SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's soccer team will begin the second round of Northwest Conference play against the same opponents the Bucs started the NWC schedule with, but this time on the road. The Pirates travel to Willamette on Saturday and play at Linfield on Sunday. Both will start at noon.
Links to live video and live statistics are available on the Whitworth women's soccer schedule.
The Pirates: Whitworth (3-6-2 overall, 3-4-1 NWC) finally found its offensive groove, scoring nine goals in two wins last week.
The Pirates rolled past Whitman 6-0 at home with all six goals coming from different players. Laura Pierson and Savannah Acpal scored in the first half. Lauryn Roszak, Baylee Trejo, Emma Foulk and Kylee Russell all scored in the second half. Whitworth only outshot Whitman 12-10, but the Pirates had an 8-3 edge in shots on-goal. Kate Nelson made three saves for the Bucs.
Whitworth defeated Linfield 3-0 in McMinnville, Oregon on Saturday. Acpal scored in the first half, while Trejo and Camryn Gardner tallied goals in the second period. Nelson stopped all six shots that were on target to earn her second shutout of the week.
Nelson Earns Honor: Kate Nelson was named the NWC's women's soccer Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week on Monday night. She made nine saves in two matches to post a pair of shutouts. Nelson lowered her season goals-against average to 0.98 and increased her shutout total to three.
The Buck (Ball) Stops Here: Senior GK Kate Nelson played all 1860 minutes as the only goalkeeper on the roster in 2021, leading all of NCAA Division III in goalie minutes played. She led the NWC in saves per game (4.90), was second in save percentage (.838) and third in goals-against average (0.919). She was second in the NWC and fifth in NCAA Division III in shutouts (10). Nelson was named second team All-Northwest Conference.
The Opponents: Willamette is 4-7 overall and 2-6 in the NWC heading into the weekend. Last week the Bearcats lost 3-0 at Puget Sound and 2-0 at home to George Fox. Sophomore forward Nina Krassner-Cybulski leads the offense with six goals this season. Whitworth defeated Willamette 1-0 in Spokane on September 17 in the NWC opener for both teams. Kalena Pfaeltzer scored the match's only goal.
Lewis & Clark (3-5-3 overall, 3-3-2 NWC) sits just ahead of Whitworth in the NWC standings. The Pioneers defeated Whitworth 1-0 in Spokane on September 18th, despite the Pirates holding an 18-9 lead in shots and an 11-5 advantage in shots on-goal. Last weekend L&C tied Pacific 1-1 on the road and lost 5-1 at Pacific Lutheran. Junior forward Celeste Schreifels has four goals and two assists.
The Coach: Whitworth soccer alum Cameron Bushey is in his first season as head coach of the women's soccer team. He came from Stanislaus State, where he was the top assistant coach. Bushey has club coaching stints in Spokane and Colorado and he was an assistant at Gonzaga University for two seasons (2018-19). He graduated from Whitworth in 2012 as a four-time All-NWC honoree who helped lead the Pirates to three NWC titles and NCAA Division III tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.
Coming up: Whitworth will host George Fox and Pacific (Ore.) on Oct. 22-23.
