SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Whitworth University women's soccer team will host George Fox University and Pacific University to close the 2008 regular season. The 12th-ranked Pirates are currently in second place in the Northwest Conference standings and need to remain there to hold onto any hope of an at-large berth in the NCAA Division III tournament. Click here for the NWC women's soccer standings. Whitworth improved to 13-4-1 overall and 9-4-1 in the NWC after a pair of impressive wins last week. The Bucs won 4-0 at Whitman on Wednesday and then rolled 5-0 at home against Lewis & Clark on Sunday. The Pirates will host GFU on Friday and then Pacific on Saturday, both matches are scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m.
NWC Weekly Awards: Whitney Ramsey (Sr., F, Spokane, Wash.) and Kelly Baker (Sr., D, Boise, Idaho) both earned NWC Women's Soccer Student-Athlete of the Week awards (announced Nov. 3). Ramsey, the conference's Offensive Player of the Week, tied for the team lead last week with two goals and an assist in 85 minutes of play as the Pirates solidified their hold on second place in the NWC standings. Baker, the defensive honoree, led a Pirate defense that limited the opponents to 11 total shots, and only three shots on goal this week. They are the first Whitworth players to win either of the awards this season. Spreading the Wealth: Whitworth has scored 25 of its 39 goals in the last eight matches, a stretch in which the team is 7-1. The fact that six different players have scored at least four goals this season for the Bucs, and a total of 10 players have scored at least twice, indicates that the team is capable of getting important points from a variety of players. Ramsey and Lindsey Oakes (Jr., MF, Boise, Idaho) lead the team in total points with five goals and four assists each. Emily Rohde (So., F, Lake Oswego, Ore.) and Kelly Baker have also scored five goals each this season. Stepping into the Breach: Whitworth suffered some bad news before the season even started when returning starting goal keeper Krista Dietz (Jr., Enumclaw, Wash.) went down with a knee injury during preseason practice. But Callie Bergstrom (Fr., GK, Spokane, Wash.) has stepped in and played very well. She has allowed 20 goals in the Pirates' 18 matches this season for a 1.09 goals against average. She has been in on 67 saves. Tough League: The Northwest Conference is once again proving very tough in NCAA Division III soccer. Five NWC schools are currently ranked among the top ten in the NSCAA West Region Ratings. The Pirates are currently ranked second in the west, just behind Puget Sound. Willamette is sixth, Whitman is ninth and George Fox is 10th. Click here for the NSCAA Division III West Region ratings. National Rankings: Whitworth is ranked 12th in this week's NSCAA/adidas Division III women's coaches poll, up three positions from the last week's ratings. Click here for the today's national poll. The Coach: In his 12th season as the Pirate women's head coach, Bushey has a 108-86-15 during his 11 previous seasons leading Whitworth. But over the last five-plus years, including this season, the Whitworth women are 78-30-7 and in 2007 the team finished second in the NWC, earning the first ever NCAA Division III tournament bid as an at-large participant. The Pirates defeated UC Santa Cruz in the first round of the tournament. Bushey was named the 2007 NWC Women's Coach of the Year. Live Stats Offered: Live statistics of all Pirate home matches this season will be available on the Whitworth University Women's Soccer web page. The link for the matches is: The Opponents: George Fox (12-6 overall, 8-6 NWC) comes into the final weekend with a chance to finish as high as second place in the NWC standings. The Bruins had two strong performances last weekend, winning 2-1 at Linfield and 4-3 at home against Pacific Lutheran. Jenny McKinsey (12 goals, 6 assists) and Kristen Cardwell (8 goals, 6 assists) are two of the most dangerous offensive players in the NWC. On October 12th Whitworth won 3-2 at George Fox in the teams' first meeting. Pacific University (5-12-1, 4-9-1) dropped a pair of hard-fought matches last weekend. The Boxers came closer than any other team this season to knocking off 6th-ranked Puget Sound before falling 3-2 at home on Saturday. On Sunday Pacific fell 1-0 at home to Willamette. Jenny Novak leads the Boxers with six goals this year. On October 11th Whitworth won 3-0 at Pacific. |
