SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's lacrosse team has six matches left on the schedule and gets to play five of those at home, beginning with two this weekend. The Pirates will host Linfield on Saturday before hosting George Fox on Sunday. Both contests are scheduled to start at 1:00 pm.
Check the Whitworth women's lacrosse schedule for live links to this week's matches.
The Pirates: Whitworth (8-3 overall, 4-2 NWC) closed out the first half of Northwest Conference play in Oregon last weekend, winning at Pacific before falling at Willamette. The Pirates are averaging 15.6 goals per game (third in the NWC) and allowing 9.5 goals per contest (second in the NWC).
Whitworth won 20-4 at Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday, building a 13-1 lead at halftime and 16-1 after three quarters. The Pirate defense forced 25 turnovers by the Boxers and came away with 24 ground balls. Whitworth won 15 of 26 draw controls. All of that led to a 32-9 advantage in shots. First-year attacker Campbell Vincent set a new school record with six goals in a single match, breaking the previous record of five shared by several players. Abby Hahn had five goals while Kenzie Hemman had four goals and an assist. Sage Fosnock made four saves.
Whitworth fell into too big of a deficit in Sunday's showdown at Willamette, a matchup of teams tied for second place in the NWC standings. The Bearcats forced 19 first half turnovers by the Pirates on the way to an 8-0 halftime lead. Whitworth outscored Willamette 11-6 in the second half but came up on the short end of a 14-11 loss. The Pirates won 21 of the 29 draw controls, including seven by Hemman and five apiece from Sierra Witte and Megan Whitman. Rebecca Irwin led the offense with three goals and two assists. Fosnock made eight saves.
One win from history: Whitworth has already surpassed the previous season-high for victories in one season this spring (6-12 in 2023). Now the Pirates are one win away from clinching the first winning record in school history. Whitworth began playing varsity lacrosse in 2019.
Finding Balance: Whitworth ranks among the top scoring teams in the Northwest Conference in 2024, but the Pirates have only one player among the top ten individual scorers in the NWC – Campbell Vincent is seventh (3.00 goals per match). The reason is balance. Eleven different Bucs have scored at least two goals this season and nine different players have scored at least ten. Vincent leads the team with 33 goals. Rebecca Irwin and Abby Hahn lead the team in assists (14) and Irwin leads the squad in total points (24 goals, 14 assists, 38 points).
Net Minding: Sage Fosnock ranks second in the Northwest Conference in goals against average this season, giving up 9.54 goals per contest. They rank second in the NWC in saves percentage, stopping 44.7% of the shots they have faced. The Whitworth defense provides a strong wall of support in front of Fosnock, limiting opponents to only 22.1 shots per game this season.
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: Linfield is 3-6 overall and 2-4 in the NWC, having won two of the last three conference contests. The Wildcats won 17-7 at Puget Sound on Sunday and they have a match against Lewis & Clark on Wednesday night. Linfield averages 14.8 goals per contest and allows 15.9. Sophomore midfielder Gabby Crist has 27 goals and ten assists, while sophomore attacker Savannah Irwin has 12 goals and a team-high 13 assists. Whitworth defeated Linfield 11-7 in the teams' first meeting in Oregon on March 9th.
George Fox is 7-3 overall and 6-0 in the NWC heading into Saturday's match at Whitman. The Bruins have won 58 straight league contests dating back to 2016. GFU averages 16.9 goals and allows 10.4 per game. Sophomore midfielder Lana Davis has 28 goals and 22 assists to lead the team with 50 points. Fellow sophomore Ava Bluhm leads the team with 36 goals. The Bruins defeated the Pirates 19-7 in Newberg on March 10.
Coming up next: Whitworth will host Whitman on Wednesday, April 17 before playing at Puget Sound on Saturday, April 20.
