SPOKANE, Wash. – Willamette defeated Whitworth 12-11 in the Northwest Conference regular season finale for both schools on Sunday afternoon in the Whitworth Pine Bowl.
The teams were already set to meet again next weekend in one semifinal of the NWC tournament, no matter the outcome of today's match. The Bearcats improved to 13-3 overall and finished second in the conference with a 10-2 record. The Pirates dropped to 11-5, 8-4 for third place.
Because Willamette was able to suit up only 12 players, the Bearcats played almost the entire second half two players down after one picked up two yellow cards and the other suffered a game-ending injury early in the third quarter.
Willamette jumped ahead 3-0, including a pair of goals by Cedric Shaw, before the Pirates got on the board late in the opening quarter on a goal from Campbell Vincent.
Shaw scored again to increase the Bearcats' lead to 5-1 early in the second before Whitworth found its groove. Kenzie Hemman scored on a free position shot with just under seven minutes to play in the half, sparking a comeback that saw the Pirates tie the contest 5-5 by halftime when Hemman scored off an assist by Vincent with only eight seconds left in the half.
Playing inspired lacrosse in the second half due to the circumstances of being down in players, Willamette never fell behind and led the rest of the game after Claire Kisielnicki and Brooklyn Pearl tallied a pair of goals in the final seconds of the third period to give the visitors a 9-7 lead.
The Bearcats went ahead 12-9 with 4:38 left after a second yellow on another player left Willamette three players down. Whitworth got within one after goals by Rebecca Irwin and Abby Hahn and had a chance to tie the match in the closing seconds but the final shot sailed wide and time expired.
Vincent had four goals and an assist to lead the Pirates, while Irwin added two goals and two assists. Hemman finished with two goals, eight draw controls, six caused turnovers and six ground balls. Sage Fosnock made 12 saves.
Olivia Austin stopped 13 shots for Willamette, 11 of those saves came in the second half. Pearl had five goals and Shaw scored four, while adding eight draw controls, three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
