Filip Timotija | Staff Writer
Last weekend, Whitworth women’s soccer team bounced back from a touch previous week with two conference wins. They beat Pacific (Oregon) 3-0 on Saturday, Oct. 9, and Coprivnicar’s school record for fastest goal scored lifted the Pirates over Linfield 2-0 on Sunday, Oct 10.
Both teams went scoreless in the first half of Saturday’s game. Whitworth shot four times and had two shots on target, while Pacific shot twice but were only on target once.
Whitworth controlled the game with 56% of possessions.
The Pirates were more assertive on offense at the start of the second half, leading with a Savanah Acpal goal during the second minute of the half.
Acpal used a cross pass to score the goal with her left foot.
The Pirates continued to pressure the Pacific defense, controlling 58% of total possessions.
Gabriella Coprivnicar scored the second goal for Whitworth during the 86th minute. She nailed the shot from the top of the box with her right foot.
Coprivnicar put the game away, scoring her second goal just three minutes after her first by dribbling past the defender and the goalie into a routine finish.
Whitworth had 12 total shots and nine on target, while Pacific had six shots, three of which were on goal.
Coprivnicar set a new Whitworth record by scoring the fastest goal in the school’s history in Sunday’s game.
After only 11 seconds of play, Coprivnicar stole the ball from Linfield’s defender and put it in the top right corner of the goal.
The Pirates controlled the rest of the half with 60% of possession. The majority of the possessions were won by Whitworth’s midfielders.
Whitworth dominated in the shot category for the first half with 11 total shots, while Linfield managed to tally only two attempts.
The Pirates controlled the ball in the second half. Whitworth’s 63% possession rate ultimately resulted in another goal scored in the 89th minute.
Maggie Ames gathered the ball after it bounced off the crossbar and placed it in Emma Mulligan’s net to put the game away.
Whitworth had 18 total shots in comparison to Linfield who executed four total attempts.
“I was very satisfied with how we played this weekend,” Coprivnicar said. “Possession is a crucial part of how our team functions when we’re at our best. We can be really good at keeping the ball. We love pivoting and playing through our backline and it comes down to the fact that everyone on the field trusts each other.”
Last season, Coprivnicar didn’t score a single goal. This season, she’s already tallied five.
“I think my growth from last year relates to my mentality,” Coprivnicar said. “I’ve stepped into the truth that my worth is not dictated by soccer, and the freedom, joy and confidence that have come as a result are incredible.”
The Pirates have four different players that have each scored two goals and six players that have each scored one this season.
“Having such a wide breadth of scorers is new since I’ve been at Whitworth and is honestly such an exciting thing,” Coprivnicar said. “It reflects how capable each person on the team is. There isn’t any drop-off when we substitute, and each person offers something unique and necessary.”
The Pirates are staying home next weekend to host Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, Oct. 16, and Puget Sound on Sunday, Oct. 17. Both matches start at noon.
