Box Score
TACOMA, WASH. – One day after Pacific cleared the path, the Puget Sound women's soccer team reached the summit of the Northwest Conference for a record tenth consecutive time.
Senior midfielder Christine Isabella had a goal and two assists as the Loggers outshot Pacific 13-2 on the way to a 5-0 rout in the regular season finale for both teams at Baker Stadium. The Boxers (7-5-4 NWC, 10-6-4 overall) ended one of their most successful seasons with a fifth place finish in the NWC, while the Loggers wait for Monday's announcement of the NCAA Division III National Tournament, a drill they are certainly familiar with by now.
The Boxers could have tied Whitworth for fourth place with an upset win on the season's final day, as the Pirates fell to Willamette 2-0. Pacific's 0-0 tie against Linfield on Friday meant that Puget Sound could win the conference outright with a victory and left the wounded Wildcats leading the cheers for Pacific, hoping a tie or Boxer win over the Loggers could give them a shot at their first-ever conference title in women's soccer. With destiny in hand, the reigning champs left little to doubt.
The Loggers blew open a 1-0 game by putting goals on the board in quick succession early in the second half. Kylie Beeson scored on a header off Isabella's first assist just 1:44 into the second half. Less than three minutes later, Isabella knocked in her team-leading ninth goal of the season after a cross by Jenny Moore. Just like that, the Boxers were staring at a 3-0 deficit against the NWC's top defense, which proved impenetrable for the 12
th time this season. Two of those 12 shutouts came against the Boxers, who lost the earlier home matchup 3-0 on Oct. 8.
Pacific's only two shots of the game were on target.
Tianna Homad's (Sr., Seattle, Wash.) attempt in the 23
rd minute was saved by starting goalkeeper Kara Merfeld. Pacific would not threaten the Logger goal again until the final minute of the match, when
Bryanna DeLima's (Sr., Hilo, Hawaii) final shot was cleared by reserve keeper Casey Thayer. The two sophomore netminders have combined to limit opponents to just 10 goals in 19 games, while conference foes have scored just six times this year. Credit goes to the team defensive effort as Merfeld and Thayer were hardly troubled on this surprisingly pleasant day.
Isabella and the Loggers were not content to sit back with the commanding second half lead. The NWC assist champion distributed her ninth helper of the season to Robin Viera for a goal in the 66
th minute. Megan Walsh closed the scoring with an unassisted goal in the 81
st minute. Viera led the Loggers with three shots. Puget Sound put seven shots on frame and Pacific goalkeeper
Brittany Hartmann (Jr., Portland, Ore.) saved only two of them.
Seven seniors said their farewells to the home crowd Friday and all seven started in their final match on Saturday. DeLima, Homad,
Jordan Bodily (Eagle, Idaho),
Shekema McCarthy (Davis, Calif.),
Teri Shigeno (Meridian, Idaho),
Shelyce Ichimura (Mililani, Hawaii) and
Trisha Tengan (Honolulu, Hawaii) all contributed to one of the winningest seasons in program history as the Boxers reached the ten win mark for only the sixth time.
