By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth women's soccer team is back at Whitworth Soccer Field this weekend with an opportunity to make a jump in the conference standings. The Bucs host George Fox on Saturday and Willamette on Sunday. Both matches will start at 2:45 pm as the second leg of a men's-women's doubleheader.
Check the Whitworth women's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
Watch on FloCollege: All of Whitworth's Northwest Conference athletic events will be streamed through FloCollege in 2026-27. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $120 for an annual subscription or $25 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
The Pirates: The Bucs (2-4 overall) fell to 1-3 in the NWC after dropping a pair of one-goal matches last weekend.
On Wednesday, the Pirates fell 2-1 to Whitman in this season's first Battle of Whits. After a scoreless first half, Emma Foley got past a defender and put the Blues up 1-0. In the 64th minute, Erin Kumasaka headed in her first career off a corner kick from Hailey Herboth to even the score. Just over a minute later, Whitman answered with the game winner. Roderick made two saves in net.
Whitworth fell 2-1 to Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday. The Boxers forced a turnover near the Pirates' box and they took advantage of it with a go-ahead goal. A goal from distance early in the second half put the Boxers up 2-0. The Bucs kept fighting and got one back when Herboth made a creative move near the endline and put home her first career goal. Both of Whitworth's attempts on goal in the final 10 minutes were saved. Karlee Roderick made five saves at goalkeeper.
Lock Down Defense: The Pirates have shown to have one of the top performing defenses in the Northwest Conference. So far this season, the Bucs are tied for second in goals allowed (6) and are fourth in goals against average (1.00).
In net, sophomore goalkeeper Karlee Roderick has picked up where she left off a season ago, ranking second in the NWC in save percentage (.786), fourth in saves per game (3.75) and tied for second with two shutouts.
The Opponents: George Fox heads to Spokane at 1-5-1 overall and 0-4-1 in conference play. The Bruins lone draw of the season was a scoreless contest against frequent conference champion Pacific Lutheran. GFU has struggled to find the back of the net this season with just two goals scored. In the defensive third, the Bruins have given up 11 goals, tied for the most in the NWC. First-years Mia Kalina and Maddie Twichell have netted the two goals scored. Marissa Lam and Myann Johansen have split time at goalkeeper. Lam has five starts, though Johansen holds the stronger goals against average (0.67) and save percentage (.857). Last season the Pirates played a scoreless first match in Newberg before beating the Bruins 4-1 in Spokane.
Willamette (3-3 overall) heads into the week tied with Whitworth in the conference standings at 1-3 in the NWC. That may look different following the Bearcats' match against Pacific on Wednesday and Whitman on Saturday. Willamette has been outscored by opponents 8-6 this season, resulting in a 1.00 scoring average and 1.33 goals against average. The six Bearcat goals have been scored by six different players, led by Claire Warthen who leads the team with nine shots on goal. Isabella Arias-Lasalde has started five of six games at goalkeeper, posting a .773 save percentage with five goals allowed.
The Coach: Whitworth soccer alum Cameron Bushéy is in his fifth season as head coach of the women's soccer team. The Pirates have a 31-32-20 record under Bushéy and a 28-26-14 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 heads to the west side for a pair of challenging matches against Puget Sound on October 10 and Pacific Lutheran on October 11.
