By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – It will be familiar territory this week at Harrington Field, where the Western Washington women’s soccer team will yet again host the NCAA West Region Championships.
 
The Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament champions hold a record of 16-2-3 overall, after going 12-1-1 for 37 points to claim their third straight GNAC trophy. WWU is fresh off its conference-record seventh GNAC Championships title, defeating Central Washington 1-0 in the semifinals and Seattle Pacific 1-0 in the title match to sweep both trophies in 2026. WWU was named the GNAC Athletic Solutions Team of the Week on Tuesday.
 
This marks the Vikings’ sixth No. 1 seed into the NCAA regional tournament, where WWU will host matches on Friday and Sunday. No. 5 Simon Fraser takes on No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona at 3 p.m. on Friday, with the winner advancing to take on the Vikings at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Overall it is the 10th time WWU will host the NCAA tournament in Bellingham, Wash.
 
The conference’s most successful women’s soccer program, WWU won NCAA Division II national titles in 2016 and 2022 and is the 12-time GNAC regular-season champion. The Vikings rode the play of GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Olivia Connell in last week’s conference tournament, where she scored a game-winning goal and anchored a back line that produced two more shutouts on her way to being named GNAC Championships Most Valuable Player. After Connell converted a penalty kick for the winner in the semifinal win over Central Washington, freshman Madeline Mays scored the championship-winning goal on Saturday to give WWU the edge over the tournament-host Falcons.
 
A historically sound defense, Western Washington tied the conference record for fewest goals allowed in a GNAC season with just three in its 14 league games this fall. With the two shutouts last week, sophomore goalkeeper Ellie McGowan tied her assistant coach and former Viking Jamie Arthurs for the most shutouts in a season with her 16th. McGowan has played every minute between the posts this year, and WWU’s nearly unbeatable back line has also featured the likes of GNAC Newcomer of the Year Ella Witherspoon and true freshmen Chloe Van Wey, Blake Francis and Ruby Senffner. The GNAC single-season record for shutouts by a team is 18, set by the 2019 NCAA Division II national-runner up Vikings. Senior midfielder Mie Cairns captains the Vikings and was a first-team all-GNAC selection for the third time.
 
WWU is led by two-time NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year Travis Connell, who earned his 10th GNAC Women’s Soccer Coach of the Year honor after delivering two more titles this fall. The winningest coach in league history, Connell is 355-92-56 overall and holds a league record of 221-45-32 in conference matches since taking charge in the fall of 2003.
 
In The Regional
Simon Fraser (13-3-3) was the other GNAC team selected to the regional championship tournament, where they will open up play Friday against the Broncos. The Red Leafs went 11-2-1 for 34 points and a second-place finish in the GNAC standings, before tying Seattle Pacific 0-0 in the GNAC semifinals and falling just short in a penalty-kick shootout. SFU is making its fourth consecutive NCAA regional appearance, after winning three straight GNAC Championships titles from 2023-25.
 
GNAC Team of the Week presented by Athletic Solutions
Athletic Solutions became a GNAC partner in 2025 and is the official sponsor of the GNAC Team of the Week award. Athletic Solutions is a national leader in NIL fan engagement and e-commerce technology, collaborating with colleges and universities to bring NIL Locker Rooms to life. Its platform simplifies NIL opportunities, providing student-athletes with the tools and exposure needed to thrive in the evolving landscape of college athletics.