Kurtis Williams – For the Review. After a strong start to the season, the women’s soccer team dropped back-to-back road games against Whitworth University and Whitman College.
In a heartbreaker, the ’Cats lost 1-0 to the Whitworth Pirates. The game-winning goal was scored fewer than two minutes before the final whistle.
Whitworth, second in the Northwest Conference, fired a barrage of shots at junior goalkeeper Kelsey Hasselblad. Linfield was outshot 18-2. Hasselblad made eight saves while her Pirate counterpart, sophomore Callie Bergstrom, made none.
Junior forward MacKenzie Doty said that, going into the game, the team was confident in its ability to play as if it had nothing to lose.
Despite the tough loss, Doty said the team was stronger after the experience.
“I think it brought us more together as a team,” Doty said. “I thought we came away from Saturday’s game with an OK feeling about it.”
Although the loss was tough for the ’Cats, they were not demoralized, as the Pirates were the heavy favorite entering the match.
Against Whitman, however, Linfield was the favorite on paper. A slow start, however, hampered its ability to salvage a split of the weekend games.
With three goals in the first 25 minutes, the Missionaries built an insurmountable lead.
“We, as a team, have continuously come out kind of slow,” Doty said. “Once a team gets a few quick goals on you in soccer, it kind of changes the whole momentum of the game.”
Whitman senior midfielder Corina Gabbert netted a hat-trick, which awarded her the NWC’s Women’s Soccer Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week title.
After a fourth Whitman goal in the second half, the ’Cats came to life, scoring two goals with fewer than five minutes remaining. The goals were scored by freshman Anna Sours and junior Holly Hasha.
The ’Cats’ comeback, however, fell short, and the team lost 2-4.
The two losses drop the Wildcats to 6-4 overall and 3-3 in conference play.
Doty said the team’s weekend performance was not from lack of effort, as the team reached its win total from last year within its first eight games. Rather, every game in the conference is a struggle, and no win is assured, she said.
To alleviate anxieties from the weekend results, Doty said the team must realize that there are still 10 games left, and anything can happen in this league.
“I don’t think by any means [that] anyone on the team thinks it’s over,” Doty said. “We just come to practice and play hard.”
The team hosts seven-time defending NWC champion and No. 1 nationally ranked University of Puget Sound on Oct. 10 before traveling to play George Fox University on Oct. 11.
“Coming in as the underdog, I think it’s fun really,” Doty said of playing UPS. “It should be a fun game; I’m excited.”