WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Madison Perry scored with 23 seconds to play and Sage Fosnock saved a free position shot with eight seconds left to give visiting Whitworth a dramatic come-from-behind 22-21 win over Whitman in a Northwest Conference women's lacrosse match on Wednesday evening.
The Pirates (4-6 overall, 2-3 NWC) won their second straight against the Blues (2-5, 1-3) dating back to 2020 after both of the contests in 2021 were cancelled due to Covid-19.
Perry led Whitworth with five goals, while Kylee Walker added four goals and an assist.
Whitman jumped ahead 3-1 in the first five minutes before the Pirates tied the match 5-5 on a player-up goal from Anna Chase. The Blues added two more goals to take a 7-5 lead after one quarter. Shots were even 9-9 in the quarter, but Whitman got three saves to one for the Pirates.
The Blues extended their lead in the second quarter, going up 9-5 on a player-up goal from Eliza Daigle. Grace Curley answered for the Bucs to pull within 9-6, but Whitman scored three straight to double up the Pirates 12-6. Erin Magnuson had two of those goals. Walker scored a free position shot to pull the Pirates within 13-8 with only 16 seconds to play before halftime. Second quarter shots were again nearly even (11-10 in favor of Whitman), but the Blues were more efficient at converting opportunities.
Like they did in Sunday's match at Linfield, the Bucs turned things around in the third quarter, outscoring Whitman 7-1 to take a 15-14 lead. Abby Hahn scored 100 seconds into the second half. Perry won the ensuing draw control and scored 20 seconds later to pull the Pirates to within 13-10. After Walker scored for Whitworth, Rebecca Irwin tallied a pair of goals only 24 seconds apart to tie the match 13-13 with 8:12 left in the period. Daigle ended the Pirates' scoring run, but Chase retied the match at 14-14 with just under seven minutes left. Both defenses tightened up and Irwin scored the only remaining goal of the period with 2:07 to go to give Whitworth a 15-14 advantage. The Pirates outshot the Blues 16-4 in the third period.
Whitman appeared to retake control of the match early in the fourth quarter, outscoring Whitworth 4-1 to take an 18-16 lead five minutes in. Madeleine Sherry scored three of those goals. The Pirates answered quickly with goals from Liliann Penfield and Grace Curley to retie the match. Whitman again scored two straight, going up 20-18 on a goal by Amelia Leopold with just under five minutes to play.
Walker scored on a free position shot with 3:25 left and the Pirates converted another draw control by Perry into a Chase goal to tie the match with 2:41 to go. Daigle scored the final Blues goal on a free position shot with 2:41 left. Perry won the crucial draw control and she followed up a near miss by tying the match 21-21 with under 1:45 to play. Whitman won the next draw control, but Whitworth forced a turnover, allowing the Pirates to run the offense with the shot clock turned off. Perry drove and scored the eventual winner with 23 seconds left. Whitman won the draw and Magnuson drove hard into the penalty area, drawing a foul and a free position attempt. Fosnock made the save of the match with eight seconds left, secured possession and held the ball until the clock expired.
Whitworth outshot Whitman 46-32 and the Pirates had a 26-20 edge in draw controls, including 20 by Perry. Walker placed most of those draws that Perry was able to win. In addition to the scoring totals by Perry and Walker, Irwin and Chase scored three apiece, while Curley tallied a pair and had the Pirates' second assist.
Daigle and Magnuson scored seven goals each to lead Whitman.
Fosnock played the majority of the match in goal for Whitworth and made four saves against 15 goals. Hannah Lew stopped a pair of shots in her 15 minutes and allowed six goals.
