MCMINNVILLE, Ore. --- Wildcat women's soccer (4-0-3, 2-0-1 NWC) made their Northwest Conference home debut on Saturday afternoon, notching a second-half equalizer against the Whitman Blues (3-1-4, 2-0-2 NWC) to take their first draw since the start of non-conference matches.
Whitman applied pressure on the unbeaten Wildcats early in the match with a pair of shots in the first 13 minutes. The Blues struck first halfway through the opening half, on a deep attempt that just snuck over the head of goalkeeper
Alexa Fritz. Linfield faced their first deficit since September 5, where they trailed Warner Pacific 1-0 early; later going on to beat WPU 5-2.
The Wildcats flooded the Blues goalkeeper with shots in the following minutes off of a corner from
Mia Curtaz, the four-consecutive attempts were all blocked by the Blues defenders. Whitman carried a 1-0 lead into the half.
Linfield came out of the half with consistent pressure on offense, earning yet another corner kick in the 66
th-minute. The equalizer came off of a corner by Curtaz, whose entry was finished at the far post by
Jenna Stanley to bring the Wildcats level. Neither team could find a hole over the final 24-minutes, ending the match in a 1-1 draw.
Goalkeeper
Alexa Fritz was steady in net, recording five saves, including three in the second half to preserve the draw. Defenders
Reese Jones,
Marley Ells,
Jenna Stanley, and
Sofia Pietrok, anchored a back line that kept the Wildcats in the game throughout
With 13 total shots, with four on-goal, Linfield controlled the majority of possession in the second half. The 1-1 result keeps the Wildcats unbeaten in conference play, and advances their streak to seven games.
Women's soccer returns to action tomorrow at Noon, hosting the Whitworth Pirates (0-3-3, 0-2-1 NWC), looking to remain unbeaten.
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