SPRINGFIELD, Ore. – Ending an eight-game winless streak, the Northwest Christian University women’s soccer team got a victory in the penultimate game of the season, knocking off Warner Pacific on Friday night at home, 3-1.
The Beacons dominated the game, holding a 28-10 shot advantage, and withstood a late fury to claim the victory.
Warner Pacific set the early tone, scoring the first goal of the game less than two minutes in as Gaby Bowman collected a rebound off a missed shot by Madison Ochoa, and fired in the strike, deflecting the ball off the defense.
After what proved to be a good wake-up call, NCU took over and quickly tied the game in the 10th minute as Hannah Best registered her team-leading fifth goal of the season on a pass from Libby Gregory. Less than 30 seconds later, the game-winner was in hand when Sierra Coloma drove to the left-side end-line and crossed the ball into the box, off a defender and into the back of the net.
There wasn’t another score for 74 minutes when Amanda Whetten gave NCU some needed insurance off a cross from Taylor Binkerd. Over the final 15 minutes of the game, both teams went into attack mode. While Katie Hastings patrolled the box for the Beacons, pulling in seven saves, WPU’s Alyssa Guthrie was very impressive between the pipes, keeping the Knights alive with numerous acrobatic saves.
NCU (3-11-1, 2-8-1 CCC) will return to action on Saturday night, playing host to first-year program Multnomah University in the final game of the season. Four seniors will be honored during a pregame ceremony.