SPOKANE - Olivia Lee gave Pacific Lutheran a 1-0 lead in the
early going, but host Whitworth responded with four unanswered
goals in defeating the Lutes, 4-1, in a Northwest Conference
women's soccer match played Sunday afternoon at Whitworth Soccer
Field.
The Pirates won their fourth in a row and improved to 6-3
overall and 4-1 in the NWC. The Lutes fell to 1-6 overall, 1-3 in
the conference.
The first 20 minutes of the match were evenly played before
PLU took a 1-0 lead in the 12th minute. Mimi Granlund served a long
pass across the box to Olivia Lee, who one-timed her kick just
inside the left post for her first goal of the season. The ball
traveled more than 30 yards from Granlund to Lee to the goal
without ever touching the ground.
Whitworth began to apply pressure over the final 20 minutes of
the first half, opening up an 8-2 advantage in shots by halftime.
But the Pirates did not break through until the 45th minute when
Sarah Berentson's pass into the box was finished by Jami Hegg, who
had an open net in front of her.
From there it was all Whitworth. The Pirates limited PLU to a
single shot in the second half, while peppering the Lutes with 14
of their own.
Elizabeth Mattila set up the eventual winner when she beat a
defender on the right side and sent a cross to the middle of the
box where Sidonia Davin headed the ball over PLU keeper Lauren
Chambard in the 60th minute.
The Pirates added a pair of late insurance goals. Molly Moore
made the score 3-1 when she took possession on the left side of the
box, dribbled back around a defender and then took a long shot that
bent around Chambard and into the inside of the right pole.
DeeDee Garbe, who just missed on a pair of close scoring
chances, tallied the final goal in the 90th minute. She beat a
defender along the endline and carried to the front of the goal
where she finished from close range for her second of the
season.
Chambard worked hard to make nine saves in the match for PLU.
Callie Bergstrom had one save for Whitworth.
(Courtesy of Whitworth Sports Information Office.)
