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GFU
can't get by
Bearcats, Wildcats |
The GFU women's soccer team falls to 3-12 overall
with losses to Willamette and Linfield |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
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George Fox suffered two narrow women’s soccer team losses during the
weekend, a 2-1 defeat at No. 6-ranked Willamette and a 2-0 setback at Linfield College.
On Saturday the Bruins pushed the nationally-ranked Willamette University
Bearcats to extra periods, but the Bruins were thwarted in their upset bid as the Bearcats
escaped with a 2-1 double-overtime win.
Conference scoring leader Brooke Erickson put George Fox on top at the 15:34
mark when she fired in a shot from the top of the box with an assist from freshman
Kiersten Luginbill.
Anne Merten tied the game for the Bearcats with a penalty kick at the 56:32
mark. Despite a large advantage in shots (30-11 for the game, 8-0 in overtime), the
Bearcats were turned away constantly by goalie Stacey Ozga, who recorded a career-high 16
saves in the match.
Finally, just over two minutes into the second overtime, Joey Muchlinski hit
a long pass from the right side of the field to Nicole Dahl as she streaked to the far
post. Dahl chested the ball into the goal at 112:18, enabling the Bearcats to avoid a
major upset and stretching their unbeaten home winning streak to 70 games in a row.
The Bearcats, year in and year out a national top 10 team, have played the
Bruins four times in the two years that Andy Hetherington has coached the George Fox
program — and three of the four have gone into overtime, two of them into double
overtime. The Bruins lost to the Bearcats this year by scores of 4-3 in overtime and 2-1
in double overtime.
“The first time we played Willamette last year, we were just very
lucky,” Hetherington said. “They out-shot us something like 50-3, and had shots
going wide, hitting off the posts, everything — they just couldn’t finish. This
year, we have been much more competitive, and while they are still a superior team that is
among the best in the country, we believe we’re narrowing the gap, not just with
Willamette but with every other team in the conference.”
On Sunday, the Bruins couldn’t close the gap and suffered the road loss
at Linfield. George Fox had nine shots to Linfield’s 18, with four on goal to 11 for
the Wildcats.
The Bruins fell to 3-12-1 overall and 1-10 in the conference. The Bruins
return to action Saturday with an 11 a.m. contest at Pacific Lutheran University. On
Sunday, the Bruins take on No. 9-ranked University of Puget Sound at 11 a.m. |
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From Oct. 29,
2003, Newberg Graphic
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