Kurtis Williams – For the Review. After two consecutive 3-0 losses, the women’s soccer team pulled out a win in a mid-week match against Willamette University.
The team first hosted the No. 2 nationally ranked University of Puget Sound on Oct. 10.
The already daunting task became troublesome after UPS scored two goals within the first few minutes of play.
“I think [the team] had a lot of confidence going into the game,” head coach Dominic Doty said. “When you give two goals up in the first six minutes, it’s all uphill from there.”
UPS controlled the ball for the remainder of the game, scoring once more at the end of the first half.
Linfield’s defense held Logger senior forward Janece Levien, the Northwest Conference scoring leader, scoreless and allowed no goals in the second half.
“I was looking for effort rather than result,” Doty said. “It’s a great test for us. UPS is a great benchmark for us. They’ve had a winning program for a long time, and they obviously do a lot of things right there.”
The Loggers’ win was the 200th in head coach Randy Hanson’s career, who is the NWC leader in career wins.
UPS remains No. 2 in the nation behind Messiah College, but only four points separate the two teams.
An encouraging sign for the Wildcats emerged when Linfield unleashed five shots in the second half after registering none in the first. The ’Cats, however, were outshot 26-5.
“It’s encouraging that [Linfield], in the next 45 minutes, found a way to get forward a little bit,” Doty said. “I think they understood at the end of [the second] 45 minutes that if they do play well and they just play together, they give themselves a chance no matter who they’re playing.”
Those positive sentiments could not be said for Linfield’s away game against George Fox University on Oct. 11.
Fighting off injury and illness, the Wildcats lost to the Bruins 3-0.
Linfield’s leading scorer, senior forward MacKenzie Doty, left the game early with an abdominal bruise, joining other injured, feature players.
“George Fox was a tough one for us,” Doty said. “We had some key girls go down with injury. Overall, the effort wasn’t quite there against George Fox.”
The Wildcats did not have a regular week’s rest, as they hosted Willamette on Oct. 14.
Linfield came out of the gates firing, a change from its normally apathetic starts.
In a largely physical game, Linfield was outshot 9-8, but it made the most of its attempts at goal.
Junior forward Rachel Miles netted a goal 12 minutes in. Six minutes later, Miles found junior midfielder Sara Blake open for a 20-yard strike, putting the Wildcats on top 2-0.
Willamette rallied with a goal in the 34th minute but could not get past the stingy Linfield defense.
After starting 3-1 in the NWC, the win puts the Wildcat record at 4-5. Linfield sits in fifth place in the conference behind Pacific University.
The team has seven games remaining in its season. Its opponents have an average record of about 4-4 each. Linfield will have a chance to upset UPS in its season finale Nov. 11.
The ’Cats will host Lewis & Clark College on Oct. 17 at noon and travel to Pacific University the following day.