SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's soccer team hits the road for a pair of Northwest Conference matches in Oregon this weekend. The Pirates play at Willamette on Saturday and at Linfield on Sunday. Both contests will start at noon as the first half of women's-men's doubleheaders.
Links to live video and live statistics are available on the Whitworth women's soccer schedule.
The Pirates: Whitworth (1-4-3 overall, 1-3 NWC) hopes to build on the momentum of its first win of the season last Saturday.
Whitworth lost 1-0 to visiting Whitman last Wednesday on a flukey goal that came only seconds before the end of the first half. The Pirates outshot the Blues 11-10, but the visitors did have a 5-2 edge in shots on-goal. Kate Nelson made four saves for Whitworth. Laura Pierson led the Bucs with three shot attempts.
Whitworth finally broke into the win column with a 2-0 victory over visiting Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday. Emmy Moore scored the first goal in the 14th minute on a free kick from just outside the penalty area. She nearly added a second set piece goal in the 47th minute, but her attempt hit the cross bar. Maddie Kutschkau was there to put the rebound back into the net for her first goal of the season. Nelson only had to make three saves to post her 18th career shutout as a Pirate as Whitworth held a 19-10 edge in shots, and a 7-3 advantage in shots on-goal.
The Buck (Ball) Stops Here: Senior GK Kate Nelson is a two-time second team All-Northwest Conference honoree. She has posted 18 shutouts during her Pirate career. Nelson has stopped 78% of the shots she has faced in 2023.
The Opponents: Willamette is 0-5-2 overall and 0-2-1 in the NWC heading into Saturday's match. Last weekend the Bearcats fell 2-0 at home to Puget Sound before bouncing back to tie George Fox 1-1 on Sunday. Lisa Ljubicic is in her season year as head coach at Willamette. She's working to get the Bearcats out of an early-season scoring drought (only three goals in seven matches). Junior forward Ella Abraham has one goal and one assist this season. Last fall Whitworth defeated Willamette 1-0 in Spokane and the teams tied 0-0 in Salem.
Linfield is 3-3-2 overall and 1-2-1 in the NWC heading into a match against Whitman on Saturday. Last weekend the Wildcats lost 2-0 at Lewis & Clark and 3-0 at home to PLU. Steve Simmons, a veteran with more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, is in the fifth year of his second stint as Linfield's coach. Junior forward Anna Dazey already has six goals this season, while sophomore Jenna Stanley has three. Whitworth swept Linfield last season, winning 3-0 on the road before pulling out a 1-0 win at home.
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 (4th place) in the NWC last season.
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 finish out the first half of the Northwest Conference schedule on October 7-8 at home against Lewis & Clark and George Fox.
