Viking offense erupts for 5-1 win, final four up next

They've done it again. For a second straight season, the Viking women's soccer team is headed to the NCAA Division II final four following a 5-1 victory over the Colorado School of Mines. Western moves to 22-0-1 on the season and will be taking on Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, December 1 in Kansas City, for its semifinal match up.

"We just want to compete and we play for each other, it was a good win and a great day to be a Viking," junior defender Sierra Shugarts said. "Everyone was just so proud of each other's efforts in the whole game and we knew we deserved this opportunity again," sophomore forward Gabriela Pelogi said.

Update: 12:52 p.m. PST FULL TIME: Western rides a three-goal second half to rout the hosting Colorado School of Mines, 5-1.

• WWU Shots: 19, on goal: 10
• CSM Shots: 10, on goal: 5
• Corners: WWU = 8; CSM = 1

Update: 12:45 p.m. PST 83rd minute: Senior Anna DeWeirdt tallies her first goal of the season to extend the Viking lead to 5-1. Update: 12:24 p.m. PST 63rd minute: Freshman Emily Nelson gets in on the scoring via an assist from junior Emily Webster, her second of the afternoon. Update: 12:22 p.m. PST 61st minute: Freshman Liv Larson scores her second goal of the match to add some insurance to Western's lead, making it 3-1.

Update: 11:50 a.m. PST After 45 minutes of play, Western goes into the half up 2-1.

• WWU Shots: 11, on goal: 5
• CSM Shots: 4, on goal: 1

Update: 11:30 a.m. PST 27th minute: The Vikings struck for the go ahead goal as senior Caitlyn Jobanek delivered a cross in traffic to Larson who found the back of the net; Vikings up 2-1.

Update: 11:13 a.m. PST 11th minute: Shugarts uses a powerful header to send home the equalizer off a beautiful cross from Webster, tying things up at 1.

"Webster and I have this connection and on set plays she usually looks for my head, it all came together perfectly," Shugarts said. "Perfect service and I got on the end of it."

Update: 11:01 a.m. PST 2nd minute: Colorado School of Mines scores quickly off a free kick from Emily Garnier near midfield. Junior goalkeeper Ashley Homer got a glove on it, but the ball trickled into the net regardless. Vikings down 1-0 with lots of soccer left to play.

"We knew right after the goal happened that we had to work to get the next," Shugarts said. "The next ten minutes is when we showed a lot of character and kept our tempo going to get that first goal. What separates us from other teams is that we don't put our heads down if we get scored on, we think of the next play and the next 5 minutes on what we are going to do about it."

Live tweets from the match: [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/800410044793634816[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/800413878836301825[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/800414459470585857[/embed]

"We knew we had to come back tough, and play hard for the next five minutes by pressing them," Pelogi said.

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"I think it really sends a message to other teams winning 5-1 against another ranked team," Shugarts said. "We don't quit and we keep pushing each other and want that next goal." "At half time we were up 2-1 and everyone in the huddle said get two more goals and instead we got three," Pelogi said.

[embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/800442243219791872[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/800444932460642304[/embed]      

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