Men’s soccer accelerates to win conference opener

Sara Levering, Copy editor

The Linfield men’s soccer team got themselves a win against the visiting Whitman Missionaries Saturday afternoon in their conference opening match.

This was the first time in five years the men’s team has won their conference opening game.

Linfield took an early lead in the fourth minute, with Moi Diaz 18’ dribbling the ball from 40 yards through multiple defenders and scoring unassisted.

In the 20th minute, Diaz went one-on-one and sent the ball straight to the back of the net, once again unassisted.

In goal, Jorge Rodriguez 17’ registered the win with seven saves.

Linfield had many chances their way on the field with some beautiful passes.

They had good shots on goal, a couple hitting the cross bar on the top of the goal, including a beautiful look from Tyler Repic 16’.

A minute into the second half, Whitman registered a goal sent long and into the left edge of the net making it a 2-1 game, Linfield leading.

With a corner kick from Aaron Barber-Axthelm 18’ a header was achieved assisted by Alex Gosselin-Bockel 16’ making it a 3-1 game with nearly ten minutes remaining.

Wildcat defense stayed strong throughout the game and the team maintained their two-goal lead bringing home the win with a final score of 3-1.