Kafoury scored early in the first half on an assist from senior Carole Skeeters. Whitman got its second goal early in the second half when Kafoury assisted freshman Jessica Neff. Senior goalie Genie Huntemann had one save as Whitman's defense limited Western Baptist to just five shots on goal.
Coach Scott Shields, who traveled with 19 players and used them all, said the game was played primarily at Western Baptist's end of the field.
Neff scored the game's first goal on an assist from Wendy Lilliedoll. Whitman made it
2-0 when another freshman, Jenny Russell, assisted senior Carole Skeeters.In the second half, senior Molly Willis scored on a long run from her defensive stopper's position, and then Skeeters notched her second assist of the season on freshman Nicole Marshall's goal. Sophomore transfer Jessica Burke completed the scoring on an assist from freshman Chrissy Vaughn.
Whitman as a team outshot Albertson 22 to eight. Huntemann had four saves in goal for the Missionaries to post her shutout.
"It was a good opening weekend on the road," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "I took 19 players and they all got a lot of playing time. I could substitute my entire bench and the flow of the game didn't change."
Shutting out its third opponent in as many games, Whitman rolled over
Central Washington University 2-0 on Ankeny Field. Freshman Nicole
Marshall and sophomore Kristen Ott booted second-half goals to give
Whitman the non-conference victory. After Marshall scored unassisted, Ott
found the net with an assist from Jamie Grindrod, another freshman.Senior Genie Huntemann registered her third shutout in goal. Central Washington had 13 shots on goal, two more than Whitman.
Whitman coach Scott Shields said his team turned in another strong effort against a good team. "The defense continues to play very well," he said.
Willis scored (her second unassisted goal of the season) moments after Seattle's defenders cleared a Whitman pass from the front of their goal. Willis stopped the ball in the center of the field, about 35 yards out, and quickly fired a shot on goal. "Molly struck the ball well and it really took off, sailing high in the air," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "It caught Seattle's goalkeeper off line, and she wasn't able to get back in time to stop the shot."
Huntemann's saves included two great stops in the first half, Shields said. In one instance Huntemann scooted the length of her goal, leaping high to knock a shot away from the top left corner of the goal. "It was a great shot and I couldn't believe Genie got there in time."
Shields said Seattle was "far and away" the best team Whitman has faced thus far in the season. A day earlier, Seattle claimed a 3-1 victory over Whitworth College in Spokane. Whitworth was the No. 2-ranked NAIA team in the nation last week.
"You would think Whitman will be ranked this week," Shields said. "This has to be the best start the women's team has ever had at Whitman. Four shutouts to start a season is great."
"I think we were asleep at the start," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "After we woke up and decided to play some soccer, it was an even match."
Willamette, which has a pair of early-season, non-conference victories over the universities of Oregon and Arizona, has an "awesome team," Shields noted.
Whitman, which was ranked No. 19 in the NAIA national poll last week, tallied its only goal at the 32-minute mark of the first half. Senior Leah Christensen scored off an assist by freshman Jamie Grindrod. Willamette had 19 shots on goal, nine more than Whitman. Whitman goalie Genie Huntemann gave up her first goals of the season but still recorded 14 saves.
"We controlled the game and we had lots of chances," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "We just didn't convert."
Whitman got its only goal midway through the second half when Kristen Ott scored off Jenny Russell's corner kick.
In what might be remembered as Sara Sakamoto Day, the Whitman women
rallied from an early 2-0 deficit to post a 5-3 Northwest Conference victory
over George Fox on Ankeny Field. Sakamoto, a junior forward, assisted on
three goals and then `headed in' Whitman's fifth score with a minute
left to play. Carole Skeeters and Jenny Russell also had great days for
Whitman, notching a goal and assist apiece.Whitman coach Scott Shields controlled the game from the outset, even though George Fox bolted to a 2-0 lead in the first 25 minutes. "George Fox is a good team with very good speed," Shields said. "They have two very aggressive attackers, both of whom scored a goal. But even after they led 2-0, I could tell we were going to come back and score at least two goals on them."
Russell tallied Whitman's first goal on a crossing pass from "Shoeless Joe" Skeeters, who made the pass moments after losing her right shoe. Whitman pulled even at the 35th minute when Skeeters, after reclaiming her shoe, scored on Sakamoto's drop pass. "Carole had a choice from the corner to either make a cross or shoot," Shields said. "She decided to shoot, and it was a great shot."
Nicole Marshall got Whitman's third goal early in the second half, booting home a loose ball after Sakamoto bounced a shot off the goalkeeper. Another drop pass from Sakamoto fed Chrissy Vaughn for Whitman's fourth score. Russell's crossing pass set up Sakamoto's header to complete the scoring.
George Fox outshot Whitman 15-14, but Missionary goalkeeper Genie Huntemann saved the day with 13 saves.
Kristen Ott got Whitman on the scoreboard early, scoring an unassisted goal seven minutes into the game. Chrissy Vaughn added the second goal five minutes before halftime. Leah Christenson assisted on Vaughn's goal.
The victory improved Whitman's record to 7-1 on the season and 3-1 in conference, leaving coach Scott Shields to state the obvious: "I couldn't be more pleased. We're playing extremely well right now. Genie's six shutouts has to be a season record for Whitman, and there's a good chance she's going to add to that total."
Whitworth notched the game's only goal 10 minutes into the second half. The Pirates outshot Whitman 22-9. Genie Huntemann had 13 saves in goal for the Missionaries.
The Lutes scored first at the 21st minute of the opening half. Whitman responded two minutes later when Skeeters headed in a goal with an assist from freshman Jenny Russell.
After PLU regained the lead early in the second half, Whitman again knotted the score when Nicole Marshall, assisted by Kristen Ott, slammed a hard shot into the net at the 68-minute mark. With the regulation clock ticking off its final seconds, Skeeters punched home her game-winning shot through a maze of players in front of the PLU goal.
Whitman ended the match with 14 shots, two less than their hosts. Whitman's Genie Huntemann had eight saves in goal.
Whitman goalie Genie Huntemann drew a red card and was ejected early in the overtime session after she collided with an UPS forward outside the goalie box. "I don't think it was justified," Shields said. "I thought Genie made a fair play on the ball."
According to conference soccer rules, Whitman was forced to play the rest of the game one player short. Shields moved forward Sara Sakamoto into goal, and Sakamoto responded by shutting out UPS the rest of the way. As part of the red card penalty, Huntemann also must sit out Whitman's next game, although the Missionaries can play at full strength.
Whitman might be missing a few other players when it hosts Linfield this Saturday, Oct. 12. Chrissy Vaughn was knocked from the UPS game with a head injury, and Nicole Marshall suffered a sprained ankle. Shields was not sure if either player would be ready to play next weekend. He also expects senior sweeper Molly Willis to miss part of Saturday's game because of graduate school examinations.
Whitman's first goal came seven minutes into the game when freshman Jenny Russell scored with an assist from Sara Sakamoto. Willis scored an unassisted goal at the 16-minute mark to give the Missionaries a 2-0 lead. Stephanie Kafoury got Whitman's third goal with 29 minutes gone in the first half. Sakamoto registered her second assist on the play.
Linfield tallied its only goal two minutes into the second half to complete the scoring. With Whitman coach Scott Shields substituting freely, Whitman outshot Linfield 22 to 12 on the day. Whitman goalkeeper Bonnie Yocum, a freshman, made her first start of the season and had seven saves.
"Scoring the goals early was a big plus for us," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "It gave us the opportunity to play everyone quite a bit in a home game, and it kept everyone well rested for the next day's game with Willamette."
The game-winning shot came just two minutes after Whitman's Chrissy Vaughn scored off an assist from Jessica Neff to forge a 2-2 deadlock and set the stage for an apparent overtime.
"It was very disheartening for the game to slip away like that," Shields said. "We had played very well. It was a pretty even game. The shots on goal and time of possession were about the same."
Had the game gone to overtime, Shields said, "I really think we had the edge. Willamette had played an overtime game the day before against a very good team (Whitworth), and you could tell they were tired, just by the way their coach was substituting. We didn't substitute nearly as much because our players weren't as tired at the end."
Willamette, ranked No. 8 in last week's NAIA national poll last week, improved its Northwest Conference-leading record to 8-0-1. The Bearcats are 12-1-1 on the season, having beat both the University of Oregon and Arizona State University, a pair of Pac-10 schools, in non-conference action.
After Willamette scored the game's first goal just four minutes into the first half, Whitman's Kristen Ott, assisted by Leah Christenson, tied the game at 1-1 with 7:10 on the clock. Willamette took a 2-1 lead into halftime, scoring again at the 30-minute mark.
Vaughn's game-tying goal late in the second half was remarkable considering her physical condition, Shields said. Due to the onset of the flu or the lingering effects of a concussion suffered in one of the previous week's games, Vaughn had not played much earlier in the game. She took the field only after Ott was hit above the eye with about 15 minutes left to play. Swelling eventually closed the eye, and Shields isn't sure if either Ott or Vaughn will be able play in Wednesday's home game with Whitworth.
Shots on goal in Sunday's game were even at 10 each for the two teams. Huntemann had 10 saves in goal for Whitman. Willamette goalie Robin Heard was credited with six saves.
The 2-1 Northwest Conference victory on Ankeny Field kept Whitman in a third-place deadlock with the University of Puget Sound. Both teams are 6-3-1 in conference play with just two weekends left in the regular season. Meanwhile, Whitworth dropped to 6-2-2 in the conference standings but held on to second place by a one-point margin.
Whitworth, which was ranked No. 15 in last week's NAIA national poll, opened the scoring Wednesday with a goal just two minutes into the game. That was it for the scoring until Sara Sakamoto's goal pulled Whitman even at the 15th of the second half. Sakamoto scored off a penalty kick, drilling a hard shot that whizzed past the diving keeper, ripped through the back of the net, sheared off a bush and left a three-inch indentation in the side of Olin Hall.
"We came out a little flat at the beginning and they took it right to us," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "Then we regained our composure as the game continued and started to control the game."
Whitman freshman Jessica Neff booted the game-winning goal in the seventh minute of overtime. Kristen Ott got the assist. Whitman outshot the visitors 27-21. Missionary goalie Genie Huntemann finished with 14 saves.
"This was a very big win for us," Shields said. "It could give us the edge to possibly host the first round of the playoffs. If that is the case, we probably be seeing Whitworth again at that point."
Pacific got what proved to be the winning goal five minutes into overtime. "It wasn't a very hard shot, but it was low to the ground and it just skidded through on the wet turf," Shield said. "Under normal conditions it was a shot our keeper probably would save."
Pacific got the game's first score midway through the first half and then held the Missionaries scoreless until late in the second half. Whitman's Leah Christenson finally knotted the scored at 1-1 with a goal in the 88th minute of play.
"At the very beginning Pacific was playing as well as I've ever seen them play," Shields said. "But then we started to control the game. I was surprised we didn't win it in regulation."
Whitman outshot Pacific 15-11. Whitman goalkeeper Genie Huntemann had 10 saves.
Whitman took the early lead at George Fox when Erin Lawson scored in the ninth minute of the first half. Jenny Russell got the assist with a corner kick. "Their defense really packed it in near the goalie box," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "So, Jenny kicked it out to a defender (Lawson), who just took it in and scored."
George Fox responded with a goal ten minutes later, which completed the scoring through the end of regulation. "I kept expecting us to score the whole time," Shields said. "We dominated the game. We were in their face the whole time."
Whitman's Sara Sakamoto booted the game-winning goal at the 11-minute mark of overtime. The score capped a frenzy of activity in front of the George Fox goal that followed a Jenny Russell corner kick.
Whitman outshot George Fox 28-15. Four of Whitman's last six games have been decided in overtime.
The regular season concludes Sunday with UPS playing at Whitworth College and Whitman hosting Pacific Lutheran University.
In Saturday's game, Blawat scored her first goal in the 34th minute of the first half. Taking advantage of a Whitman miscommunication, Blawat intercepted a Missionary throw-in and scored easily in a one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Genie Huntemann. The throw-in had been intended for Huntemann.
Blawat scored again 15 minutes into the second half after knifing through the Whitman defense on a breakaway. Huntemann tipped away the first shot but was unable to control it. Blawat tapped in the loose ball.
"We made two really costly mistakes, and they scored off both of them," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "On offense, we had plenty of chances to score. We had all kinds ofexcellent chances."
Whitman outshot the Loggers 20-9. Huntemann had nine saves in goal for the Missionaries. UPS goalie Jen Mark had a dozen saves.
Freshman Jenny Russell got Whitman's early goal, scoring off a throw-in from Carole Skeeters. The first half ended in a 1-1 tie after PLU scored in the 35th minute.
Whitman opened the second half with another quick score to take the lead for good. Stephanie Kafoury scored 50 seconds into the half with an assist from Kristen Ott. Molly Willis iced the game with Whitman's third goal with five minutes left to play. Willis was assisted by Skeeters.
"We put together a great game," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "We played very well as a team, and we outshot them by better than a three-to-one margin."