McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Linfield used a furious second-half comeback to tighten a five-goal differential against the Whitman Blues on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats ultimately ran out of gas as the comeback fell short and the Blues tacked on two late goals for a 13-9 victory at the Linfield Lacrosse Complex.
Whitman got hot early, scoring six straight goals to begin the first quarter, three of which came at the hands of Gracie Maulik.
Mackenzie Kulick got Linfield on the board midway through the second and
Maya Wright closed the Whitman lead to 6-2.
Trailing 11-6 midway through the third quarter, the Wildcats made one last push for the lead.
Maizri Chandler netted a goal to end the third period before Wright and
Madison De La Trinidad opened the final frame with goals to shrink the deficit to 11-9 with four minutes remaining.
With their lead dwindling, the Blues turned to Sarah Hawkins who delivered with two clutch goals to secure the match for Whitman and pull away for the victory.
Wright and Chandler led the way offensively for the 'Cats, tallying three goals apiece while De La Trinidad added two and Kulick netted another.
Savannah Irwin played the role of distributor for Linfield on Saturday, setting her teammates up for goals twice over the course of the match.
While she struggled on the offensive end,
Gabby Crist had a big game defensively, causing four turnovers and picking up four ground balls.
Grayce Miller led the team with five caused turnovers and
Elizabeth Long also grabbed four ground balls.
Tenley Hodge stood in goal for the Wildcats, recording eight saves.
NEXT
Linfield is back in action Sunday afternoon with another Northwest Conference meeting against Whitworth at 1 p.m. as the race for a spot in the four-team conference tournament heats up.
