SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's lacrosse team will close out the first half of the Northwest Conference schedule this week.  The Pirates will play at Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday before heading to Willamette on Sunday.  Both contests are scheduled to start at noon.

Check the Whitworth women's lacrosse schedule for live links to this week's matches.

The Pirates: Whitworth (7-2 overall, 3-1 NWC) established a new high-water mark for wins in one season after a victory in California last week, surpassing the record set in 2023 when the Bucs finished 6-12.  The Pirates are averaging 15.7 goals per game (fourth in the NWC) and allowing 9.6 goals per contest (second in the NWC).

Whitworth won 17-14 at Cal Lutheran last Wednesday behind a five-goal performance from Kenzie Hemman and four goals by Campbell Vincent.  Rebecca Irwin finished with three goals and an assist, and two of those goals were the final two of the contest as the Bucs pulled away from a 15-14 lead.  Whitworth held CLU scoreless for the final seven minutes of the match.  Hemman also played a big part of the Pirates' dominance in draw controls (21-14) with ten on her own.  Sage Fosnock made ten saves.

Whitworth had a chance for a sweep in California, but host Redlands outscored the Pirates 4-0 in the fourth quarter in a come-from-behind 12-10 win for the Bulldogs.  Megan Whitman scored the first three goals of the match for the Bucs and led the team with three tallies.  Irwin had two goals and an assist.  After her goal with 2:14 left in the third quarter gave Whitworth a 10-7 lead, the Pirates were unable to score again over the final 17 minutes.  Fosnock kept the team close by making 12 saves.

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 tenth (2.78 goals per match).  The reason is balance.  Eleven different Bucs have scored at least two this season and nine different players have scored at least ten. Vincent leads the team with 25 goals.  Abby Hahn leads the team in assists (13) and Rebecca Irwin leads the squad in total points (20 goals, 10 assists, 30 points).

Net Minding:  Sage Fosnock ranks second in the Northwest Conference in goals against average this season, giving up 9.66 goals per contest.  They rank second in the NWC in saves percentage, stopping 45.6% of the shots they have faced.  The Whitworth defense provides a strong wall of support in front of Fosnock, limiting opponents to only 22.4 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:  Pacific (Ore.) comes into Saturday's match 2-6 overall and 0-4 in the NWC.  The Boxers spent their spring break in the Midwest, losing at North Central (Ill.) 14-4 and at Concordia (Wis.) 18-1.  Senior midfielder Hyland Cullen-Musengo leads the team with 14 goals despite playing in only four of the team's matches.  Fellow senior Devyn Davis has 11 goals and five assists.  Last season Whitworth defeated Pacific 10-5 in Spokane, but lost 10-9 to the Boxers in Oregon.

Willamette is 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the NWC heading into a match on Saturday against Whitman.  The Bearcats and Pirates are currently tied for second place in the NWC.  Last week Willamette won twice in California, defeating Occidental 19-9 and Cal Lutheran 19-11.  Junior attacker Lily Bachiochi has 29 goals, 22 assists and 51 points.  She ranks first in the NWC in assists and second in total points.  Sophomore Claire Kisielnicki also has 29 goals this season.  Willamette swept Whitworth in 2023, winning 16-7 in Spokane and 17-15 in Salem.

Coming up next: Whitworth will host Linfield and George Fox on April 13-14 to open the second half of the NWC schedule.