Whitman women lose in OT, eye Wednesday NWC soccer opener

WALLA WALLA — Whitman College’s women’s soccer team is back home and preparing for Wednesday afternoon’s Northwest Conference opener against rival Whitworth. The match is slated for 1:30 p.m.

The Missionaries find themselves with a 1-3 season record after playing their first four games of the season on the road.
After a lost weekend in the Midwest, the Whits returned to the Pacific Northwest and earned their first victory of the season on Saturday with a 6-1 trashing of Warner Pacific on the Willamette University campus in Salem, Ore. But the Missionaries found themselves on the losing end again Sunday as Whittier College escaped with a 1-0 overtime victory, also played on the Willamette pitch.

In Sunday’s loss to Whittier, Whitman outshot Whittier 16-4 but failed to find the back of the net. Each team had four shots on goal, and junior Emily Davis (Eagle River, Ark.) went the distance in the goal for the Missionaries and was credited with three stops.
Three minutes, 13 seconds into the extra period, Rose Marie Orlando received a pass from Ashley Stanford and directed a 14-yard kick from the right side into the net for the game-winning goal.

“I thought we played really well and dominated majority of the game, but we were unable to finish our chances when we had them,” Whitman coach Heather Cato said in assessing Sunday's loss.” The team possessed the ball well, and defensively we we're composed.

“But I think this loss left a bad taste in our mouth,” she added. “I think  we are fired up and ready for our game against Whitworth on Wednesday.”