SPOKANE, Wash.-- A match billed as a meeting between a pair of top-ten teams never materialized into the expected drama as visiting University of Puget Sound jumped to a quick lead then rolled to a 3-1 win over Whitworth University in a Northwest Conference women's soccer match on Saturday afternoon. The fifth-ranked Loggers improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the NWC while the 9th-ranked Pirates dropped to 5-2, 1-2. The match got off to an unfortunate start for Whitworth when starter Kaylyn Plumb (So., D, Newman Lake, Wash.) was felled by injury less than a minute into the game. She would not return. Puget Sound's Janece Levien, the 2007 NWC Offensive Player of the Year, got the Loggers on the board first when her shot from the middle of the box got under Whitworth keeper Callie Bergstrom (Fr., GK, Spokane, Wash.) in the seventh minute. Rochel Burke set up the goal with a sharp cross from the right side. UPS grabbed a two-goal advantage just before halftime when Fiona Gornick's corner was not fielded by a Pirate defender and fell at the feet of an unmarked Mikaela Freeman on the far post. Freeman put away the easy finish in the 44th minute. Another corner kick for the Loggers led to their third goal in the 60th minute. Gornick's corner led to a scrum in front of the net. Abby Goss finally gained possession and passed across to Jenny Moore, who finished from a left-side angle. Whitworth got on the board in the 85th minute when Mahyo Seyedali (Sr., MF, Kirkland, Wash.) lofted a high shot from 25 yards that UPS keeper Kallie Wolfer got a hand on, but could not control. Cory Druffel (Fr., F, Pullman, Wash.) cleaned up the rebound for her first career goal. The Loggers outshot the Pirates 11-8, including a 6-3 advantage in shots on goal. They also worked for nine corner kicks to only three for Whitworth. Bergstrom finished with three saves, while Wolfer had a pair. Whitworth will try to rebound from its first losing streak since the end of the 2006 season when the Pirates host Pacific Lutheran University on Sunday at noon. UPS will travel to Walla Walla to take on Whitman College, also at noon. |
