SPOKANE, Wash. – Kaitlin Speer scored the match-winning goal 20 minutes into the second half and Kendall Sharp added an insurance goal 13 minutes later to lift Whitworth University to a 3-1 win over visiting Willamette in a Northwest Conference women's soccer match on Sunday afternoon.
Kalena Pfaeltzer also scored for the Pirates (5-2-1 overall, 2-1-1 NWC), who won their second straight. Emmerson Cooper scored the only goal for the Bearcats (3-5, 2-2).
Pfaeltzer gave Whitworth the lead in the fourth minute when she finished off the work of Gabriella Coprivnicar. Coprivnicar had dribbled through the Willamette defense from the right side and dropped a pass off to her wide-open teammate on the far side of the goal. Pfaeltzer finished into a nearly open net.
Cooper tied the match for the Bearcats with a long shot from outside the box that sailed into the upper corner of the net in the 40th minute.
The match remained tied for the first 20 minutes of the second half. That's when Riley Martinson drove hard into the box, drawing the defense, before she dropped a pass back to Speer, whose long shot was tipped by the keeper, but not kept out of the goal.
Rather than settle into a defensive mode, the Pirates kept the pressure on the Bearcats and forced a corner kick 13 minutes later. Macey Morales lofted her corner kick to the far post, where Sharp was there to head the ball back into the opposite side of the net for her second goal of the season.
After each team posted six shots in the first half, Whitworth controlled the action after halftime, outshooting Willamette 9-4. The Bucs finished with an 11-5 edge in shots on-goal and had nine corners to only two for the Bearcats.
Kate Nelson made four saves to pick up the win in goal for Whitworth. Sam Borngasser made eight stops for Willamette.
Whitworth will hit the road for matches at Lewis & Clark and George Fox next weekend.
