McMINNVILLE, Ore. – A penalty kick late in the first half by freshman Emma Smith sealed a dominating 2-0 Northwest Conference victory for the Linfield Wildcats over the visiting Pacific Boxers Sunday afternoon at the Linfield Soccer Field.
 
1st Half
The Wildcats came out firing on all cylinders to open the game. Linfield's Taylor Cole doubled her season goal total 11 minutes into the match after running onto a long ball from Yasmeen Ramos, tucking her opportunity into the bottom left corner of the goal.
 
Pacific goalie Saya Brown was the Boxers' saving grace in the opening stanza, recording nine saves on 16 Wildcat shots.
 
Cole nearly had her second tally of the day in the 17th minute when she latched onto a long ball from Smith and half-volleyed a 17-yard shot toward the Boxers' net. Brown denied the opportunity, parrying the attempt past the post.
 
Brown came up huge for the Boxers once again late in the half, making a superb double save on point-blank attempts by Linfield's Kristen Burke and Kyla Alvarenga with five minutes left until intermission.
 
The 'Cats doubled their advantage with 0.6 seconds on the clock when Burke was dragged down in the box before attempting a last-second shot. Smith stepped up and smashed in her team-leading third goal of the season.
 
2nd Half
Despite launching 14 shots, including five on goal in the second half, the Wildcats were unable to find the back of the net.
 
Michayla Sponsel came closest to netting a goal when her header with less than two minutes left sailed high over the cross bar.
 
Linfield Ledger
Smith led the Wildcats with seven shots. Three of Cole's five shots were on target. Wildcats goalkeeper Sarah Bailey turned away two shots on three Boxer attempts.
 
Booming Boxers
Sadie Schmeling, Kira Negrete and Kayla Mizo each were credited with shots. Brown finished with a career-high 14 saves.
 
What It Means
Linfield improves to 3-2-1 in conference action, sharing fourth place with Puget Sound in the NWC standings. The 'Cats saw their season record improve to 5-4-1. Pacific remains winless on the season at 0-8-2 (0-6-1 NWC).
 
Next
The Wildcats host a pair of matches for the coming weekend, starting with the Whitworth Pirates on Saturday, following by a Sunday date with the Whitman Bules. Kickoff at the Linfield Soccer Field is scheduled for noon both days.