SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's lacrosse team gets back in action this week. The Pirates will play at Whitman on Wednesday at 5:00 pm, then host Puget Sound on Sunday at 1:00 pm. Whitworth has not played a match since March 10 at George Fox.
Check the Whitworth women's lacrosse schedule for live links to this weekend's matches.
The Pirates: Whitworth (4-1 overall, 1-1 NWC) opened the 2024 season with four consecutive victories, the first four-game winning streak in school history, before falling at defending Northwest Conference champion George Fox. The Pirates are averaging 15.6 goals per game (third in the NWC) and allowing 9.2 goals per contest (second in the NWC).
Whitworth defeated Linfield 11-7 on March 9th, building an 11-4 lead before the Wildcats scored three goals in late in the contest to trim the final margin. Sierra Witte, Megan Whitman and Campbell Vincent all scored a pair of goals, while Rebecca Irwin, Kenzie Hemman and Nikki Beers all had a goal and an assist. Witte also won four draw controls, had five ground balls and caused three turnovers. Sage Fosnock made eight saves. Whitworth's win over Linfield was its third in a row over the Wildcats.
The Pirates fell to George Fox 19-7 on Sunday, March 10th. The Bruins jumped to a 5-1 lead after the first quarter, then put the match away by outscoring the Bucs 5-0 in the fourth quarter. Vincent was the only Pirate with more than one goal (2). Abby Hahn and Caitlin Smith had a goal and an assist apiece. Whitman led Whitworth with four draw controls, while Hemman had five ground balls. Fosnock made 11 more saves, but the Pirates fell to the Bruins for the 11th straight time.
Finding Balance: Whitworth ranks among the top three scoring teams in the Northwest Conference in 2024, but the Pirates do not have any players among the top individual scorers in the NWC. The reason is balance. Eight different Bucs have scored at least five goals this season. Campbell Vincent leads the team with 14 goals. Rebecca Irwin is the team leader in assists (8) and total points (20) and is second on the squad with 12 goals.
Milestone Opener: Whitworth won its season opener for the first time in school history, defeating Eastern Oregon 21-5 on Feb. 17. The Pirates started playing lacrosse in 2019 and had never won the first match of the season until this year. The 16-goal margin of victory was also the largest-ever for the Bucs, surpassing the 14-goal margin during a 19-5 win over Whitman in 2020.
Hot Start: Whitworth's 4-0 start was the best in school history and marked the first time the Pirates had ever won four straight matches at any point in a season.
The Opponents: Whitman Colleges comes into Wednesday's match 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the NWC, averaging 14.4 goals per game while giving up 11.9 per contest. The Blues took a spring break trip to Southern California and were defeated by Occidental (20-1) on March 12th before beating Whittier 18-4 on March 13th. Whitman and Whitworth have common opponents in Linfield and George Fox. The Blues beat Linfield 18-17 in overtime and lost 14-6 at GFU on March 8-9. Senior attacker Madeleine Sherry leads the team and the Northwest Conference in goals (42) and total points (54) by a wide margin. Last season Whitman swept Whitworth, winning 18-9 in Spokane and 16-5 in Walla Walla. The Blues lead the all-time series 5-2.
Puget Sound is 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the NWC heading into Saturday's match at Whitworth. The Loggers lost 13-10 at Corban University and fell 17-6 in a neutral site game against Illinois Wesleyan played at Lewis & Clark last week. Sophomore midfielder Cat Schilli leads the team with 21 goals and two assists. The Loggers are scoring 10.2 goals per game, while giving up 12.6 per contest. Last season Whitworth and Puget Sound split the two matches. After UPS beat the Pirates 11-9 in Spokane, Whitworth won 15-11 in Tacoma for its first-ever win over UPS. The Loggers lead the all-time series 7-1.
Coming up next: Whitworth will head to California for a pair of matches over spring break. The Pirates will play at Cal Lutheran on March 27th and at Redlands on March 29th.
