Washington |
7 p.m. PT |
Thursday marks the halfway point of the conference season, as the race towards the conference tournament heats up. The 2024 GNAC Women's Soccer Championships will be held Nov. 14-16 at Interbay Stadium on the campus of
Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Wash. The top four teams in the final GNAC regular-season standings will advance to the single-elimination tournament.
VIKINGS BEGIN HOME STAND IN 1ST: WWU kicks off a four-match home stand on Thursday evening, hosting Montana State Billings (4-4-2, 5 points) at 7 p.m. (PT). The Vikings are finding their stride, coming off a decisive 7-1 triumph at Central Washington and a 2-0 shutout at Northwest Nazarene in last week’s matches. Newcomer
Lydia Myers became the third player in GNAC history to score four goals in a match in the lopsided win over CWU, and upped her season count to a GNAC-leading six goals.
Kyrsten McGuffey also had a huge week of production, finding the net twice and supplying a pair of assists. McGuffey is now tied for the GNAC lead with four assists this fall. Junior
Morgan Manalili has chipped in three assists and a goal this fall, and is the conference’s active career leader with 17 goals.
Read More: Vikings surge into 1st place w/2-0 shutout at NNU (WWU Recap)
Kyrsten McGuffey had two goals and three assists last week to lead the Vikings to the top of the GNAC standings (Photo: Ubayy Elnogoumi).
RED LEAFS FACE BIGGEST WEEK YET: Facing its biggest test of the 2024 season thus far, Simon Fraser goes on the road against a pair of the conference’s powerhouses. SFU extended its shutout streak to three matches last week, beating Northwest Nazarene 1-0 and settling for a 0-0 draw at Central Washington. The Red Leafs rank fifth in Division II with a goals-against average of .300, having allowed just three goals in 10 matches this fall. Goalkeeper
Sarah Loewen leads the GNAC and ranks seventh nationally with a goals-against average of .345 with seniors
Katie Richardson and
Emily Smith and junior
Elyse Beaudry being the key defensive figures on the back line.
Kiera Scott supplied the game-winner against Northwest Nazarene last week, becoming the sixth different Red Leaf to score multiple goals this fall. Senior
Isabella Muzzolini leads the team and is tied for third in the GNAC with four goals.
Kiera Scott scored the lone goal in Simon Fraser's 1-0 triumph over Northwest Nazarene last week.
GNAC UNBEATEN STREAK REACHES 23 FOR SPU: Seattle Pacific tied both Saint Martin’s and Western Oregon 0-0 last week, settling for a pair of points on the road and extending its unbeaten streak in league play to 23 matches dating back to Oct. 24, 2022. Thursday’s pivotal match against Simon Fraser signals the start of four consecutive home matches for SPU across the next two weeks.
Taylor Krueger is tied for the GNAC lead in assists with four while ranking third in the conference in goals with four.
Kayla Wallace is second in the GNAC with five goals scored, two of which have been game-winners.
Mercedes Cullen earned the shutout in both matches last week, and ranks fourth in the conference with 4.38 saves per game.
Read More: Falcons and Wolves settle for tie (SPU Recap)
Andie Buckley and the Falcons enter the week in third place in the GNAC standings with 12 points (Photo: Rio Giancarlo).
SAINTS GAIN TRACTION WITH HARD-FOUGHT DRAWS: Saint Martin’s (1-8-2, 5 points) pulled itself into a tie for fifth place in the GNAC standings with a pair of hard-fought draws last week.
Flavia Burrell earned GNAC Defensive Player of the Week accolades after totaling 21 saves in the team’s 0-0 draws against Seattle Pacific and Montana State Billings. Burrell faced a barrage of 39 shots across the two matches, managing to keep both teams out of the net with her two highest save totals of the year. Prior to last week there had only been 17 occurrences in the 24-year history of the GNAC of a goalkeeper earning a shutout while making 10 or more saves. Picking up two in back-to-back games, Burrell became the fourth goalkeeper in GNAC history to have multiple such performances.
Read More: Impressive defensive performance leads to draw (SMU Recap)
Mallory Morris takes a corner kick for the Saints (Photo: Ron Smith).
GALBRAITH HELPS ‘CATS EARN POINT: Putting together a similarly impressive performance in goal last week was CWU’s
Danika Galbraith, who made 16 saves while facing 32 shots to help her team draw Simon Fraser 0-0. Galbraith’s 16 saves were the most by a GNAC goalie this season, and the most-ever by a GNAC goalie while recording a shutout. The previous high of 15 saves in a shutout was achieved by CWU’s Jillyan Boyer on Oct. 19, 2003 and matched by NNU’s Amanda Merrell on Oct. 9, 2004. Galbraith leads the GNAC and ranks sixth nationally with 8.83 saves per game. Central Washington (1-5-3, 2 points) is set to host Western Oregon on Thursday night (7 p.m. PT) and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m. PT).
| Most Saves in a Shutout, GNAC Women’s Soccer History (as of Oct. 16) |
| Rank |
Player |
School |
Saves |
Date |
Opponent |
| 1 |
Danika Galbraith |
Central Washington |
16 |
10/12/2024 |
Simon Fraser |
| 2 |
Jillyan Boyer |
Central Washington |
15 |
10/19/2003 |
Western Washington |
|
Amanda Merrell |
Northwest Nazarene |
15 |
10/9/2004 |
Central Washington |
| 4 |
Olivia Holdenried |
Western Oregon |
13 |
10/4/2014 |
Sonoma State |
| 5 |
Amanda Rose Johnson |
Western Oregon |
13 |
10/4/2014 |
Central Washington |
|
Molly Stinson |
Seattle Pacific |
13 |
10/29/2016 |
Concordia (Ore.) |
Read More: Wildcats host Wolves and Nighthawks (CWU Preview)
Danika Galbraith's 16 saves last week against Simon Fraser were the most-ever by a GNAC goalkeeper in a shutout.
WOLVES BOLSTER PLAYOFF HOPES WITH KEY RESULTS: Picking up four key points at home last week, Western Oregon (3-3-5, 11 points) kept itself among the top tier of teams in the GNAC standings. WOU earned a 1-0 triumph over Montana State Billings before battling the Falcons to a scoreless draw. Junior
Sophia Pierce had the two shutouts in goal, matching her second highest save total of the year with six against the Falcons. The Missoula, Mont., native lowered her goals-against average to .952, ranking her fourth in the GNAC.
Olivia Fothergill scored her second game-winning goal of the year and her third overall goal of the season, finding the net early in the second half to secure three points against the Yellowjackets. Newcomer
Ciara Garcia leads the team and is tied for third in the GNAC with four goals this season.
Read More: WOU looks to stay near top of GNAC standings (WOU Preview)
Sophia Pierce recorded a pair of shutouts last week to help the WOU women collect four points (Photo: Clayton Jones).
YELLOWJACKETS FACE MIGHTY TEST: Continuing a four-match road stretch this week, Montana State Billings plays at Western Washington on Thursday night before a Saturday afternoon affair at Seattle Pacific. The Yellowjackets fired 21 shots including 11 on target but came up empty in a 0-0 draw at Saint Martin’s last time out.
Kendall McGraw and
Liberty Palmer lead the team with three goals apiece, with Palmer ranking second in the GNAC with 3.30 shots per game and
Jackie Sharpe ranking third with 3.20 shots per game. Palmer also ranks fourth among active GNAC players with 11 career goals. Freshman goalkeeper
Claire Brogdon is tied for the GNAC lead with five shutouts, while ranking third in the conference with 4.40 saves per game.
| GNAC Women’s Soccer Active Career Goals Leaders (as of Oct. 16) |
| Rank |
Player |
Goals |
School |
Career |
| 1 |
Morgan Manalili |
17 |
Western Washington |
2022-24 |
| 2 |
Emily Darcy |
13 |
Central Washington |
2020-24 |
| 3 |
Kate Cartier |
12 |
Simon Fraser |
2021-24 |
| 4 |
Liberty Palmer |
11 |
Montana State Billings |
2021-24 |
| 5 |
Kayla Wallace |
10 |
Seattle Pacific |
2022-24 |
(L to R): MSUB's Liberty Palmer (11 goals), SFU's Kate Cartier (12 goals), WWU's Morgan Manalili (17 goals), SPU's Kayla Wallace (10 goals) and CWU's Emily Darcy (13 goals).
NIGHTHAWKS HEAD WEST: Northwest Nazarene (1-9, 3 points) heads to the West Coast this week to face Saint Martin’s on Thursday (1 p.m. PT) and Central Washington on Saturday (2 p.m. PT). The Nighthawks’ losing skid reached five matches last week, after falling 1-0 to Simon Fraser and 2-0 to Western Washington on their home turf.
Abbey Blancett leads the team with a pair of goals this fall while
Alejandra Jaramillo has a goal and an assist and has started all 10 matches.
Read More: Nighthawks clipped by Vikings 2-0 (NNU Recap)
Abbey Blancett has scored twice for NNU this fall.
Jordan Bartlow – Central Washington University
It’s a comeback season of sorts for Bartlow, who missed the 2023 campaign with an injury and has returned to start eight of nine matches this fall. The junior from Arlington, Wash., put her name on the map as a freshman in 2022, scoring four goals, adding an assist and starting 17 of 18 matches in her collegiate debut season. She got her 2024 season started on the right foot with a goal in CWU’s season-opening 1-0 win at Cal State Monterey Bay, marking her first-collegiate game-winner. She also converted a key penalty kick on Oct. 3 to help the ‘Cats pull even in a 1-1 draw at Montana State Billings. Look for Bartlow to continue having an impact in the attacking third for the Wildcats in the second half of the conference season.
After missing 2023 with an injury, CWU's Jordan Bartlow has contributed a pair of goals this fall.
The United Soccer Coaches weekly rankings are released every Tuesday throughout the 2024 season.
| Poll |
Team 1 |
Team 2 |
Team 3 |
| Preseason |
14. SPU |
|
|
| Week 1 (9/10) |
8. SPU |
20. WWU |
|
| Week 2 (9/17) |
RV SPU |
RV WWU |
|
| Week 3 (9/24) |
RV SFU |
|
|
| Week 4 (10/1) |
RV SPU |
|
|
| Week 5 (10/8) |
RV SPU |
RV SFU |
|
| Week 6 (10/15) |
RV WWU |
RV SPU |
RV SFU |
| Date |
Offensive Player of the Week |
Defensive Player of the Week |
| 9/9 |
Kayla Wallace, Seattle Pacific |
Kate Smith, Simon Fraser |
| 9/16 |
Jensa Napier-Ganley, Simon Fraser |
Leighton Menge, Central Washington |
| 9/30 |
Ciara Garcia, Western Oregon |
Asia Hardin, Western Washington |
| 10/7 |
Taylor Krueger, Seattle Pacific |
Claire Brogdon, Montana State Billings |
| 10/14 |
Lydia Myers, Western Washington |
Flavia Burrell, Saint Martin's |
Oct. 14 GNAC Women’s Soccer Players of the Week
WOMEN’S SOCCER OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Lydia Myers – Western Washington University
First-career player of the week.
Myers set the tone in WWU’s 7-1 win over the Wildcats, scoring in the 15th minute to kick off a spree of three Viking goals in the span of five minutes early on. She found the net again in the 20th minute and completed her hat trick just four minutes into the second half to make the score 5-0. Myers capped her historic performance with her fourth and final goal in the 62nd minute. Myers’ seven shots in the match were tied for the third-most by a GNAC player this season, and she landed six of them on target. The junior transfer from Kansas State now leads the conference with six goals on the season. It was the second hat trick of 2024 by a GNAC player, after Seattle Pacific’s
Kayla Wallace scored three goals in her team’s win over Cal Poly Humboldt on Sept. 7.
WWU Head Coach Travis Connell: “Lydia is an important part of our team. Her work ethic enables her to be involved in so many plays. She did a tremendous job last week reading the play and getting into the box at the right time to score goals.”
Also Nominated: Carmen Anderson, Central Washington; Liberty Palmer, Montana State Billings; Kiera Scott, Simon Fraser.
WOMEN’S SOCCER DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Flavia Burrell – Saint Martin’s University
First-career player of the week.
Burrell was instrumental in helping the Saints secure a pair of points last week, recording two shutouts. Burrell started her big week by making 10 saves in SMU’s 0-0 draw against reigning GNAC champion Seattle Pacific last Thursday. She followed with a career-high 11 saves in her team’s 0-0 draw against Montana State Billings last Saturday, while facing a season-high 21 shots from the Yellowjackets. Burrell increased her GNAC-leading save count to 59 on the season, and she ranks second in the conference with 6.56 saves per game. A senior from Tucson, Ariz., Burrell now has six-career shutouts in her two seasons with the Saints.
SMU Head Coach Derek Faulkner: “Shutouts are a total team effort and I’m really proud of our group for getting two of them last week. We had a lot of players step into different roles this past weekend and really improved our defensive effort. While it is a team effort, having relentless goalkeeping is important. We have a goalkeeping group that works really hard every day and helps our team be confident.”
Also Nominated: Danika Galbraith, Central Washington; Claire Brogdon, Montana State Billings; Mercedes Cullen, Seattle Pacific; Sarah Loewen, Simon Fraser; Sophia Pierce, Western Oregon; Halle Noel, Western Washington.