By: Caden Frank
SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth women's soccer will seek to continue its climb up the conference standings this weekend as it takes on Linfield and Willamette. Both games will be played at noon as the first halves of women's-men's doubleheaders.
On Saturday, the Pirates will honor seniors Kate Nelson, Laura Pierson, Faith Rempfer, Jessica Deegan, Emmy Moore, and Baylee Trejo.
You can follow the action through Whitworth women's soccer schedule with the live stats or stream.
The Pirates: Whitworth (6-6-4 overall, 6-5-1 NWC) have continued to improve, and now sit one point out of third place. The Pirates have won six of their last nine matches after an 0-3 start to conference play. Whitworth goes into this weekend following a 1-1 tie at Whitman on Wednesday and a 1-0 win over Pacific on Sunday.
The Pirates leaned on their veterans last week. Senior Baylee Trejo scored a 69th minute equalizing goal against the Blues on Wednesday to lift the Pirates to a draw, Trejo's third goal of the season came nine minutes after Whitman went ahead initially. On Sunday, Whitworth took advantage of an early red card from Pacific when graduate student Emmy Moore buried a penalty kick in the 9th minute for her third goal of the year. Moore and Trejo tied Kylee Russell for the team lead in goals after last weekend. The Pirates have scored goals in nine straight conference matches after managing just one in their first three.
How far can the Pirates climb? With four matches remaining Whitworth sits at 19 points in the NWC standings, putting them in fourth place (a point behind Whitman and four points behind Puget Sound). The Pirates have a real shot to keep momentum alive, as they've already beaten three of the four remaining teams on their schedule. However, three of those matches were decided by a single goal.
The Opponents: Linfield (5-5-6 overall, 3-4-5 NWC) will be hungry to get back in the win column, after a pair of ties followed by two losses last weekend, they've fallen in the standings. Despite that, they rank second in the conference in goals scored (24) despite ranking sixth in total shots (143). They've been efficient in scoring opportunities and will present a unique challenge for the Pirates. Linfield is led by coach Steve Simmons who also serves as the director of soccer at the school, Simmons is in his fifth year of his second tenure at Linfield. Anna Dazey will be a player to watch this weekend, she leads the team in scoring and ranks third in the NWC in shots on goal (20), sixth in goals (7) including a pair of game-winners. Dazey scored a goal against the Pirates during the last match as Linfield won 2-1.
Willamette (2-10-4 overall, 2-7-3 NWC) comes into the weekend ranked last in the conference, and a record of 1-1-2 in the last two weekends. They earned a signature win over second place Puget Sound last weekend, due largely to their offensive attack. Willamette has scored 17 goals on the year, just one less than Whitworth. Their weakness has been on defense however, where they've allowed 39 goals (12 more than anyone else in the conference). Whitworth will look to capitalize on that, they scored twice on the Bearcats in their last meeting. Willamette is led by coach Lisa Ljubicic who's in her second season there after serving as an assistant at a few division one schools including Washington State. On the field, Sophie Cleland and Nina Krassner-Cybulski lead the team with three goals each.
The Coach: Whitworth soccer alum Cameron Bushey is in his second season as head coach of the women's soccer team. The Pirates finished 6-8-5 overall and 6-6-4 (fourth place) in the NWC last season. 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 finish the season on the road at George Fox and Lewis & Clark on Nov. 3-4.
