By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth Pirates hope to build off a strong weekend when they visit Whitman on Wednesday and host Linfield on Saturday. The match in Walla Walla will start at 7:00pm and the match in Spokane will start at 2:45 as the second half of a men's-women's doubleheader.
Check the Whitworth women's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
The Pirates: Whitworth is 7-4-2 overall and 5-3-2 in the Northwest Conference after getting two wins over the weekend in Oregon. The Pirates moved up a spot in the NWC standings to a tie for third place with Whitman and Willamette.
Whitworth secured a 3-1 victory over Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday. Baylee Trejo scored both her second and third goals of the season in the first half. The Boxers pulled within one with a goal in the 65th minute before Yacine Bitibale put the Pirates up 3-1 just three minutes later. Whitworth edged Pacific 8-7 in total shots and 5-3 in shots on-goal.
The Pirates shut out George Fox in a 3-0 win on Sunday. Yacine Bitibale hit a strike from outside the box to give the Bucs a first half lead. Baylee Trejo added her third goal of the weekend shortly after and Lily Cardenas found the net in the second half. Whitworth maintained offensive pressure and held a significant advantage in shots at 25-6 and 17-4 in shots on-goal. Anna Boyer made four saves for the Pirates.
The Northwest Conference selected Baylee Trejo as the women's soccer Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week for her efforts in the wins at Pacific and George Fox. She scored three goals and had one assist on the weekend. She is Whitworth's first women's soccer student-athlete of the week this season.
NWC Standings Update: Pacific Lutheran remains in first place in the NWC standings, now with 28 points and a 9-0-1 conference record. Puget Sound sits in second place with 19 points (5-1-4). Whitman (5-3-2), Whitworth (5-3-2), and Willamette (5-4-2) are in a three-way tie for third place, each team with 17 points. There is drop off to sixth place.
The Opponents: Whitman comes into the week 8-4-2 overall and 5-3-2 in the NWC. The Blues took down George Fox 1-0 and Pacific 2-1 on a road trip last weekend. Whitman has a 5-1-1 record at home this season. The Bruins are outscoring opponents 21-8 on the year, with sophomore Leah Barnes leading the team with five goals. Whitworth defeated Whitman 1-0 in their first matchup on September 25th.
Linfield heads to Spokane with a 5-5-5 overall record and a 3-5-3 mark in the NWC. The Wildcats lost 3-1 to PLU on Saturday and tied Puget Sound 1-1 on Sunday. Freshman forward Julia Alvarez leads Linfield with four goals on the season and junior Mia Curtaz has contributed three assists. The Wildcats are looking for their first win since defeating the Pirates 1-0 on September 25th.
The Coach: Whitworth soccer alum Cameron Bushey is in his third season as head coach of the women's soccer team. The Pirates followed up a 6-8-5 record during his first year in 2022 with a 9-6-5 mark (9-5-2 NWC) last season.
Bushey came from Stanislaus State, where he was the top assistant coach. Bushey has club coaching stints in Spokane and Colorado and he was an assistant at Gonzaga University for two seasons (2018-19). He graduated from Whitworth in 2012 as a four-time All-NWC honoree who helped lead the Pirates to three NWC titles and NCAA Division III tournament appearances in 2008 and 2009.
Coming up: Whitworth will play at Willamette next Saturday (Nov. 2) before heading to Lewis & Clark on Sunday (Nov. 3).
