Saint Martin's gets an early goal at Bellingham and manages to hang on for a 1-1 draw at No. 15 Western Washington behind the record 14-save performance of goalkeeper Ashley Engel. After the Vikings equalize in the 76th minute Engel denies them a winner, with a double save in the 86th minute. She makes six saves in the second half of regulation and and seven more in overtime.

Joe and Sue Shinafelt Waters, the husband-and-wife soccer coaches at Pacific Lutheran, announce they will not return in 2002. Joe Waters coached the men's team for four seasons (25-39-6). Sue coached the PLU women for six years (38-62-6). She had played on two Lutes national championship teams.

Washington wins its women’s varsity debut at San Diego State, 2-0, as freshman Rhonda Klein of Puyallup scores in the 65th minute and Amy Hamamoto adds an insurance goal at 88'. Tamara Browder makes eight saves for the shutout. The Huskies are beaten, 3-0, at No. 12 UC Santa Barbara the following day.

Farid Benstiti abruptly resigns as OL Reign head coach, the announcement made just hours before a game in Houston. Assistant coach Sam Laity is named interim coach. Benstiti, hired to succeed Vlatko Andonovski in 2019, was 6-8-6 across all competitions over his year and a half at the helm. It is learned later, in September, that the Frenchman was asked to resign after an allegation of verbal abuse during a team meeting prior to the June 26 home game vs. Gotham FC.

Down 3-1 with 20 minutes to play, Seattle stages a spectacular comeback to force overtime, then win on golden goal by Greg Howes in the 107th minute over El Paso at Memorial Stadium. The Sounders win clinches the Pacific Division title and completes the first undefeated home season (12-0-2). Howes's first goal starts the rally, and Andrew Gregor ties it on a 35- yard drive in the 83rd minute. viet Nguyen's corner kick is flicked on by Sean Henderson to Howes for the winner.

Shoreline's Michelle Akers headlines the inductees to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta, N.Y. Akers, who received a near-unanimous 70 of 73 votes in her first year of eligibility, becomes the fourth female among 110 members. She led the USWNT to World Cup victories in 1991 and 1999 and the first women's Olympic gold in 1996. Akers retired in 2000 as the program's No. 2 scorer (105 goals) in 153 appearances since 1985. In 2002 she was named FIFA Co-Player of the Century. Also inducted are Eric Wynalda, Mike Windischmann and Paul Caligiuri.