Box Score Ariel Wilks
Sports Information Intern
BOXSCORE
McMINNVILLE, Ore. - Nationally ranked Linfield shutout visiting Lewis & Clark 5-0 Sunday afternoon to end the first half of Northwest Conference play. The Pioneers lost back to back games for the first time this season.
Linfield controlled possession for most of the first half. Emily Fellows scored her league-leading 14th goal of the season in the 23rd minute giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Marisa Specht crossed the ball through traffic finding Fellows who has able to slip it into the bottom left corner of the goal. Specht added to the lead in the 25th minute with a goal of her own as Ellie Schmidt picked up her league-leading sixth assist. Two minutes later it was Schmidt's turn to find the back of the net to push the lead to 3-0. Specht recorded her second assist of the game on the play. Fellows added to her league-leading goal total in the 32nd minute when Schmidt's pass helped Fellows beat the Lewis & Clark defense to give Linfield a 4-0 lead.
The second half was quiet for the first 17 minutes until Linfield's Emma Vukic pushed the lead to 5-0. Schmidt upped her assist total to three on the day on Vukic's goal. The Pioneers were able to hold the Wildcats scoreless for the rest of the half.
Lewis & Clark had five shots on the day with Anna Thorndike firing off two and teammates Emily Thompson, Megan Ratfield, and Raquel McNeff each recording one. Junior goalkeeper Geena Fong made eight saves.
The win keeps Linfield in first place in the NWC with a record of 7-1 in league and 11-1 overall. The loss makes Lewis & Clark's overall record 7-4-1 and puts its league record at 4-3-1.
McNeff, a junior, feels optimistic going into the second half of the season. After the game she said, "This first half of our season was a learning half for us. We will grow from our successes and failures and use that to continue to play hard…" After loosing two key players early in the season to knee injuries McNeff is proud of the hard work the team has put in to try to fill that gap that was lost. Senior Sarah Breninger and McNeff both mentioned that they started the season on fire and hope to finish it strong.
Lewis & Clark returns home and will look to break its win record with a 7:00 p.m. game Wednesday, Oct. 16, against Willamette to begin the second half of Northwest Conference action.
