McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield fired off 10 shots against first-place Willamette, but the 25
th-ranked Bearcats ran away with a 5-0 victory to claim the Northwest Conference men's soccer title Saturday afternoon at the Linfield Soccer and Lacrosse Complex.
Sean Kim scored the first goal for Willamette in the eighth minute while Josh Schneider notched his first goal of the season in the 29
th. Ardem Baronian assisted on both goals then netted one of his own in the 35
th minute off an assist by Simon Kidder.
The Bearcats tacked on a fourth goal in the first half when Krisna LaFrance joined the party in the 37
th, assisted by Max Brown. The Wildcats held the Bearcats scoreless for most of the second half until Julian Rivas Delgado struck in the 80
th, assisted by Pierce Gallaway.
Linfield finished with 10 shots compared to Willamette's 12. The Wildcats matched the Bearcats with seven shots in the opening half.
Jake Murphy and
Sid Kosaris registered the Wildcats' two shots on goal. Kosaris and
Reese Nelson had two shots apiece while
Aedan Carroll finished tied for the match high with Gallaway with three shots.
Seven Linfield players saw 80 minutes of action or more.
Logan Clizer played the full 90 while his co-captain,
Marques Herrera-Kuehn, logged 84 minutes.
Angel Hernandez came off the bench to contribute 82 minutes.
Henry Boudreaux made two saves in the loss. He ended the season with an even 70 saves to go with three shutouts and four wins in goal.
Linfield men's soccer fans honored four players on Senior Day. Clizer, Herrera-Kuehn, Nelson and
Jakob Longbottom all started for the Wildcats.
It was a season of improvement for the Wildcats, who wrapped up the season at 5-13-1 overall with a 4-9-1 record in NWC play. The highlight of the 2022 slate came in a three-match win streak, claiming three straight 1-0 shutouts against George Fox, Pacific and Whitman.
