After playing Simon Fraser University to a standstill in a scoreless first half, the Whitman College women's soccer team suffered through a brief but horrific defensive breakdown midway through the second half and eventually surrendered a 5-0 decision to the NAIA national powerhouse. Simon Fraser, which posted an 18-4-2 record last year and lost in the national championship game, stuck Whitman with four goals in the space of five minutes.
"We were having an excellent go of it until we broke down defensively," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "Other than that one bad stretch, we played an excellent game.
Whitman goalkeeper Becca Yenser kept Simon Fraser at bay for much of the afternoon, posting 21 saves against 32 shots. "The shots that got past her were either one-on-one or point blank," Shields said. "No one could have stopped those shots, except maybe for one or two of the national team's keepers."
The Missionaries failed to mount much offense of their own and managed just eight shots on goal.
Four Whitman starters were sideline for all or part of the game due to injuries or disciplinary reasons, Shield said. "We wanted to the younger players and freshmen to play a lot anyway, and it was good to see how they met the challenge. Some of the new people played very well. We're going to have a much stronger team this year, and we should do well in our conference play."
There were few positive points to ponder after the Whitman women's team suffered a 9-0 Northwest Conference loss at Pacific Lutheran University Sunday afternoon. Whitman, which was playing its first conference game, saw its season record fall to 0-3. The host Lutes elevated their conferenece record to 3-0 and their season mark to 4-0.
"It was just one of those games where we didn't play very well at all," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "We had a few chances to score. We hit the crossbar once and we had a couple of other opportunities, but overall we made some bad choices offensively and our play was too predictable. We're not as bad as that scores indicates. Once we get things squared away, I still think we're going to surprise some teams."
While Whitman struggled for most of the afternoon, PLU seemed to be hitting on all cylinders, Shields said. "Not only do they have a lot of talent, they were playing very well as a team," he said.
A defensive lapse three minutes into the second half allowed Whitworth to score the game's only goal and escape with a 1-0 Northwest Conference over Whitman on Ankeny Field. Whitworth forward Sue Boyce was unassisted in scoring the game-winning goal.
"This was a great opportunity for us to get our first conference win, but it slipped away from us," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "Their goal was just a mistake on our part. One of our defenders started to pass the ball back to our keeper, and the ball just happened to bounce to one of the Whitworth forwards."
"Our focus early this week in practice, regardless of whether we won or lost this game, was to play better as a team, and we definitely raised our play a notch or two," Shields added. "We're back to where we should have been playing a week ago."
The return of Jamie Grindrod from injury gave Whitman's defense a big boost. But two other players, Heather Groshong and Christina Anderson, missed all or part of the game due to injury. Groshong was sidelined by a concussion suffered in Sunday's game against Pacific Lutheran, and Anderson suffered a possible ear drum injury in the first half.
Despite the missing players, Shields said, "we had six players come off the bench and play really well. That was part of our game plan, to keep substituting fresh people. We definitely had a deeper bench that Whitworth."
A second half goal by Jamey Allsop gave the Whitman Women all they needed as they beat Pacific 1-0 on Saturday.
Whitman's goal came in the 47th minute off of a corner kick. The ball was sent in and Jamey Allsop redirected it into the back of the net for her first goal of the season.
Whitman held off five Pacific shots and six corner kicks en route to their first win of the season.
The University of Puget Sound rolled over the Whitman women 6-0 in Northwest Conference soccer action on Ankeny Field Saturday afternoon. UPS led 3-0 at halftime and added its fourth goal in the first 80 seconds of the second half to put a quick end to Whitman's hopes for a comeback.
The Loggers outshot Whitman 17-4 and had a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks. The Missionaries played without their leading scorer from last season, midfielder Chrissy Vaughn, who was injured earlier in the week.
"Losing Chrissy to an ankle injury really hurt," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "A few other people had come back from injuries recently, and we finally had a lineup where everyone felt comfortable and we had some team chemistry. Then we lost Chrissy and another part-time starter at midfield who decided not to play. So, we had to move people around again."
Despite absorbing the shutout, Whitman played one of its better offensive games, Shields said. "We had some good build-ups in the corner and some great crossing passes. We had good opportunities. We just didn't finish."
On defense, Whitman continued a season-long pattern of paying a big price for relatively small breakdowns, Shields added. "That's the demon that has chased us all season," he said. "One little mistake on defense and the other team takes full advantage and scores. We need to work a little harder and find our own luck."
The Whitman women continued to play well, doing everything but scoring, as they dropped a 2-0 Northwest Conference decision to Seattle University on Ankeny Field Sunday afternoon. Liz Dolan scored a Chieftain goal in each half to give the visitors the win.
The Chieftains outshot Whitman 15-5 and took eight corner kicks to six for the Missionaries. Whitman keeper Becca Yenser had six saves.
"The story for us all weekend was that we went through 10-minute spurts at times when we would put tons of pressure on the other team's keeper," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "We strung passes together but never finished. We had our chances again today."
Whitman's Jamie Grindrod and Jenny Russell just missed the net on a trio of attempts, Shields said. Two of the shots sailed just over the crossbar, while the third shot was tipped over the bar by Seattle's keeper.
"It was a good game," Shields added. "All in all, it was our best game of the season, which is good because Seattle has a strong program. They also were coming off the big overtime win against Whitworth on Saturday."
Injuries continued to mount for the Missionaries Sunday. Heather Groshong warmed up prior to the game but was unable to play because of a knee injury. Kristen Ott was sidelined in the second half by an ankle injury.
"With the injuries we've had, we're still not where we need to be or want to be," Shields said. "But the players are still focused, still positive, and they want to work hard this next week to get better. We'll see if we can explode one of these days at the offensive end."
The Willamette University women slipped past Whitman 2-0 in a close Northwest Conference game on Ankeny Field Saturday afternoon.
In the 23rd minute, a crossing pass by Willamette's Jenny Bellone was redirected into goal off a header from Natalie Flindt. The Bearcats scored again on an unassisted goal by Ashley Holmer in the 83rd minute.
"We had a golden opportunity to score early in the first half," said Whitman coach Scott Shields. "It was a corner kick that we just missed putting in. That would have given us the early 1-0 lead. The complexion of the game would have been very different if we get that goal."
Willamette controlled the ball offensively, firing 14 shots on goal. Whitman Goalie Becca Yenser came up with six saves for the Missionaries.
"Willamette is one of the fastest teams in the conference," said Shields. "We were able to stick with them for the most part and gave them a really tough game. We held our own out there and made it difficult for them to score."
Whitman outshot Linfield 11-10 on Ankeny Field Sunday afternoon, but the Wildcats used a hat trick by Cherish Kaaa to post a 3-1 Northwest Conference victory over the host Missionaries.
Kaaa scored her first goal on a penalty kick in the seventh minute of play. She gave Linfield a 2-0 lead when she scored again at the 28-minute mark. Ten minutes later, Whitman trimmed its deficit to 2-1 when Jamey Allsop scored off an assist from freshman Alison Chisholm.
Two minutes into the second half, Kaaa notched her third goal to complete the day's scoring. Whitman keeper Becca Yenser had eight saves.
Chrissy Vaughn scored Whitman's lone goal as the Missionaries dropped a 4-1 decision to Pacific Lutheran University on Ankeny Field Saturday afternoon.
As a goal-mouth scramble unfolded, Vaughn scored after teammate Stephanie Kafoury controlled the ball and slipped her a pass.
Whitworth scored a pair of goals, one just before halftime and one right after, to post a 2-1 Northwest Conference victory over Whitman in Spokane Wednesday afternoon.
The Pirate women took a 1-0 lead when Mary Alice Finley scored as time expired in the first half. The host team boosted its lead with a second goal less than a minute into the second half.
Whitman pulled to within 2-1 when Chrissy Vaughn scored in the game's 69th minute. A crossing pass from Jennie Wood led to the score.
Whitman coach Scott Shields said his team had a 14-10 advantage in shots on goal and outworked the Pirates for long periods of the game. "Except for some heroics by Stacey Roberts in the Whitworth goal, the game could have swung either way," he said.
Shields also was glad to see one of his two goalies, freshman Kristina Anderson, back in action after a long layoff due to a stress fracture.
George Fox University scored a goal in each half to take a 2-1 Northwest Conference women's soccer victory from Whitman College on Ankeny Field Saturday afternoon. It was Whitman's second consecutive conference loss by a single goal.
The Bruins took an early lead when Sarah Bowder scored in the fourth minute of play. But the Missionaries evened the score at 1-1 in the 15th minute when Chrissy Vaughn tallied her third goal in as many games with an assist from JennieWood.
George Fox posted what proved to be the winning goal in the 19th minute of the second half.
The Bruins outshot Whitman 19-12. Missionary goalie Kristina Anderson had six saves. Her counterpart for George Fox, Meghan Gibson was credited with four saves.
Whitman took five corner kicks, three more than George Fox.
The Whitman women and Pacific University played through ascoreless 30-minute overtime session and settled for a 0-0 tie in a Northwest Conference soccer game on Ankeny Field Sunday afternoon.
Both teams let a number of scoring opportunities slip away. Whitman outshot Pacific 19-10, although the Boxers had a 7-3 edge in corner kicks.
"It was one of those games where both teams had great scoring opportunities," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "The ball just didn't bounce in the right spots."
The two goalkeepers, Becca Yenser (jr., La Grande, OR) for Whitman and Leslie Renier (fr., Tucson, AZ) for Pacific, registered four saves apiece in posting their shutouts.
"Pacific had a nice run late in the second half, but I thought we outplayed them most of the game," Shields said. "Putting 19 shots on goal is a great game offensively. It says a lot about how hard we're working and about how far we've come in terms of jelling as a team. This was our last home game of the season, and if we couldn't get the win, it was nice to get the tie."
Sunday's game was Pacific's second scoreless tie of the weekend. The Boxers played to a 0-0 tie at Whitworth College on Saturday.
The Whitman women handed Seattle University a 1-0 Northwest Conference loss Saturday afternoon, snapping the Chieftains' five-game home-field winning streak. Seattle started the week ranked No. 16 nationally in the NAIA.
Chrissy Vaughn scored the lone goal of the game in the 54th minute. Corrine Schuler had the assist.
Seattle outshot Whitman nine to five, but Missionary goalie Becca Yenser kept Seattle scoreless with seven saves. It was Yenser's third shutout of the season.
The Whitman women notched their second 1-0 Northwest Conference victory of the weekend, downing the University of Puget Sound Sunday afternoon in Tacoma. The loss helped knock the Loggers from second- to third-place in the conference standings.
"We've had the same lineup now for the past few weeks, and all the pieces are falling together," Whitman coach Scott Shields said. "Everyone knows everyone else's responsibilities once we have possession, and we've stopped giving up the easy goals. Our defense is playing really well right now. The other teams have to work hard for their scoring opportunities."
In its last five games, Whitman has recorded its two 1-0 victories, a 0-0 tie and two 2-1 losses.
As she did in Saturday's game, Chrissy Vaughn scored the only goal of the Puget Sound game. She scored ten minutes into the second half with an assist from Jenny Wood. Vaughn, who missed four games earlier in the season with a twisted ankle, now leads the Missionaries in scoring with five goals. "Chrissy has her confidence back now, and she's had some great goals recently," Shields said.
Freshman Kristina Anderson spearheaded the defense effort with her first collegiate shutout in goal. "Kristina made some huge saves," Shields said. "She's a very good goalkeeper."
Anderson had five saves as Seattle outshot Whitman 16-4.
The other members of Whitman's defensive unit are Jamie Grindrod at stopper, Heather Groshong at sweeper, and Kristen Ott and freshman Christina Anderson at the marking back spots. "Kristen is playing extremely well right now, but really all of our defenders are doing a great job," Shields said. Also playing well off the bench are defenders Amanda Compton and Carrington King.
The Linfield College women stormed the net for four first-half goals, three by Emily Baker, to hand visiting Whitman a 5-0 Northwest Conference soccer loss Saturday afternoon.
Even though they were outshot by only three attempts, 14-11, the Missionaries were unable to break into the scoring column. The Wildcats had a 6-2 edge in corner kicks. Whitman goalkeeper Kristina Anderson had four saves.