MCMINNVILLE, ORE. – Most team shots since 2014 and most goals since end of last season lifted the Linfield Wildcats past the Northwest Christian Beacons on Wednesday night as
Hannah Best scored two goals for the Wildcats against her former team.
The Wildcats improved to 1-1 on the young season while the Beacons fell to 1-4.
Linfield finished with six goals in the game, which were the most since six against Whitman last season and 34 total shots were the highest since 34 against George Fox in 2014.
The Wildcats put pressure on the Beacons defense having eight shots in the first 15 minutes of the game, with the best shot coming on a header attempt by
Sydney Kuehn.
A cross pass by
Anna Peckham looking to feed
Laney Green was deflected by the Beacons goalkeeper, but Kuehn was right there to kick it in for the Wildcats to grab the early lead. This was the first goal of the season for the Duvall, Washington native, who finished with eight goals last season.
Just a couple of minutes after the goal from Kuehn,
Kristen Burke was able to get past the Beacons back line and easily finished for her first goal of the season, as the Wildcats doubled their lead.
The first two goals seemed to open the floodgates, as they added three in a span of five minutes as
Madison Topaum scored her first of the season on a cross pass by
Makenna Blix.
Sophomore
Hannah Best started 13 games for Northwest Christian in 2018, she scored two goals separated by a minute against her former team. The first goal was headed in on a corner kick by
Anna Peckham, the second was kicked in by the Albany, Oregon native via a pass by
Amidee Colleknon.
Topaum added another goal in the second half on another corner kick by Peckham to push the final margin to six between the Wildcats and the Beacons on Wednesday night.
The Wildcats finished with six goals in the game, which were the most since six against Whitman last season and 34 total shots were the highest since 34 against George Fox in 2014.
Kuehn had eight shots in the match, which tied her career best. She previously had eight shots against Pacific in 2017.
This win puts Linfield 7-1 all-time against Northwest Christian.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats take on the Corban Warriors on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at the Soccer Complex, that game is part of a doubleheader with the men's soccer team taking on Whittier.
