Rachel Mills
For the Review

Although four games in as many days meant that the women’s lacrosse team did not have a restful Spring Break, it came away from its trips to southern California and then Tacoma, Wash., with its first two wins of the season against North Central and Pomona-Pitzer colleges and a season record of 2-5.
“It was a very solid series of games,” first-year head coach Tim Hart said. “We improved with each game.”
The Wildcats first faced California’s Whittier College on March 20. The game began with just four goals in the first half. Whittier almost reached halftime with a 3-0 shutout, but Wildcat senior attacker Sammy Smith sent the ball sailing past Whittier goalkeeper sophomore Conny Joel into the net as time expired.
Smith followed up in the second half with an additional two goals, but even combined with goals from her teammates seniors midfielder Michelle Dorris, defender Callie Martin and freshman midfielder Anna Gorciak, they weren’t enough. The Whittier Poets returned from halftime with a vengence, scoring 12 goals in the second half and ending the game with a 15-7 victory.
“We had some ups and downs in that game,” Martin said. “We fought back to the last minute. We played our hearts out.”
She said the Wildcats didn’t dwell on the loss; they had another game to play the following day.
“We highlighted the things we struggled with and fixed those for the next day, and we capitalized on the things we did well,” Martin said.
The team traveled to Claremont, Calif. On March 21. and took the field against Pomona-Pitzer College and emerged with its first victory of the season.
Trailing 5-4 late in the first half, the ’Cats made a comeback when junior midfielder Martha Inouye pushed a ball into the Hens’ goal. Gorciak quickly seized the opportunity and followed with another four goals.
Linfield maintained its lead in the second half with goals from Smith, Inouye and freshman midfielder Taylor Fisher. The buzzer sounded on a 15-12 win for Linfield.
The third game of the team’s California tour ended with another loss for the ’Cats. The University of Redlands Bulldogs opened the game with an intense string of four goals that began with a goal from junior attacker Diana Frey 16 seconds into the game.
Linfield tried to fight back from a halftime disadvantage of 9-3, managing to post five goals from Smith, Inouye and junior defender Ashley Johnson in the first 15 minutes of the second half. The Bulldogs refused to give in; despite Linfield’s valiant efforts, the ’Cats ended the game with a 14-11 loss.
Linfield bagged its second win of the week March 23. The team played North Central College in Tacoma, Wash., and came home with a final score of 15-6 and another win to boost its record to 2-5 overall.
Hart said he was pleased with the women’s play during the trips to California and Washington. He singled out Inouye, Dorris and senior goalkeeper Rebecca Levy for particularly good performances.
“Inouye had an unbelievable week, scoring five goals in four games,” Hart said. “Becca [Levy] battled really hard in the goal; she had a lot of tough games but played well. And Michelle Dorris was an anchor. She played every second of every game and was as solid as a rock throughout.”
Despite a busy Spring Break, the team received little rest; it jumped right back into play March 30 with a second game against Whittier College.
The Poets once again emerged on top after scoring 12 goals in the first half and finishing with a 20-12 win posted on the scoreboard.
Poet junior attacker Sherise Varga opened the scoring with a bouncing goal within the first two minutes. Another seven goals left Linfield trailing behind with 10 minutes to play in the first half.
Smith put those 10 minutes to good use with a goal in the right corner that put Linfield on the scoreboard. Junior midfielder Tiffany Jones and sophomore attacker Tarie Caouette capitalized on Smith’s success to bring the score to 9-3. A surge of shots from Whittier boosted its score to 12, and Gorciak added three goals to Linfield’s tally. The ’Cats ended the half trailing by six.
The Wildcats came back during the second half, blocking all of the Poets’ shots for 14 minutes and adding another three goals from Smith, Caouette and Johnson. But even with these last-minute additions, Linfield wasn’t able to pull ahead. The Poets finished with a 20-12 victory over the ’Cats.
Despite a grueling game schedule, Hart said the players maintained their intensity.
“Endurance was not a factor,” he said. “I was worried about playing so many games in a row, but it didn’t even matter.”
He said that the team overall played a great series of games.
“The trip to California was a great experience; we went into every game focused and having fun,” Martin said. “Now we need to go into every game with that same mentality-focused, ready to play and excited.”