McMINNVILLE, Ore. – In the first match of the season, the Linfield Wildcats fell 22-4 to the visiting Aurora Spartans at Maxwell Field on a pleasant Thursday night.
 
The Spartans took both matches on their trip up to the Pacific Northwest, beating Willamette on Tuesday and beating the Wildcats on Thursday night. Aurora is now 2-1 on the season, while Linfield is 0-1.
 
The Spartans scored the first seven goals of the match, three of them coming from Monique Gibson, who had five in the match. Claire Carlson had six goals and an assist to lead both teams in points on Thursday night.
 
Linfield scored two-straight to cut it to 7-2 on goals by Maia Rezoski and Abby Ross, but that was the closest it got to Aurora all match. Josie Duey was the leading scorer for the Wildcats with two goals.
 
The Wildcats defense was able to stop five clear attempts by the Spartans, who held the 'Cats to 9 for 19 in clear attempts. Aurora controlled 17 of the 26 draws and had the 27-22 edge in ground balls.
 
In goal, the Wildcats started Kylee Duey, who played the first half stopping six shots. Epi Roldan-Rayo came in at halftime and stopped two. The Spartans used three goalies Reilly Armstrong starting the match and saving two.
 
The all-time head to head between the Wildcats and the Spartans is tied at one, as the Wildcats took the first meeting 16-6 back in 2014.
 
UP NEXT
Linfield opens up Northwest Conference play with four matches at home, hosting Whitworth on Saturday at 6 p.m. and Whitman at 1 p.m. on Sunday.