Box Score
SPOKANE – The Pacific women's soccer team went from “Big O” to double zeros on Sunday.
After scoring three goals the day before and five goals combined in their last two games, the Boxers struggled just to get a shot off as they played Whitworth to a scoreless draw in a Northwest Conference match at Whitworth Soccer Field.
For most of regulation, you could have lopped 15 yards off either end of the field and it seemingly would have made little difference. Whitworth (7-2-3 NWC, 7-4-3 overall) was held without a single shot in the first half, while Pacific's
Jordan Bodily (Sr., Eagle, Idaho) missed the frame on a pair of shots in the first 45 minutes.
While the Boxers (5-4-3, 8-5-3) finally put a challenge to Whitworth goalkeeper Callie Bergstrom in the first ten minutes after halftime, the NWC leader in goalkeeper minutes stopped shots from
Sarah Tuffey (Jr., Valencia, Calif.) and
Bryanna DeLima (Sr., Hilo, Hawaii). Finally, the Pirates got a shot away when Mackenzie Grow fired a ball over the crossbar in the 56
th minute.
Whitworth nearly broke the stalemate in the final ten minutes of regulation when Kelsey Griswold hit a shot off the crossbar in the 82
nd minute. Boxers' goalkeeper Britanny Hartmann (Jr., Portland, Ore.) made her one-and-only save of regulation a minute later, stopping a Chloe Cook shot.
The Pirates would get a pair of corner kicks and one more shot in the final minutes of regulation, but the horn sounded with zeros on the board and a combined total of nine shot attempts with just three on the frame.
Overtime would offer little change in the pace of play, but the Boxers came the closest to cracking the goose egg as
Kaitlyn Harper (Jr., Oregon City, Ore.) fired a shot off the crossbar. Whitworth put one shot on target in the second overtime period, but Hartmann was there to gather Alex Fraser's strike 30 seconds in to collect her second save of the match and her fifth shutout of the season.
In the end, the Boxers and Bucs proved they are essentially equals. After playing to a 1-1 draw in their first meeting of the season at Lincoln Park Stadium, Pacific and Whitworth had identical counts of shots (6), shots on goal (2) and saves. The Pirates did hold the Boxers to just three corner kicks while taking nine of their own, five in the second half of regulation when they pushed play a little more into the Boxers' defensive half.
Bodily's two shots were the most by any player for either team as Whitworth's six shots were evenly distributed among six players.
The Boxers head back to the west side of the Cascades to take on Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, Oct. 29 before coming back to Lincoln Park Stadium to host Willamette the next day. Both matches kick off at noon.
