McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Whitworth tied it up with less than five minutes left in the match, but Linfield freshman
Maya Wright put the Wildcats on top with just seconds remaining to snatch a 12-11 win Sunday afternoon at the Linfield Lacrosse and Soccer Complex.
Linfield took a comfortable 9-3 lead into halftime, but Whitworth came out of the break firing on all cylinders, outscoring the Wildcats 6-1 in the third quarter. The Pirates' third quarter included four straight goals, two by Madison Perry. An own goal by Linfield cut the Wildcats' lead to one before the Pirates' Grace Curley notched the equalizer at the 4:46 mark.
Wright picked up a ground ball and darted across the pitch for the unassisted game-winning goal with 25 seconds left on the clock.
Bethany Shade secured the following draw control and ran out the clock to lift Linfield to its second victory in Northwest Conference play.
Linfield outshot Whitworth 27-16 with 20 shots on goal. Whitworth took 14 of the match's 27 draws, but 22 turnovers forced by the Wildcats was enough to sneak by with the win.
Maia Rezoski and
Amelia Wright finished tied for the match high with three goals apiece. Wright fired off 10 shots, five on goal, while Rezoski had three ground balls and four caused turnovers.
Maya Wright and Shade each scored two goals. Wright dished out an assist while Shade had two. Shade also led all players with eight caused turnovers and eight draw controls.
Abby Ross had six ground balls to lead the team.
Anna Chase led the Whitworth attack with three goals while Perry and Kylee Walker each had two. The Pirates caused 13 Linfield turnovers.
Lizzy Harms played the entire match in goal, making four saves on her way to earning her sixth win of the season. Hannah Lew took the loss in goal for the Pirates after making seven saves in 45 minutes of action.
NEXT
Linfield (6-4, 2-3 NWC) is riding a five-match win streak and looks ahead to three straight away matches. They will play at Puget Sound on Wednesday and at George Fox on Saturday.
