McMINNVILLE, Ore. --- Senior attacker
Gabby Crist showed out on senior day, breaking three career records alongside five fellow seniors. Linfield women's lacrosse (5-11, 3-5 NWC) came up short against the Willamette Bearcats (7-9, 5-3 NWC), 14-7.
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Seniors
Maizri Chandler,
Gabby Crist,
Tenley Hodge,
Savannah Irwin,
Grayce Miller, and
Gracie Pratt were celebrated with their families prior to Sunday's season finale at home.Â
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Needing a win and a Whitworth loss entering Sunday, the Wildcats struck first.
Evelyn Cross dished a pass to
Savannah Irwin, slotting home the first strike of the game. Willamette quickly responded with a goal of their own, tying it up at 1-1.
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Gabby Crist put Linfield ahead 2-1 with a goal in the seventh minute, tying program-records for goals and points in a career. The Bearcats found momentum late in the first quarter, scoring three-straight to take a 4-2 lead. Irwin found Crist for the record-breaking goal and point to make it 4-3 inside of two minutes remaining. Willamette led 5-3 after one, scoring a free position goal with 38-seconds remaining.
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The Wildcats were unable to execute early shots in the second quarter, while the Bearcats shut them out for nearly a whole quarter. Willamette scored twice in the second, meanwhile Crist added one for Linfield with 28-seconds left to send it to halftime, 7-4.
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Crist then broke the career assists record as she found
Heidi Schaefer early in the third quarter to make it a two-goal deficit. From there, Willamette controlled the possession, scoring six goals to extend their lead to 13-5 through the third.Â
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Apple Riso and Crist each scored at the midway point of the final quarter, but it was too-little, too-late, for Linfield. The Bearcats added one final goal at the last second to win, 14-7.Â
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Crist's record-breaking performance saw four goals on eight shot attempts, adding two assists and a pair of ground balls. She now holds the program records in career goals (195), assists (65), and points (260). Additionally, she continues to hold the program records for total shots attempted, shots per game, total shots on-goal and shots on-goal per game.
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Irwin scored on her senior day as well, while Riso and Schaefer's goals rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats. Senior
Tenley Hodge's career came to an end with eight saves on Sunday, tallying 386 for her career; finishing third all-time in career saves in program history. Hodge totaled nearly 3,000 minutes on the field over four seasons, boasting a .373 save percentage on 1,311 shots faced.
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The Wildcat's season came to a close on Sunday, finishing sixth in the Northwest Conference in head coach
Monica Potter's first season leading the program.
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