SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth University lacrosse hits the road for a rare out-of-region road trip this coming weekend when the Pirates travel to the Chicago area to take on Illinois Tech and North Central College. Saturday's game at Illinois Tech will start at 5 pm (CDT) / 2 pm (PDT), while Sunday's contest at North Central starts at 2 pm (CDT) / Noon (PDT).
Check the Whitworth lacrosse schedule for live links to his week's games.
The Pirates: Whitworth (1-3) is coming off a home loss to Whitman College in a non-conference match up of NWC rivals in the Pine Bowl last Saturday.
The Pirates got off to a good start but could not sustain the momentum in a 13-8 setback to the Blues. Whitworth led 4-2 after the first quarter but was outscored 5-0 in the second period. The Bucs got back within 7-6 early in the third quarter before Whitman pulled away for good. Campbell Vincent led Whitworth with four goals, while Kenzie Hemman scored twice. Sage Fosnock made eight saves.
The Opponents: Whitworth has never played either upcoming opponent.
Illinois Tech is 1-5 heading into a match on Wednesday night against John Carroll University. The Scarlett Hawks picked up their first win of the season last Thursday against Hanover College (12-8). Illinois Tech has been outscored 101-26 this season, including a 19-1 setback to North Central. Antonia Martinez (Jr., A) has 16 goals this season, including seven vs. Hanover. Isabella Niebler (So., M) has four goals and two assists.
North Central is 5-1 following a Wednesday afternoon win over Spalding University (18-4). The Cardinals made a trip to the Pacific Northwest ten days ago and defeated Pacific (Ore.) 14-4 before losing at Lewis & Clark 14-9 for their first setback of the season. NCC has outscored its opponents 93-36 in 2025. Two players have accounted for almost half of the team's goals. Abbie McKenzie (Sr., M) has 24 goals and one assist, while Annelise Oster (Sr., A) has 22 goals and three assists.
Record Day: The 26 goals against Eastern Oregon on March 1st broke the previous school mark of 22 goals against Whitman set on March 6, 2022. The 14 assists vs. EOU topped the previous record of 11 assists vs. Pacific (Ore.) on April 20 of last season.
No Sophomore Slump: Campbell Vincent, who led the Pirates in goals scored in 2024 (56), is off to an even better start in 2025. She has already tied her own school record with six goals in the season-opening match at George Fox, the third time in her career she has reached that mark. She set a new team record with five assists vs. Eastern Oregon, surpassing the previous record of four shared by Abby Hahn and Rebecca Irwin. With 17 goals and six assists through only four matches, Vincent leads the NWC in goals per game (4.25) and points per game (5.75).
The Coach: Noelle Brouillard is in her seventh season as head coach at Whitworth, the only seasons the Pirates have been a varsity program. Since the restart following COVID, Whitworth has shown dramatic improvement each year. The Bucs went 0-10 in 2021. They won five times in 2022, went 6-12 in 2023 and broke through with a 12-6 record in 2024, including an 8-4 mark in the NWC.
Brouillard came to Whitworth from the University of Scranton, where she was the top women's lacrosse assistant coach for two seasons. Scranton had a 22-13 record over the two years Brouillard served as assistant coach. The Royals advanced to the Landmark Conference tournament championship game in 2017 and finished with an 11-6 record. She played for four seasons at Allegheny College (Pa.), where she was a two-time team captain in 2012 and 2013.
Looking ahead: The Pirates will return from Chicago and get a weekend off before hosting George Fox and Pacific (Ore.) on April 5th and 6th in the first NWC-counters of the 2025 season.
