By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

PORTLAND, Ore. – Year-in and year-out, Western Washington’s women’s soccer program stands as a pillar within NCAA Division II.
 
The first month of the 2026 campaign has been no exception, and it’s a familiar principle that has led to yet another formidable Viking side: Defense.
 
Through the first nine games of the season, WWU has allowed three goals and not more than a single goal to any opponent. This has led to a 5-1-3 start to the year including a 3-0-1 record in conference play for 10 points and an early seat at the top of the table. After extending its streak to four consecutive shutouts with its two most recent wins, WWU was named the Athletic Solutions GNAC Team of the Week on Monday.
 
The Vikings defended Harrington Field flawlessly their last time out, dismissing Montana State Billings 3-0 on Thursday before upending No. 23 Seattle Pacific 3-0 on Saturday. “We used our depth last weekend to affect the way each game was played,” said WWU head coach Travis Connell. “When you have 19-20 players willing to put the team first and go out and do a job, you can cause teams a lot of headaches.”
 
Their opponents’ biggest headache was a full-on migraine caused by freshman Madeline Mays, who scored five of the team’s six goals on the way to her first-career GNAC Player of the Week award. Mays had the best offensive week by any GNAC player so far this season. The freshman from Oak Harbor, Wash., got her collegiate scoring started with a head-turning hat trick to fuel WWU’s 3-0 win over Montana State Billings on Thursday. Mays staked the Vikings to a 1-0 advantage with a half-volley finish from 12 yards out in the 26th minute. With her team clinging to a narrow advantage with just five minutes left in the match, she struck again twice. She beat a pair of defenders on the dribble before tucking a high shot just under the crossbar from outside the box, and a minute later out-sprinted a defender before a clean, left-footed one-touch finish into the top corner to seal the win. “We knew that playing the game in our attacking half would be important in this match,” Connell said on the win over the Yellowjackets. “Our players did a great job tilting the field in our favor and then capitalizing on the few chances that we were able to create against a stingy MSUB defense.”
 
Mays wasn’t finished there, coming back on Saturday with a brace in a 3-0 win over Seattle Pacific. She twice got the better of the Falcons’ back line, working her way into threatening positions and tucking home two more goals. It took Mays – who came off the bench in both contests – just 94 minutes on the pitch to score her five goals including two game-winners. “Maddie is improving every day at searching out her moments to impact games,” Connell said. “She is a talented kid. This week she combined that talent with the right moments and helped us get two big wins. It will be exciting to watch her next steps.”
 
While Mays produced the offense, GNAC Defensive Player of the Week Blake Francis anchored the Vikings’ defense in helping the team collect two more shutouts. She played the full 90 minutes in both shutout victories, helping the team extend its streak to four consecutive clean sheets. The freshman from Lake Oswego, Ore., has played every minute of the 2026 season, immediately inserting herself into one of the top defensive lineups in the country. WWU ranks 11th nationally with a 0.333 goals-against average. “For our defending style to be effective, we need players on the back end of our defense that are able to make plays in space,” said Connell. “Blake won so many important headers and tackles in our games this weekend at the back of our defense.”
 
Alongside Francis on the back line, senior veteran Oliva Connell (no relation to Travis) and fellow freshman Chloe Van Wey have each also started all nine matches. Among the most experienced Vikings, Connell has started 68 matches dating back to her freshman season in 2023 including all 45 matches throughout the Vikings’ GNAC-championship winning campaigns in 2024 and 2025. Ellie McGowan, who burst onto the scene with a GNAC-leading 0.48 goals-against average as a freshman in 2025, has played every minute between the posts and already has six shutouts this fall.
 
More experience resides in the WWU midfield, where seniors Jane Hmura and Mie Cairns run the team’s system. Cairns is a four-year starter who is coming off a career-best four goals last year and has 74 total caps since debuting in 2023. Hmura has been comparably valuable, playing 75 matches and contributing three goals and five assists during her tenure. Reese Walker, the 2025 GNAC Newcomer of the Year, has done her part with two goals and an assist throughout a productive start to her second campaign in Bellingham. Junior Audrey Holdridge has also had a productive start to the season with a pair of goals and an assist while seeing minutes in all nine matches.
 
The Vikings’ success to start the season is nothing new or surprising. In fact, the team has not been defeated in a conference match since Nov. 2, 2023 – an unbeaten streak that has expanded to 33 matches with last week’s wins. WWU went 11-0-3 in both 2024 and 2025 as Connell’s crew surpassed Seattle Pacific – his alma mater – for the most-ever GNAC women’s soccer trophies with 11. “We played with a lot of effort and belief in the game,” Connell reflected on the win over Seattle Pacific. “We did a good job playing the game on our terms and preventing a talented SPU team from getting any real rhythm. Our attacking became more and more dangerous as the game went on. It was a real team win.”
 
Connell is the winningest women’s soccer coach in conference history. Since taking over in the fall of 2003, he holds a record of 344-91-56 (.758) overall and has gone 212-44-32 (.792) in conference contests. The Vikings’ six conference tournament titles are also the most among the GNAC schools and last year he was voted by his peers as GNAC Coach of the Year for the ninth time. He led WWU to NCAA Division II national championship titles in 2016 and 2022 and a national runner-up finish in 2019.
 
Next up for the Vikings are a pair of road matches as they visit Western Oregon (2-3-3, 1-1-2 GNAC) on Thursday in Monmouth, Ore. (2 p.m. Pacific) and Saint Martin’s (1-7-1, 0-4) on Saturday in Lacey, Wash. (3:30 p.m. Pacific). “We are looking forward to playing two more challenging opponents this weekend on the road,” Connell said. “This conference forces you to improve every game.”
 
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.