McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield continued its strong start to the Northwest Conference season with a 2-0 win over visiting Whitworth in Sunday's women's soccer match at Linfield Soccer Field.

The Pirates (0-4-3 overall, 0-3-1 NWC) were held off the scoreboard for the third straight contest. The Wildcats improved to 5-0-3 overall and 3-0-1 in conference play.

Linfield got on the board early after a corner kick was deflected towards the goal and into the back of the net. The Wildcats controlled possession for much of the half, generating five corner kicks and five shots on goal but the Bucs held tough and kept the game within reach.

Tring to find the equalizer, Whitworth played a strong second half and put three shots on goal to Linfield's two. Katherine Kent and Faith Shaw fired two of those shots in the final ten minutes, but the Pirates couldn't break through. With time winding down, the Wildcats continued to push the ball into their attacking third and capitalized in the 82^nd minute when Lize Rendon's kick from the right side of the box was just out of Karlee Roderick's reach and found the top left corner to put the game out of reach.

Linfield had a 12-7 advantage in shots (6-3 on goal) and had seven corner kicks to Whitworth's one.

Roderick made five saves in 86 minutes and Paige Broadrick played the final four minutes in net.

Alexa Fritz made three saves in the Wildcats' shutout effort.

Pirates hit the road again next weekend to visit George Fox on October 4^th and Lewis & Clark on October 5^th.