McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield matched Pacific Lutheran in shots but fell just short of completing a comeback in a 2-1 loss to the Lutes Sunday afternoon at the Linfield Soccer and Lacrosse Complex.
The Lutes went into halftime with a 2-0 lead. Hannah Cecil scored both goals to extend her team lead to nine on the season. Cecil scored in the 15
th minute off an assist by Lily Dose. She notched her second goal of the afternoon in the 37
th, assisted by Olivia Boehm.
After allowing 12 shots in the opening half, the Wildcats settled in on defense to outshoot the Lutes 10-4 in the second half. Both teams finished with 16 shots. The Lutes fired off 11 shots on goal to the Wildcats' seven. Linfield held a 6-5 advantage in corner kicks.
Laney Green put the 'Cats on the board in the 48
th minute when she scored on a header off an assisting corner kick by
Mia Curtaz. Green is tied for fourth in the Northwest Conference with seven goals while Curtaz has two assists in her freshman campaign.
Green,
Janae Lewis and
Makenna Blix all registered three shots. All three of Green's attempts were on goal. Lewis and Blix each had a shot on goal. Blix came off the bench to contribute 75 minutes played. The freshman trio of
Bella Hanna,
Kathryn Pearson and
Jenna Stanley played the full 90 minutes to anchor the Linfield backline.
Alexa Fritz made a season-high nine saves in the loss, falling to 1-1-1 in goal. She has 21 saves on the year to go with a 1.33 goals against average.
With Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound both winning on Sunday, the Lutes and Loggers are tied atop the NWC standings with 8-1-1 records. The Lutes are 11-1-2 overall while the Loggers improved to 11-2-1 following their 2-0 shutout at George Fox.
NEXT
Sunday marked the end of Linfield's five-match homestand. The 'Cats (3-6-5, 1-5-4 NWC) won't travel far next weekend, playing at Willamette on Saturday and at Lewis & Clark on Sunday. Both matches are scheduled for noon.
