SPOKANE, Wash. – Coming off an offensive output of seven goals in two games last weekend, the Whitworth women's soccer team heads to Minnesota for a pair of road non-conference contests this week. The Pirates (2-0) will take on Hamline on Thursday and Bethel on Saturday.
See the Whitworth soccer schedule for live links to this weekend's matches. Fans interested in attending the games should visit the host schools' athletics websites for their current spectator policies.
The Pirates: Whitworth pulled out a 3-2 win over Carroll College on Saturday, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Saints. Kendall Sharp gave the Pirates an early 1-0 lead with an unassisted goal in the fourth minute. The Bucs gave up a pair of goals over the next ten minutes, but got the tying tally when Riley Martinson scored from distance with seconds to go before halftime. Ireland Eaton scored the winner nine minutes into the second half off a corner kick from Macey Morales. Kate Nelson made five saves in her Whitworth goalkeeping debut.
The Pirates dominated Edgewood College 4-0 on Sunday. Gabriella Coprivnicar scored twice and had an assist to lead the attack. Maggie Ames scored first, on an assist from Coprivnicar, in the 25th minute. Just a minute later Coprivnicar scored unassisted on a long shot from outside the box. She added her second goal, running under a long kick from the keeper, to score on a breakaway and give Nelson a rare goalkeeper assist. Morales scored early in the second half from close range on Emma Foulk's assist. Nelson did not have to make a save to post her first shutout.
The Opponents: Both of this week's opponents are members of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (MIAC).
Hamline College is 1-1 this season. The Pipers rolled past Wisconsin-River Falls 4-0 in the opener, then dropped a hard-fought 4-3 decision to Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the second game. Hamline did not play any official matches in 2020-21, following a 5-12 season in 2019. One of those losses in 2019 came on the road at Whitworth, 1-0 in overtime.
Bethel College is 2-1 for far in 2021. The Royals beat Northwestern (Minn.) 2-1 and Dubuque 3-1 before falling 4-0 to Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Bethel played a shortened schedule last spring, going 2-3. The Royals finished 14-6 in 2019. Whitworth and Bethel have never played in women's soccer.
The Coach: Bryan Olson, previously the top assistant coach for the highly successful Whitworth men's soccer program, was named as the head coach for the Pirate women's soccer team in February of 2016 and enters his sixth year leading the Bucs in 221. He is 44-38-8 in five seasons as a head coach, including a 12-5-3 overall record in 2018 and a 10-4-2 mark in the Northwest Conference (third place).
Olson was the top assistant coach for the Whitworth men's soccer team for six seasons. His title was elevated to Associate Head Coach ahead of the 2015 season. Over that time the Pirate men's team posted a record of 66-17-12 and made the NCAA Division III Tournament three times (2012, 2014 and 2015).
