SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's soccer team will open the 2024 Northwest Conference schedule at home this week against George Fox University and Pacific University. Both matches will start at 2:45 pm.
Check the Whitworth women's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
The Pirates: Whitworth is off to a 2-1 start to the season. The Pirates won a pair of games in Minnesota and Iowa on August 30-31, defeating Hamline University 4-1 and Luther College 3-0. Whitworth ran into a schedule snafu the following weekend when Northwest University elected not to travel to Spokane for a scheduled contest because of injury/roster issues. Head coach Cameron Bushey was able to quickly arrange an exhibition against CC of Spokane, a team the Bucs had lost to 2-1 in training camp. Whitworth defeated the Sasquatch 3-1 in the exhibition rematch. Whitworth suffered its first loss of the season on Sept. 14 to Corban University 2-1, despite holding a 30-8 edge in total shots.
Doubleheader Flip-Flop: For the first time in Northwest Conference history, the men's and women's doubleheaders have flip-flopped start times and the men will play first in the Noon time slot. The women will now play the second game at 2:45 pm.
Russell's Hot Start: Kylee Russell got off to a hot start this season, recording a hat trick in Whitworth's season-opener at Hamline and adding another goal the following day at Luther. She was named Northwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week for scoring those four goals in the opening weekend. She still ranks second in the NWC in goals scored.
The Opponents: George Fox is 3-1 so far in 2024, but that one loss is easy to dismiss. The Bruins lost 7-0 at traditional NCAA Division I powerhouse University of Portland on Monday. Head coach Laura Schott is in her fourth season at GFU. Leading the way for Schott are senior midfielder Becca Kozak (two goals) and senior forward Tayler Ho (one goal, two assists). Last season Whitworth swept the Bruins, winning 1-0 in Spokane and 2-1 in Newberg.
Pacific University is 1-3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Northwest Conference this season. The Boxers lost their NWC opener 2-1 at Linfield last Sunday, but first-year head coach Kellan McNamara picked up his first win in the rematch with the Wildcats on Wednesday night (1-0). Sophomore Mirella Garcia and graduate student Ivette Garcia-Gomez have scored two goals apiece. Whitworth won both meetings against Pacific last year, 2-0 at home and 1-0 on the road.
The Coach: Whitworth soccer alum Cameron Bushey is in his third season as head coach of the women's soccer team. The Pirates followed up a 6-8-5 record during his first year in 2022 with a 9-6-5 mark (9-5-2 NWC) last season.
Bushey came from Stanislaus State, where he was the top assistant coach. Bushey has club coaching stints in Spokane and Colorado and he was an assistant at Gonzaga University for two seasons (2018-19). He graduated from Whitworth in 2012 as a four-time All-NWC honoree who helped lead the Pirates to three NWC titles and NCAA Division III tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.
Coming up: Whitworth will host Whitman (Wednesday, Sept. 25) and play at Linfield (Sunday, Sept. 29) next week.
