SALEM, Ore. – The Whitworth offense took too long to find its rhythm in a 14-11 loss at Willamette on Sunday afternoon in a Northwest Conference lacrosse contest.
The Pirates fell to 8-3 overall and 4-2 at the halfway point of the NWC schedule, while the Bearcats improved to 8-2, 5-1 after a battle of teams that were tied for second place in the league standings.
Whitworth's offense didn't show up for the first half of Sunday's match as Willamette took an 8-0 lead at halftime. Shae Richardson-Pepp had three of those goals, while Claire Kisielnicki and Alyssa Molisee had two.
Campbell Vincent got the Pirates on the board in the opening minute of the third quarter with her team-leading 31st goal of the season. But Whitworth could not gain any ground as each team scored five times in the period. Rebecca Irwin scored two of those Pirate goals, but the Bucs still trailed 13-5 after the third.
Vincent scored early in the fourth before Lily Bachiochi answered for Willamette with ten minutes to go. With five minutes to play Whitworth finally found its offensive groove, scoring five times in the final five minutes. Kenison Turner's goal with just over one minute to play made it 14-10 and Jordyn Bennett cut the margin to 14-11 with 25 seconds left. The Bucs won the draw control and had a good chance at a 12th goal, but the shot was saved in the final seconds of the match.
Irwin finished with three goals and two assists to lead the Pirates, while Vincent and Sierra Witte scored two apiece. Bennett added four draw controls, three caused turnovers and two ground balls to her goal. Kenzie Hemman had seven draw controls to lead the Pirates to a 21-7 advantage in that category. Sage Fosnock finished with eight saves.
Richardson-Popp totaled five goals and an assist for Willamette, while Kisielnicki and Bachiochi scored three apiece.
Whitworth will play five of its final six matches at home, beginning this coming weekend when the Pirates take on Linfield on Saturday and league-leading George Fox on Sunday.
