By Mariia Yazepova | Staff Writer
Whitworth women’s soccer team strung two home losses in Northwest Conference play. In the first game on Oct. 1, the Bucs fell 2-1 to Puget Sound while in the second game Pacific Lutheran was victorious with 2-0 on Oct. 2.
Puget Sound set the tone early on the offensive end during Saturday’s game and it resulted in an Ava Cholakian goal. The San Mateo, California senior capitalized on a Whitworth defense mistake during the ninth minute which allowed the Loggers to take an early lead.
The Pirates had a bunch of attempts to break down the Loggers’ defense and even the score, but the minimal lead stayed intact. Whitworth accumulated three corner kicks. Puget Sound had more shots in total (8-4). Both keepers had two saves each.
The early part of the second half saw both teams struggle to score.
That changed during the 73rd minute when Radhika Webster-Schultz found herself in a one-on-one situation with Whitworth’s goalie that she used to increase the Loggers’ lead to 2-0.
Despite trailing late, the Pirates kept attacking and playing solid defense in the closing 15 minutes.
The effort yielded a scoring opportunity for Maggie Ames who minimized the deficit to 2-1.
Puget Sound had more total shots (15-9) and more shots on target (7-5) while Whitworth had more corner kicks (4-2)
“We have to continue finding ways to score more goals because we’re managing the moments so well, but we need to find an opportunity to play on the front foot of the scoreboard,” Head Coach Cameron Bushéy said.
The Pirates faced the same faith in the second game against Pacific Lutheran.
The first half was difficult for both teams because the two squads struggled to find the net. The Lutes were creating slightly better scoring opportunities, but they still failed to take advantage.
Despite having more corner kicks in the first half (2-1), the Pirates were trailing the visitors in total shots (7-4).
The second half was still sporadic in terms of scoring with both teams having a tough time finishing near the box.
That changed during the 82nd minute when Julia Causbie’s steal led to her breaking the tie for the Lutes. With the built-up momentum, Pacific Lutheran continued to attack for the remainder of the game. The onslaught yielded another mistake by the Whitworth defense and the beneficiary was Causbie again. In the 87th minute, she used the failed drop by the Pirates to score an open net goal and solidify the road victory.
Pacific Lutheran finished with more total shots (19-8), shots on goal (8-1) and corner kicks (4-3).
“I’m a coach who believes in possession-oriented attacking, keeping the players moving the ball in order to create space and use that space to attack, “said coach Bushéy. “We want the scoreboard to look different I think we’re doing a lot to earn that. We will keep focusing on the things that we can control and try to do better.”