SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth lacrosse team officially opens Northwest Conference play with a pair of road games in Oregon this weekend. The Pirates will play at Pacific University on Friday at 5:00 pm and at George Fox on Saturday at 1:00 pm. The typical weekend schedule has moved up a day to avoid playing on Easter Sunday.
Check the Whitworth lacrosse schedule for live links to his week's games.
The Pirates: Whitworth (4-5) split a pair of one-goal games in California last week.
The Bucs dropped a hard-fought 12-11 decision at Occidental College last Wednesday night. Whitworth never led in the match, but was able to tie the contest 2-2, 5-5 and 8-8. After the Tigers grabbed a 12-9 lead late in the game, the Pirates closed within one goal with 2:26 to play, but could not get the tying shot to go in. Campbell Vincent had five goals and two assists, while Sierra Witte finished with two goals and three assists. Megan Whitman won 11 draw controls, caused three turnovers and got two ground balls to go along with her goal and two assists. Kayla Jones allowed seven goals and made eight saves, while Charlotte Norton gave up five goals and made six saves as the pair split time in net.
Whitworth built an 11-4 lead in the third quarter at Cal Lutheran before watching the Regals score seven straight goals in the second half to tie the game with 2:55 to play. Megan Whitman scored the game's final goal with 1:31 left to lift the Pirates to the win. Vincent scored six of Whitworth's first seven goals and finished with six goals and two assists. Witte scored twice and won five draw controls. Keira Paulus had three caused turnovers and three ground balls on defense. Jones and Norton split time in goal again. Jones allowed three goals with seven saves, while Norton gave up eight goals with five saves.
The Opponents: Pacific University is 6-3 overall and 0-1 in the NWC. The Boxers are off to their best start in several years, including wins over Greensboro (15-1) and Warren Wilson (15-4) in North Carolina last week. Pacific is averaging 11.33 goals per game (third in the NWC) and giving up only 7.22 goals per contest (first in the NWC). Sophomore Ellena Willingham leads the team on offense with 28 goals and five assists. Sophomore GK Jocelyn Taylor has played the majority of minutes in goal and has a 6.67 GAA while stopping 44.4% of the shots she has faced. Whitworth defeated Pacific 21-6 in Spokane in the teams' only game last season.
Defending NWC champion George Fox is also 6-3 this season. The Bruins are coming off a 1-2 week in the South. GFU lost 17-7 at Rhodes and 14-11 at Sewanee before defeating Spalding 20-3. The Bruins lead the NWC on offense, averaging 15.11 goals per game. They allow 9.00, third in the NWC. Senior M Lana Davis leads the conference in goals (38) and points (59) and ranks second in assists (21). Fellow senior Ava Bluhm has 20 goals and 17 assists this year. GFU defeated Whitworth 18-6 in Spokane on March 7th in a non-conference match between the teams.
Statistically-speaking: Whitworth is averaging 10.9 goals per game (4th in the NWC). The Pirates have allowed 12.8 goals per game, which ranks seventh in the conference.
Scoring Machine: Campbell Vincent, a junior attacker, is already the most prolific scorer in Whitworth lacrosse history. Vincent holds single game records for goals (8), assists (5) and points (10). She carries single-season records for goals (65 in 2025) and points (83 in 2025). And through 41 career games, she is the Pirates' career leader in goals (157), points (192), shots (264) and shots on-goal (219). She currently leads the Pirates, and ranks second in the NWC, in goals (36). She is third in the conference in total points (47).
Watch on FloCollege: Like the rest of the Northwest Conference, Whitworth's home athletic events will be steamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $116 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
The Coach: Noelle Brouillard is in her eighth 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. Last season the Pirates finished 7-7 overall and 4-4 in the NWC, tied for fourth place.
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: Whitworth will return home to host Whitman on Wednesday April 8th and Linfield on Sunday, April 12th.
