SPOKANE, Wash. – A competitive first quarter did not translate into a competitive match for the Whitworth women's lacrosse team in the Pirates' home opener against George Fox on Saturday afternoon. The visiting Bruins used a 9-0 second quarter to power to an 18-6 victory over the Bucs.
Whitworth (0-2) will look to notch its first victory of the season on Sunday against Willamette. The Bruins (2-1) travel to play Whitman.
GFU jumped to a 3-0 lead less than four minutes into the match. Merrick Gibson had a goal and an assist for the Bruins. The Pirates fought back to tie the game 3-3 over the next eight minutes by winning draw controls and gaining possession. Campbell Vincent scored the first goal and assisted on Megan Whitman's goal. Peyton Green tallied off an assist by Sierra Witte to tie the contest with 3:46 left in the period. GFU was able to take advantage of two cards against the Pirates to go ahead 4-3 with only 25 seconds left in the opening quarter. Ava Bluhm scored unassisted.
The Bruins took over in the second period, outscoring the Pirates 9-0. They did so by winning eight of the nine draw controls and keeping possession for the vast majority of the 15 minutes. Bluhm, Lana Davis, Claire Abraham and Alli Stilp each scored twice for GFU in the second. Two of the goals came from free position shots. The ninth goal, scored by Stilp with 1:10 left, led to a running clock for the rest of the game.
Vincent scored Whitworth's only goal of the third period, while Davis added another of her own for the Bruins. GFU led 15-4 after three quarters.
Witte scored from an assist by Vincent early in the fourth. With 5:22 to play, Rose Frezza tallied the first goal of her Pirate career from an assist by Green to complete a breakaway.
Vincent had two goals and two assists for the Pirates, while Witte and Green had one of each.
Gibson led the Bruins with four goals and added one assist. Davis had three goals and four assists, while Bluhm and Abraham also had three goals each.
GFU outshot Whitworth 32-13 and finished with a 16-9 advantage in draw controls. The Bucs struggled to complete clear attempts against the tough Bruin defense and were successful only five out of 13 times.
