SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's lacrosse team is back in the Northwest Conference tournament this season. The Pirates will take on a very familiar opponent in Saturday's semifinal when they battle Willamette at 3:00 pm on the campus of George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. Sunday's championship game would start at 1:00 pm.
Check the Whitworth women's lacrosse schedule for live links to this week's matches.
Ticket Information: The NWC will charge admission for entry to the conference lacrosse tournament this weekend. Prices for each day of the tournament are as follows: Adults ($6), Seniors and Children up to 17 ($3). Students from each participating school receive free admission with valid student ID. Game tickets may be purchased online through George Fox's Hometown Tickets portal.
The Pirates: Whitworth (12-5 overall, 8-4 NWC) closed out the most successful regular season in team history with a split last weekend at home, defeating Pacific (Ore.) but falling by one goal to Willamette. The Pirates finished third in the NWC standings. They average 14.7 goals per game (third in the conference) and allow 10.1 goals per game (also third).
Whitworth outscored visiting Pacific 8-1 in the second quarter to breakaway for a 17-5 win over the Boxers on Saturday. After honoring five seniors prior to the match, the team started a little slowly, falling behind 2-1 in the opening minutes. The Bucs regrouped and ended the first quarter with a 4-2 lead, then dominated the second period to go ahead 12-3 at halftime. Whitworth outshot Pacific 39-14 after causing 25 Boxer turnovers and winning 17 of the 25 draw controls. Rebecca Irwin led the offense with four goals and four assists (8 points). Campbell Vincent scored five goals to reach 50 for the season. Sierra Witte had seven draw controls, two ground balls, two assists and a goal in an all-around effort. Sage Fosnock made five saves in the first three quarters, while Faith Rempfer stopped four shots in the final period.
Whitworth lost 12-11 to Willamette on Sunday in a matchup of the second and third place teams in the standings. The Pirates battled back from an early 5-1 deficit to tie the contest 5-5 at halftime. The physical match featured several cards in the second half, and a long delay for an injury. Whitworth rallied from a 12-9 deficit to get within 12-11 and had a shot at tying the match in the final seconds that went wide. The Bucs converted only 2 of 11 free position opportunities, while the Bearcats made 5 of 8. Vincent had four goals and an assist, while Irwin had two goals and two assists. Kenzie Hemman was all over the field with eight draw controls, six caused turnovers, six ground balls and two goals. Fosnock made 12 saves in the match.
NWC Tournament Info: The 2024 Northwest Conference playoffs consist of a four-team tournament hosted by regular season champion George Fox in Newberg, Oregon. The semifinals are on Saturday, May 4 (Noon and 3:00 pm), and championship game is on Sunday, May 5 (1:00 pm). While the 2024 Northwest Conference championship was decided by regular season play, the 2024 NWC playoffs will determine the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
The same four schools are in the 2024 tournament as were in the inaugural 2023 tournament.
Season Milestones: Whitworth has clinched several single season milestones in 2024. Most overall wins, most conference victories, first winning season, longest winning streak (4), highest-ever NWC finish.
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 fifth (3.18 goals per match). The reason is balance. Eleven different Bucs have scored at least three goals this season and ten different players have scored at least 14. Vincent leads the team with 54 goals. Rebecca Irwin leads the squad in total points (62) and assists (24).
Net Minding: Sage Fosnock ranks third in the Northwest Conference in goals against average this season, giving up 10.16 goals per contest. They also rank third in the NWC in saves percentage, stopping 42.7% of the shots they have faced. The Whitworth defense provides a strong wall of support in front of Fosnock, limiting opponents to only 22.2 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 Opponent: Willamette finished the regular season 13-3 overall and 10-2 in the NWC to earn second place in the standings. The Bearcats defeated Whitman 16-7 last Saturday before the close win at Whitworth on Sunday. Willamette scores 16.8 goals per match and gives up only 8.2 per contest, the fewest in the NWC. Junior attack Lily Bachiochi has 62 goals and an NWC-best 50 assists for 112 points, the second-highest total in the NWC, but the highest points per game average (7.0). Whitworth fell to Willamette 14-11 in Salem, Oregon on April 7th in addition to Sunday's 12-11 setback.
The Other Half of the Bracket: Top-seeded George Fox is 13-3 overall and 12-0 in the NWC. The Bruins have claimed every NWC title since 2015 and have won 70 consecutive matches against conference opponents. The Bruins average 18.3 goals per game to lead the NWC. They allow 8.6 goals per game (2nd in the NWC). Four GFU players average between 3.9 and 5.4 points per game.
Whitman is 10-7 overall and 6-6 in the NWC, finishing fourth in the standings. The Blues have averages of 13.8 goals scored and 12.3 goals allowed per game. Madeleine Sherry leads the NWC in goals this season by a wide margin with 84. Renn Novak has the conference's best save percentage in goal (.472).
Coming up next: The winner of the NWC tournament qualifies for the NCAA Division III women's lacrosse championships. The field for that tournament will be announced on Monday morning (May 6) at 7:30 am Pacific time. The first round matches will take place on Saturday, May 11.
