McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield lacrosse fell to Willamette by a score of 18-8 back on March 13 in Salem. With the excitement of Senior Day providing an extra boost of energy, the Wildcats got their revenge on their in-state foes with a gritty 16-15 win that went down to the wire Sunday afternoon at the Linfield lacrosse and soccer complex.
Linfield scored five goals in the opening quarter and took a narrow 9-8 lead into the break. Laura Kelly gave Willamette its first lead of the match with 4:50 left in the third quarter to make it 12-11, but the Wildcats responded with four straight goals to go up 15-12 with just under 11 minutes remaining in the contest.
Analise Wilson scored back-to-back goals, the first unassisted, to cut the Willamette deficit to one, but the Wildcats'
Josie Duey notched her match-high sixth goal with 47 seconds left on the clock. Kendyl Jennings scored with 20 seconds left to give the Bearcats a chance at tying it, but the Wildcats secured the following draw control to hold on for their fifth win in Northwest Conference play.
Linfield outshot Willamette 33-27 with 24 shots on goal. The Wildcats picked up 20 ground balls, had 22 draw controls and caused 11 turnovers. Duey also had an assist in the match. She and
Bethany Shade led all players with nine shots, eight of Shade's landing on goal. Shade came up one draw control shy of her season high with 13 while
Abby Ross tallied six. Shade scored four goals, dished out a pair of assists and caused five turnovers while Ross,
Maia Rezoski and
Amelia Wright all registered two goals.
Maddie Garcia notched five goals to lead the Bearcat attack while Wilson and Catie Kawamura scored four. Kelly led the team with four assists while Kawamura had three. Jennings and Shea Richardson-Pepper caused three turnovers each.
Lizzy Harms made five saves to bring her season total to 62. She improved to 9-2 on the season in goal and owns an 11.86 goals against average. The Bearcats' Shelby Sawyer took the loss despite making eight saves.
Before the start of the match, the Wildcats recognized the academic and athletic accomplishments of four seniors in Duey, Rezoski, Shade and
Gemmajean Patterson.
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The win lifted Linfield (9-5, 5-4 NWC) above .500 in NWC play for the first time this season. The Wildcats will go on their eastern Washington road trip next week, playing at Whitman on Saturday and at Whitworth on Sunday. They will then play a make-up game with the Blues on April 28 to close the book on their 2022 campaign.
