By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

POMONA, Calif. – In her first game back from injury Claire Potter nodded home a heroic, game-winning goal in the 90th minute on Thursday afternoon at Kellogg field, lifting Western Washington to a 2-1 victory over No. 25 Azusa Pacific in the opening round of the 2024 NCAA Women’s Soccer West Region Championships.
 
The Vikings, who led the match for more than 80 minutes after an early goal from Great Northwest Athletic Conference Newcomer of the Year Kyrsten McGuffey, conceded a late equalizer when APU’s Jaci Maze tapped home a cross in the 85th minute.
 
But the 10-time GNAC regular-season champions had the final say, as Halle Noel worked to keep a ball in bounds on the right sideline before sending a long cross towards the back post. Potter, standing 5-foot-10, elevated past the Cougar back line and perfectly nodded her second goal of the season inside the far post. Less than 60 seconds later, the Vikings burst into celebration as their season continues after the win.
 
The Vikings (14-3-5) advance to a second-round match on Saturday, where they’ll face host No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona (17-1-2), the top seed in the west regional, at 1 p.m. Pacific. Live video will be available online here and live statistics will be available online here. It will be the seventh all-time meeting between the teams and the second in postseason play. The Vikings won 2-1 in double overtime when the teams last met, in the NCAA regional playoffs on Nov. 9, 2012.
 
Azusa Pacific, which was the No. 4 seed in the regional, saw its season come to an end with a record of 12-4-1 overall.
 
Potter, who missed last week’s GNAC Women’s Soccer Championships, started and played 52 important minutes in the midfield. McGuffey’s goal was her GNAC-leading ninth of the season, and first-team all-conference selection Morgan Manalili added her GNAC-leading ninth assist of the season. GNAC first-teamers Asia Hardin and Mie Cairns, and honorable mention pick Olivia Connell all played the full 90 minutes in Thursday’s match. Viking goalkeeper Abigail Trengove finished the game with three saves, and Noel’s assist was her eighth of the year.
 
The Vikings got in front less than five minutes into the match, capitalizing on a defensive miscue by the Cougars. McGuffey read a loose drop pass and raced into the box to touch it around APU goalkeeper Maddie Williams into open space. From there, she calmly finished into an open net from a tight angle with a pair of Cougars bearing down towards her. Williams finished the match with two saves for APU.
 
With less than five minutes left in regulation the Cougars got on the scoreboard, as Maze knocked home a cross from Natalie Kamper to rescue her team. The junior’s seventh goal of the season negated a lead that the Vikings held for more than 80 minutes, and appeared likely to push the game to overtime. Potter, a junior from Pasco, Wash., delivered her fifth-career game-winner and her ninth-career goal overall however to turn the tide at the last second.
 
Trengove got an early touch on the ball in the second half, diving forward to smother an on-target attempt by APU’s Maze. It was as good of a look as the Cougars managed until their late equalizer, as WWU paired stout defending with an ongoing offensive attack to maintain command of the game.
 
WWU held a narrow 12-10 advantage in shots and won eight corner kicks compared to three for the Cougars.
 
GAME NOTES: WWU, the 2016 and 2022 NCAA Division II national champion, earned its 13th trip to the NCAA regional playoffs this season…Thursday marked the sixth all-time meeting between the teams, with the Vikings now holding a 5-1 all-time record in the series…the Cougars were one of just three teams to beat WWU during the regular season, claiming a 1-0 triumph on Sept. 17 when the sides met in Azusa, Calif…that snapped a four-game winning streak in the head-to-head series for the Vikings, dating back to the first tilt between the two on Sept. 30, 1994…Thursday was the second time the teams met in the postseason, with WWU claiming a 1-0 win on Nov. 19, 2015 in the regional championship match.