SPOKANE, Wash. — Giana Riley netted a hat trick and Lauren Towne was a stalwart in goal as the No. 19 Gonzaga women's soccer team knocked off Pepperdine 3-1 to win the first WCC championship in school history.
The Zags came out of the gates on fire as just three minutes into the game, Kelsey Oyler's throw into the box was mishandled by the Pepperdine defense and Riley made no mistake with the loose ball slotting it home to put GU up 1-0.
Then in the 19th minute, Chelsea Le was taken down just outside of the box by Karina Gonzalez, which led to Riley scoring a free kick goal to put GU up 2-0.
After heavy pressure from Pepperdine early in the second half, Kyra Murphy got the last touch on a loose ball in the box to make it a 2-1 Gonzaga lead in the 58th minute.
Then, in the 73rd minute when the Zags needed to put the game away, Willow Collins attacked a loose ball and lifted it into the box where Riley was waiting with the header to put the game on ice.
It is the first WCC championship in women's soccer in Gonzaga history.
Riley's hat trick gives her 12 goals to lead the WCC. Today's three goals were the first goals she scored in conference play this season.
Gonzaga head coach Chris Watkins believes the hot start and early goals were crucial to calming his team's nerves in today's big game.
"I think it helped us breathe a little bit. We knew there was a lot of pressure on us, but getting two early goals helped everybody settle in and we played better at all three levels after Giana benefitted us with those goals," Watkins said.
"It's always nice to score goals, but I was willing to do anything to get us the win," Riley said.
The Zags will now head to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 18 years.
"It feels surreal. Everyone from our goalkeeper to our front line did the work that they needed to do and after the game it was like, 'we really just did that.' It doesn't even feel real at all, but we are really WCC champs," Riley said.
GU will learn its NCAA tournament seeding and next matchup during Monday's selection show.
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