SALEM, Ore. – Claire Kisielnicki came within one goal of tying the school record for most goals in a game, as the third-year Bearcat registered a sock trick with eight goals to go along with three assists in the season opener for Willamette University's women's lacrosse. The Bearcats defeated the visiting Pirates of Whitworth University, 16-9, on a wet and humid Sunday afternoon on Sparks Field.
With today's victory, Willamette, who was chosen earlier this week as the preseason favorite to win the Northwest Conference title, improves to 1-0. Meanwhile, Whitworth closes out it season-opening trip to the Beaver State with their second straight loss falling to 0-2 on the young 2025 campaign.
Kisielnicki netted two goals in the first period, two more in the second frame, one in the third quarter, and three in the fourth 10-minute frame, as she nearly tied the school record for most goals in a single game that she shares with Anabel Ohsman. Ohsman's record-scoring output came on March 24, 2019, against the University of Dallas (Tx.), while Kisielnicki equaled the record with nine goals of her own on March 9, 2024, against Pacific University of Oregon.
Along with Kisielnicki's performance, Alex Warfel added four goals to go along with a pair of goals each by Lily Bachiochi and Sydney Davis for all the scoring by Willamette. Bachiochi led the Bearcats with four assists, while Kisielnicki handed out her aforementioned three assists and Brielle Moore also registed an assist on the afternoon.
The game's scoring began when Bachiochi netted her first goal of the season on a man down situation for Willamette with 7:46 showing on the clock. Two minutes later, Whitworth's Kenison Turner evened the game at 1-apiece with her third goal of the season with 5:34 left in the opening period. Just over one minute later, Bachiochi scored her second goal of the afternoon to start a stretch of five straight goals by the Bearcats. Kisielnicki netting her first and second goals of the season within a two minutes span of each other to cap the scoring for Willamette, as the Bearcats held a 4-1 lead after one period of play.
Kisielnicki would stretch the host Bearcats' lead to five goals (6-1) with a pair of goals within 49 seconds of each other to open the second quarter, as she scored four straight goals for Willamette. Whitworth's Sierra Witte snagged her third goal of the season with 9:05 remaining in the opening half, as the visiting Pirates pulled within four goals (6-2). Warfel pushed Willamette's lead to six goals (8-2) with back-to-back scores in a five-minute span, as her second goal of the season came with 2:31 left in the second quarter. Whitworth's Campbell Vincent scored the final goal of the opening half, as she tallied her seventh goal of the season with 95 seconds left to put the halftime score at 8-3 in favor of the host Bearcats.
The third quarter would see Whitworth net six goals with Megan Whitman starting things off for the visiting Pirates before Witte tallied her second goal of the afternoon in a man down situation. Willamette would regain its five-goal advantage with back-to-back goals by Davis and Warfel, as the Bearcats pulled ahead 10-5 with 9:47 left. Whitworth would answer back with a pair of goals by Nikki Beers and Turner to get the Pirates within three goals (10-7) before Willamette got its 11th goal of the afternoon from Davis with 3:45 on the clock. The visiting Pirates scored two straight goals by Vincent to get within two goals (11-9) before Kisielnicki put the home team in front 12-9 behind her fifth goal of the game with eight seconds left in the third quarter.
The fourth and final quarter belonged to Willamette, as the Bearcats scored four unanswered goals over the 10-minute frame. Kisielnicki tallied three of the home team's four goals, including her sock trick score a mere 57 seconds into the final frame for her sixth goal of the afternoon. Warfel concluded the game's scoring for Willamette, as the host Bearcats earned the victory by the final score of 16-9.
Overall, Kisielnicki led all players with 11 shots that included eight on goal. Meanwhile, a trio of Bearcats – Bachiochi, Davis, and Warfel – registered six, five, and five shots, respectively in the win for Willamette.
For Whitworth, Vincent led the Pirates with three goals and an assist to go along with a pair of goals each by Witte and Turner. Beers and Whitman add one goal apiece, as Vincent led Whitworth with 10 shots on the afternoon.
In between the pipes for Willamette, Olivia Austin registered a game-high seven saves en route to recording her first win of the season. For Whitworth, Sage Fosnock stood in goal for the first 48-plus minutes and tallied a team-high four saves before giving way to Kayla Jones for the final 12 minutes where she registered one save for the Pirates. Fosnock was credited with her second loss of the season for Whitworth.
As a team, Willamette outshot Whitworth, 28-25, while the visiting Pirates controlled the draw count winning 19-out-of-29 faceoffs.
Willamette will return to action on Thursday, February 27, when the Bearcats travel north to Newberg to take on defending Northwest Conference champions George Fox University beginning at 6:00 PM.
