By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's soccer squad will be back at Whitworth Soccer Field for a pair of Homecoming weekend matchups against the top two teams in the Northwest Conference. The Pirates battle Puget Sound on Saturday and Pacific Lutheran on Sunday. Both contests will start at noon in the first leg of a men's-women's doubleheader.
Check the Whitworth women's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
The Pirates: Whitworth (0-5-4 overall, 0-4-2 NWC) was held out of the win column last weekend in Oregon.
The Pirates played a scoreless draw at George Fox on Saturday. Paige Broadrick made her second start at goalkeeper and saved each of the Bruins' seven shots on goal. Whitworth had several chances to take the lead in the second half but could not convert its opportunities into goals. The Bucs put six of their seven shots on net and Lily Cardenas led the team with two shots on goal.
On Sunday, Lewis & Clark downed the Pirates 2-0. A free kick that was inadvertently headed into the net by a Whitworth defender gave the Pioneers an early lead in the 18th minute. Three minutes later, a Lewis & Clark corner kick was headed into the net to pad the lead. The Pirates turned up their attack in the second half and outshot the Pioneers 12-5 in total shots and 9-1 in shots on goal. L&C goalkeeper Delaney Jones saved all 10 Whitworth shots in the match. Addison Dizard and Kylee Russell led the Pirate attack with seven combined shots.
Whitworth has now gone five consecutive matches and a total of 523 minutes since its last goal. The Bucs will look to end that streak this weekend.
The Opponents: Puget Sound makes the trip to Spokane with a 5-2-3 overall record and 4-0-2 record in NWC play. The Loggers took down Linfield 2-1 and tied 0-0 with Pacific (Ore.) last weekend. UPS has scored 14 goals this season and allowed just six scored, second lowest in the conference, one behind Pacific Lutheran. The Loggers lead the league in total shots with 137. Senior forward Leila Hausia-Haugen leads the UPS attack with five goals and leads the NWC with 20 shots on goal. Freshman midfielder Kate Short has four goals and sophomore defender Hayden Goodman leads the team with four assists. Gianna Maldonado has nine starts at goalkeeper this season and has a .872 save percentage with four shutouts. Whitworth is 1-5-2 in its last eight matches against the Loggers. UPS earned a 3-0 win in Spokane last season.
Pacific Lutheran is 4-2-4 overall and 4-0-2 in NWC play this season. The Lutes played to a draw with Pacific and beat Linfield 2-0 last weekend in Tacoma. They will head to Whitman on Saturday before visiting Whitworth on Sunday. PLU is a strong defensive team with a league-low five goals allowed. PLU has scored 11 goals and averages 5.10 shots on goal per game. Junior midfielder Liv Olson is second in the conference with five goals scored. Senior forward Kiana Gutierrez leads the team with three assists. Senior goalkeeper Abby Winkler is first in the NWC with 50 saves and second in the conference with a .909 save percentage through ten starts. The Lutes hold an 11-match winning streak over the Pirates heading into this weekend. Whitworth's last win was a 1-0 victory in Tacoma in 2018.
NWC Standings: Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran are tied atop the conference standings with 14 points and 4-0-2 records. Linfield (3-2-2) fell to third with 11 points while Whitman sits in fourth at 2-0-4. Pacific (1-1-5) is in fifth and Lewis & Clark (2-3-1) moved to sixth. Willamette (1-4-2) sits in seventh while George Fox (0-3-4) and Whitworth (0-4-2) are still looking for their first conference win.
Watch on FloCollege: All of Whitworth's Northwest Conference athletic events will be streamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $120 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
The Coach: Whitworth soccer alum Cameron Bushéy is in his fourth season as head coach of the women's soccer team. The Pirates have a 26-25-16 record under Bushéy and a 24-20-10 mark in the Northwest Conference.
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 begin the second half of NWC play with a final trip to Oregon to visit Pacific on October 18th and Willamette on October 19th.
