By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- It was senior night at Sparks Field for the Willamette University women's soccer team on Wednesday, Nov. 5, and it was senior Lauren Miller (F, Portland, OR/Grant HS/Northwestern State, La.) who provided the game's only goal, as the Bearcats defeated nearby rival Linfield College, 1-0. The Bearcats, who moved into second place in the Northwest Conference standings, improved to 12-7 overall and to 10-5 in the NWC. Linfield fell to 5-14 on the season, 3-12 in the NWC.

Miller scored the goal relatively early in the game at 16:55. She hit the net on a header from 9-yards out as she redirected a pass from Beth Tatlock (Jr., F, Denver, CO/St. Mary's Academy). Tatlock's crossing pass came from the left side and found Miller about midway into the penalty area near the far post. It was Miller's third goal of the season and 14th goal in two years with the Bearcats.

Willamette now has 30 points in the NWC standings, two more than Whitworth University (9-4-1, 28 points). The Bearcats have one more game on the schedule, a meeting with the NWC leaders at the University of Puget Sound (14-0, 42 points) on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 11 a.m. (PST).

Whitworth still has two games left, against George Fox University on Friday, Nov. 7 and against Pacific University on Saturday, Nov. 8. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a tie in conference play.

In addition to Miller's goal, each team had one near miss at putting another goal on the scoreboard. For Linfield, Kristine Siler took a 35-yard shot in the first half that went above Gano and hit the crossbar with four minutes left in the first half. For Willamette, Samantha Post (Sr., D/MF, Philomath, OR/Philomath HS) took a 30-yard shot 3:38 into the second half that Hasselblad was able to reach up and save.

The Bearcats have won seven games by a 1-0 margin this season, with Kelli Gano (Sr., GK, Portland, OR/Cleveland HS) recording all seven shutouts. Willamette is 10-4 in games decided by one goal.

Against Linfield, Gano earned four saves, while facing a total of nine shots. Willamette had six shots overall, but matched the Wildcats with four shots on goal. LC goalkeeper Kelsey Hasselblad made three saves.