MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – For the first time since returning to varsity status in 2004, Lewis & Clark College women's soccer earned a season sweep over Linfield University with a 1-0 Northwest Conference victory on Saturday afternoon.
THE BASICS
Lewis & Clark 1, Linfield 0
(Lewis & Clark 5-7-3, NWC 4-4-3)
(Linfield 5-4-6, NWC 3-3-5)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Celeste Schreifels scored the game-winning goal with a penalty kick, while
Sophia Young recorded two saves and tied the program record with her 17
th career shutout in net to help the Pioneers end a four-game winless streak.
Schreifels was eager for her fourth goal of the season. The senior forward kicked the Pioneers' first three shots of the game. Schreifels' first shot in the game's second minute sailed wide, while her second attempt at 15:37 hit the post.
It was Schreifels' third shot that mattered most on Saturday. At the start of the second half, senior
Sasha Raimondo played a ball out wide to fellow senior
Macy O'Hara, who then knocked a cross into the box. Schreifels was in front of her mark, and as she slid across the goal for the cross from O'Hara, Schreifels was pushed from behind, and the ball sailed by her. With the foul called, Schreifels stepped up for the penalty kick at 46:03, placed it on the ground, and passed Linfield keeper Emma Mulligan to the back of the net in the right corner.
Freshman
Grace Smith and sophomore
Carli Driskill attempted to add an insurance goal, with Mulligan stopping Smith's shot in the 56
th minute, while Driskill's shot was blocked at 73:04.
Young faced the most pressure from the Wildcats late in the first half. The senior recorded her first save of the game at 32.28 when Linfield's Bella Hanna took a header off a Wildcat corner, but Young was there to prevent the score. A little over two minutes later, Young stopped Linfield's second shot on goal, this time from Jocelyn Jacobs.
The Lewis & Clark defense stepped up in the second half as they only allowed one Linfield shot. The Pioneers were down a player the final five and half minutes of the game when sophomore
Carson Warfield received her second yellow card at 84:23, which resulted in a red card and ejection from the game.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Schreifels' game-winner was the eighth of her career, moving her into sole possession of third in program history. She previously sat in a tie for third with 2022 Lewis & Clark Hall of Fame Inductee Lisa Housman, who will receive her recognition next weekend on Palatine Hill.
- Young moved into a tie with former Pioneers keeper Geena Fong with 17 career shutouts and five games left in the season.
- Smith leads all freshman 24 shots this season, 11 of them on goal. She has started 11 of the 15 contests she has appeared.
- The Pioneers are 3-0-2 against the Wildcats since October 17, 2021. It is the longest stretch of games since 2004 the Pios have not lost a game to Linfield.
WHO'S NEXT
Lewis & Clark travels to Tacoma with a noon meeting against NWC second place team Puget Sound tomorrow.