PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Lewis & Clark women's soccer team completed a weekend sweep of their conference home matches with a 3-0 victory over the Pacific Boxers at Griswold Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Along with Saturday's 4-3 win over George Fox, the Pios evened their Northwest Conference record to 2-2 and moved to within three points of the conference lead.

Megan Ratfield's goal from the right side of the 6-yard box in the 24th minute started the scoring, giving Ratfield her 10th point of the season, which is second most in the NWC. Anna Thorndike earned the assist, her second of the year.

In the 43rd minute, sophomore Kelly Priest (pictured below right) lined up just inside the right post from 24 yards out to score her first goal of the season and put the Pios up 2-0 at halftime.

On the Pioneers' first shot of the second half, Karley Pate put in a 21-yard free kick into the left side near post for her first goal of the year, boosting the Pios advantage to 3-0 in the 58th minute.

Lewis & Clark (6-2-0, 2-2-0 NWC) was dominant throughout the match and especially in the opening half, outshooting Pacific 6-1 and owning a 5-0 edge in corner kicks as well. Lewis & Clark also committed 10 fouls while Pacific only had one before halftime.

Ratfield credited the defense with the win, as goalkeeper Kelley Koeppen (6-2-0) and company earned the Pioneers' fourth shutout of the year.

"Coming off a tough weekend last week and bouncing back, we couldn't be happier," said Ratfield after the match. "Our outside backs really showed up for our team and won every battle. The win came from the back today."

"We were devastated," said head coach Jim Tursi about losses at Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran last weekend. "Our defense was pretty shattered (afterward), so today having a shutout, for them, I think more than anything, emotionally, is good.

"We are going to give up some goals, but we just have to score more this year. That's the bottom line."

The Pios did score more, posting seven goals over the weekend. Defensively, Pacific was held to five shots for the entire match Sunday, getting four in the second half. Lewis & Clark had 14 shots for the entire match and had more corners overall too, 11-3.

Lewis & Clark's Rochelle Jordan had a shot blocked in the second minute, but aside from a couple of Pios corner attempts, the match was mostly played away from the goals in the first 16 minutes.

In the 17th minute, Thorndike missed a shot wide before taking a corner in the 24th minute. She followed the kick, gained possession and passed to Ratfield on the right side of the 6-yard box, where Ratfield scored.

With the goal, Ratfield has matched her point total from her prior three seasons combined, and ranks two points behind Pacific Lutheran's Machaela Graddy and Linfield's Emma Vukic for the conference lead.

"For the first three years, we had nothing out of that position," said Tursi. "She dedicated herself physically - in the weight room and on the field - and when you do that, it pays off.

"I love what she's doing. She's helping us tremendously."

"It comes from my teammates pushing me every day," said Ratfield. "They're right there with me and I'm happy to have a good senior year."

Taylor Hudson's shot in the 30th minute was blocked before Pacific's first shot of the half by Ashley Park-Hunt hit the crossbar in the 32nd minute.

Hudson went on to miss another wide in the 36th minute. In the 43rd minute, Pacific's Mikayla Tucker was issued a yellow card, setting the stage for Priest's goal.

Pacific (1-7-1, 1-3-1) fired first in the second half when McKenna Davidson missed high in the 51st minute.

Jordan put forward the Pios' first effort of the second period in the 60th minute, missing wide, before Thorndike had a shot blocked in the 62nd minute.

Off a Ratfield corner in the 64th minute, Thorndike missed high. Hudson tried a header three minutes later, which was saved by Pacific goalkeeper Kililani Kunitomo (1-2-1). 30 seconds later, Ratfield forced another save.

The Boxers went 21 minutes without a shot when Brook Smith took one that was saved by Koeppen in the 72nd minute. Adina Goodwin missed high in the 76th minute.

Sandra Alvarenga replaced Koeppen in the 79th minute before teammate Sarah Schoville had an effort blocked in the 80th minute. Alvarenga stopped the last shot of the match, an 88th minute try by Goodwin, and the Pioneers finished with the victory.

Lewis & Clark plays Saturday at Linfield before returning to Portland on Oct. 4 against Willamette for the first of five straight home matches.

Other Northwest Conference Scores - Sunday

Linfield 5, Whitman 0
Pacific Lutheran 1, George Fox 0
Willamette 1, Whitworth 0

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