Conference play starting up for Gonzaga, WSU women

Ready or not, the conference season opens this weekend for the Gonzaga and Washington State women’s soccer teams.

It would appear both are more than ready, but the same goes for their conference foes.

Gonzaga, riding a school-record six-game winning streak, is off to the best start in program history heading into a non-conference matchup today with Eastern Washington in Cheney.

“This team has been, I don’t want to say a surprise, but we’ve performed well and kept possession of the ball and created (scoring) chances in multiple ways,” coach Shannon Stiles said. “It’s exciting to have a more balanced attack.”

The Bulldogs were picked in the preseason to finish tied for last in the WCC, but they show no signs of slowing down. Five of their wins have been by two goals and they haven’t been shut out this season. Meanwhile, goalkeeper Ashley Haugen has five shutouts, including four in the last five games.

GU (8-2-1) opens WCC play at No. 2-ranked Portland (11-0-0) on Sunday. The Pilots feature scoring machine Christine Sinclair, a member of the Canadian national team who has at least one goal in every match this season. She leads the NCAA in goals scored with 20.

“You can change your game plan and put one player on her to mark her, but I think that takes you out of your attacking rhythm,” said Stiles, whose team lost the services of sophomore midfielder Heather Horn for probably 3-4 weeks with a knee injury. “When you win the ball it kind of disjoints the way you’re playing. Our plan is to recognize she’s a player, but we can’t allow her to have space.

“I feel like our back four has been the highlight of our season. We’ve limited shots on goal.”

WSU (7-3-1) enters Pac-10 Conference play with the momentum of a two-game winning streak. The Cougars are at Stanford on Friday and California on Sunday. The Cardinal (6-3-1) was ranked 19th in Soccer America’s top 25 last week and the Bears (7-2-1) were rated as high as 15th.

Nine of 10 Pac-10 teams sport winning records. Only Washington has a losing mark. Seven Pac-10 squads have received votes, at the very least, in the polls at some point this season.

“If you take Oregon, which was at the bottom of the Pac-10 last year, and now they’re 8-1-1, it shows just how quickly things can change,” Cougars coach Matt Potter said. “On paper, we have the six most challenging games coming up (at Cal and Stanford, home for Arizona State and Arizona, and at USC and UCLA). It’s challenging, but the thing is to take it one game at a time.”

Pirates hang tough

Whitworth’s men (8-1-1, 5-0-1 Northwest Conference) put some distance between themselves and a couple of their closest pursuers. The Pirates posted 2-1 wins over Puget Sound (4-1-2, 3-1-1) and Pacific Lutheran (6-4, 3-2) last weekend.

Whitworth trailed 1-0 against PLU when Todd Sabrowski scored late in regulation. The Pirates didn’t convert on a penalty kick in the first overtime, but Niko Varlamos scored on a header off a cross from Ali Seyedali in the first minute of the second overtime.

Asked if there were any signs of panic in the second half, Whitworth coach Sean Bushey joked, “Only from the coach. We kept plugging away at it and thankfully we made it happen. Our level of maturity helps in those situations.”

Whitworth entertains Whitman on Friday. Bushey wouldn’t mind a bit if PLU knocks off second-place Linfield (4-3-3, 3-0-2 NWC) on Sunday.

Notes

EWU (3-6-2, 1-0 Big Sky) appears to be heating up at an opportune time. The Eagles are 2-0-2 in their last four matches. After today’s match with Gonzaga, EWU visits Sac State on Friday and Northern Arizona Sunday. … Idaho goalkeeper Lindsay Smith set a school record for career saves with 265, surpassing Jenell Miller. The Vandals, though, have dropped seven straight and open WAC play at conference favorite Hawaii Friday. … Spokane’s women (8-2-3, 5-1-3 conference) are comfortably in second in the NWAACC East Division with 18 points. Spokane tied division leader Walla Walla 2-2 on Saturday. … The injury woes continue for Whitworth’s women as junior Sarah Blogden-Thome (Lewis and Clark High) has been sidelined with a knee injury.