Greg Larson
Review staff writer
On Oct. 12, the Wildcats took the soccer field against the voracious Pacific Lutheran University Lutes.
PLU was refocused, energetic and looking for its first win in the Northwest Conference.
“We knew they hadn’t won, but they were good, and we respected that,” senior defender Kristine Siler said of PLU.
The Wildcats came away with a victory, receiving goals from three different players. Seniors, defender Martha Inouye and midfielder Steph Caster, and sophomore defender Lian Yuen all found the back of the net to lead Linfield to a 3-2 victory.
Linfield struck quickly with Caster scoring just 26 seconds into the match. The Lutes’ attempt to clear the ball was snatched by Caster and rifled past the PLU goalkeeper. But PLU would not give up, scoring the tying goal 14 minutes later.
Linfield then took advantage of a PLU penalty, and Inouye gave Linfield the go-ahead goal at 2-1, concluding the first half.
The second half was quiet until 12 minutes remained on the clock, when Siler lobbed in an expertly placed free kick to Yuen for a goal.
PLU fought back, scoring fewer than 60 seconds later. The score was 3-2 with roughly 11 minutes remaining.
PLU nearly found a late game equalizer several times but was turned away by the tenacious defense of sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Hasselblad, who ended the game with four crucial saves.
Linfield held off PLU for a much needed victory after dropping three in a row to the University of Puget Sound, George Fox University and Willamette University.
With only eight games remaining in the season, Linfield has an overall record of 4-8 and is 2-6 in conference play.
This weekend the Wildcats turn their attention toward Whitman College and Whitworth University, two daunting opponents.
“It is important to keep team morale up and positive,” Siler said. “We need to play for each other if we can do that, we can really finish strongly.”
Linfield begins its weekend with Whitman, a team which dominated 3-0 last time the two met because of Linfield’s exasperation after a thrilling game against the national powerhouse, No. 2 Whitworth.
The order of games is much more favorable this weekend. Playing Whitman first allows the ‘Cats to focus their game, taking on one challenge at a time while saving energy for the big game against Whitworth.
The Wildcats will try to get even with Whitworth, who in their last matchup scored a late-game goal to push the game to overtime, earlier this season.
Whitworth has proved successful in the past as well as throughout this year, but Linfield knows it is capable of defeating them.
“Both are very beatable teams,” Siler said.
The Wildcats are poised and focused for their weekend venture to Washington and hope to kick off the late season surge they know they can achieve.
If they are able to do it, they will be one step closer to finishing out the season on a good note, after a sour start.
