SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's soccer team travels to Tacoma this weekend for what is traditionally the toughest trip of the season. The Pirates will play at Puget Sound on Saturday and at Pacific Lutheran on Sunday. Both matches will start at 2:45 pm.
Check the Whitworth women's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
The Pirates: Whitworth is 5-3-1 overall and 3-2-1 in the Northwest Conference after splitting a pair of home matches last weekend.
Yacine Bitibale scored the only goal of the match in the 11th minute to give the Pirates a 1-0 win over visiting Lewis & Clark on Saturday. Claire Nguyen and Baylee Trejo each had assists on the goal. The score might have been much bigger since the Pirates ended with a 23-8 advantage in shots, including a 13-3 edge in shots on-goal. Paige Broadrick made three saves in goal for Whitworth.
The Pirates gave up only three good scoring chances on Sunday against Willamette and the Bearcats converted all three in a 3-0 win over Whitworth. The Pirates finished with a 17-7 lead in shots, including a 10-1 advantage in the second half. But Whitworth could not find the back of the net. Broadrick played the first half and Anna Boyer played the second in goal for the Bucs.
Doubleheader Flip-Flop: For the first time in Northwest Conference history, the men's and women's doubleheaders have flip-flopped start times and the men will play first in the Noon time slot. The women will now play the second game at 2:45 pm.
Westside Stranglehold: Either Puget Sound or Pacific Lutheran have won or shared every Northwest Conference women's soccer championship since 2002. UPS has won 15 times, while PLU has won or shared the last seven.
The Opponents: Puget Sound is 4-4-2 overall and 4-1-1 in the Northwest Conference heading into Saturday's contest. The Loggers won 2-0 at Pacific and 3-1 at George Fox last weekend. Stephanie Cox is in her third season as the head coach at UPS. The Loggers score 1.3 goals per game and give up 1.2 goals per contest. Junior forward Leila Hausia-Haugen has six goals and two assists this season, while sophomore GK Gianna Maldonado has a 1.00 goals against average and an 81% save percentage. Last year Whitworth lost 3-1 at Puget Sound but won 2-0 in Spokane for the first win over UPS in a non-covid season since 2016.
Pacific Lutheran is 6-1-3 overall and 5-0-1 in the NWC heading into its match with Whitman on Saturday. The Lutes won 4-1 at George Fox and 2-0 at Pacific last weekend. Seth Spidahl is in his 13th year at PLU and has led the Lutes to the last seven NWC crowns. PLU averages 2.0 goals per game and only gives up 1.0 per contest. Senior midfield Julia Causbie has four goals and six assists, while senior forward Hannah Cecil has five goals and one assist. PLU defeated Whitworth twice last season and has won nine in a row in the series.
The Coach: Whitworth soccer alum Cameron Bushey is in his third season as head coach of the women's soccer team. The Pirates followed up a 6-8-5 record during his first year in 2022 with a 9-6-5 mark (9-5-2 NWC) last season.
Bushey 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 open the second round of Northwest Conference play at George Fox and Pacific (Ore.) next weekend.
