Western's top-ranked women's soccer team defeated ninth-ranked University of California, San Diego 2-1 in overtime to nab the NCAA Division II West Regional title. Sophomore Gabriela Pelogi notched both goals of the contest, including a golden goal stunner a little over two minutes into the overtime, to put the Vikings into the elite eight. The two teams met previously on September 14, a home match for the Vikings, with Western outlasting the Tritons by a score of 3-2. Western now goes on to play the hosting Colorado School of Mines, who beat Texas A&M University-Commerce 2-1 in extra time to earn a crack at the Vikings.
"She knows when she needs to perform in big moments and we can rely on her heavily to get the job done and the ball in the back of the net," junior defender Sierra Shugarts said about Pelogi.
"Our mindset at halftime was to keep the pressure on them and to work hard," Pelogi said. "We knew we could get a goal so we weren't too worried." "We weren't ending our season on a 1-0 loss," Shugarts added. "Our coach's [head coach Travis Connell] theme this year has been 'poise' and he was very happy with how we dealt with being a goal down and he was very proud of our character today."[embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/799747616653250560[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/799750341285715968[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WWUAthletics/status/799751010151301120[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/799752861869408257[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/799754876267859969[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/799758039402233856[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/799759417096835072[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/799760148017225728[/embed] At 3:51 p.m. PST: Sophomore forward Gabriela Pelogi scores her second goal of the match in overtime to clinch a 2-1 win and keep Western's dream season alive.
"In overtime, we were hoping to score that fast and we made it happen," Pelogi said. "It was a rough game but we did it and I am so proud of my teammates."[embed]https://twitter.com/WFSportsLive/status/799762191339515904[/embed] [embed]https://twitter.com/WWUAthletics/status/799763558409961472[/embed]
We know how good we are capable of being and we will not settle for anything else," Shugarts said.This story has been updated as of 9:54 p.m.
