Catlax’s claws Bearcats

Angel Rosas, News Editor

The sun shined bright across the Mcminnville campus on Sunday but the Wildcats’ lacrosse team shined even brighter. 

The ‘Cats entered the game after a tough loss at the hands of George Fox on Saturday 21-7. The women’s lacrosse team hosted the Willamette Bearcats on Sunday looking to get back into their winning streak. 

The Wildcats came off to a fast and aggressive start to the game. Linfield’s sophomore Nathaly Sanchez scored got the ‘Cats up on the board within the first few seconds of the game. 

Sophomore Gabriella Moe gave a solid pass to an in-stride freshman Bethany Shade marking the second goal of the game. 

“The team held composure throughout the whole thing and I felt that we were all in sync today,” junior Sarah Schmidt said. 

The Wildcats continued to bring the game to the Bearcats and did not let up the constant attack. 

The offense showed their dominance by having each of the first six goals were scored by six different Linfield players. 

Willamette was completely limited in their ability to take shots and do anything offensively. In fact, the Bearcats got off only four shots on goal in the first half and all but one was saved by Linfield’s goalie junior Kylee Duey and the Wildcats’ defense. 

By the end of the first half, Linfield was up 15 to 1 with the last goal coming from junior Molly Herrera in the last second of the half. 

The second half did not give any favors for the Bearcats either. The ‘Cats were kept the Bearcats to one goal for most of the second half. 

Not only did they limit the Bearcats but the ‘Cats were able to add to their already monstrous lead. 

“We played like a unit and didn’t let our last victory over them lull us,” Duey said. “We played our game and were not swayed from our goal.”’ 

The Wildcats won the game 18-3. 

The Cats’ next game is pivotal in maintaining their second in conference ranking. 

Moe said that getting second place and having a winning season are some of the main goals of the season. 

With this win, they have achieved a winning season but in order to finish second in the conference, they have to beat Whitman. 

The Wildcats will host Whitman tonight at 5 p.m. at Maxwell field.