By Mariia Yazepova | Staff Writer
The Whitworth women’s soccer team won against Willamette 1-0 on Sept. 17 and lost 1-0 against Lewis & Clark on Sept. 18.
Both games had ups and downs. Whitworth scored first in the game against Willamette in the second part of the game, despite the Bearcat’s tough defense.
The first win of the season came on Saturday, against visiting Willamette University Bearcats. For the first 45 minutes of the match, neither the Pirates (1-2-1,1-0) nor the Bearcats (2-2-0,0-1) were able to score a goal.
The Pirates got a break in the 64th minute when Savannah Acpal, number 23, assisted Kalena Pfaeltzer, number 11, with a goal.
Other important plays in the game came from Pirate goalkeeper Kate Nelson, who was credited with one save. Rachel Compton, the opposing goalkeeper, had 11 saves.
Overall, the Pirates outshot the Bearcats on Saturday 17-4, with 12-1 shots on goal.
Head Coach Cameron Bushey said, “Our team had a really dominant performance in every phase [and] every moment of the game, so I’m really happy.”
On Sunday, the Lewis and Clark Pioneers beat Whitworth 1-0, scoring a Northwest Conference victory for themselves.
The Pirates (1-3-1 overall, 1-1 NWC) had many strong points going for them: they outshot Lewis & Clark 4-1 in the first part of the game and 18-9 overall, they had an 11-5 edge in shots on goal and they had 60% of possession.
Lewis & Clark had the advantage for goalkeeping, with Nelson stopping three shots while opposing goalkeeper Sophie Young stopped 11 shots.
However, Pioneers (2-2-1, 2-0) ended up scoring the only goal in the match, when Lewis & Clark took advantage of a counterattack header from Celeste Schreifels, assisted by Sofia Congram.
Bushey is already looking ahead to the next game. “It’s all about another mature performance, and the season is all about one step forward at a time. Every day, every game, one day at a time, we will keep on progressing and addressing the moments, making the most of our opportunities.”
The team played George Fox on Saturday, Sept. 24 and Pacific on Sunday, Sept. 25.