By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Willamette University women's lacrosse team secured second place in the Northwest Conference with a gritty 12-11 win over Whitworth University on Sunday, April 28 at the Whitworth Pine Bowl. Willamette led 11-8 and 12-9 in the fourth quarter before hanging on for the win. The Bearcats improved to 10-2 in the NWC. Willamette is 13-3 overall, tying the school record for wins in a season set last year. Whitworth fell to 11-5 overall, 8-4 in the NWC.

Willamette and Whitworth will meet again in the NWC Tournament semifinals on Saturday, May 4 in Newberg, Oregon. Regular season champion George Fox University (12-0) will take on Whitman College (6-6) at 12 p.m. PDT, and Willamette will play Whitworth at 3 p.m. The NWC Championship game will be held on Sunday, May 5 at 1 p.m. The winner of the NWC Tournament will receive the NWC's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Bearcats began the game with 12 starters, but due to injuries and accumulated yellow cards, had to play about half of the fourth quarter with just nine players. On top of the reduced roster, the Bearcats also had to defend penalties throughout the game, as the Bearcats and the Pirates combined for 18 cards. Willamette was issued 11 of the 18 cards overall, including seven of the nine yellow cards. Two Bearcats were forced to leave the game after receiving two yellow cards. Even so, Willamette never trailed.

Brooklynn Pearl (So., MID, Eugene, OR/Willamette HS) led Willamette with five goals. Cedric Shaw (Fy., MID, Jamul, CA/Valhalla HS) added four goals on six shots -- all on target -- and also contributed a team-high eight draw controls. Jay Shiflett (Fy., DEF, Glen Burnie, MD/Old Mill HS) topped the Bearcats with four caused turnovers before leaving the game with two yellow cards.

The Pirates slowed down top scorer Lily Bachiochi (Jr., ATT, Henderson, NV/Coronado HS), but she still found a way to score two goals and one assist, including what proved to be the decisive goal in the fourth quarter. Claire Kisielnicki (So., ATT, Manitou Springs, CO/Manitou Springs HS) scored one goal for the Bearcats.

Whitworth was paced by Campbell Vincent with four goals and one assist. Rebecca Irwin totaled two goals and two assists, while Kenzie Hemman scored two goals and Sierra Witte was credited with two assists.

When the Bearcats were closer to full strength, they took a 3-1 lead in the first quarter and held a 5-1 edge with 8:12 left in the second quarter. Shaw scored three of Willamette's first five goals, while Pearl earned the other two goals. The Pirates battled back and tied the score at 5-5 with eight seconds left in the half on a goal by Hemman.

The score remained tight during the third quarter, with the only two-goal margin occurring with two seconds left, when Pearl scored an unassisted goal to give Willamette a 9-7 edge. Caitlin Smith scored next for the Pirates just 41 seconds into the fourth quarter, but goals by Shaw at 13:51 and Pearl at 9:55 on free-position shots propelled the Bearcats into an 11-8 lead. Irwin hit the net for Whitworth at the 8:11 mark to reduce the margin to 11-9.

Neither team scored for more than three minutes before Bachiochi gave the Bearcats a 12-9 lead on a goal with 4:38 remaining in the game. Kendyl Jennings (Sr., MID, Keizer, OR/McNary HS) assisted on the play. Goals by Irwin at 2:48 and Abby Hahn at 1:35 pulled the Pirates within 12-11.

Whitworth won the next draw control and a green card on Shaw 10 seconds later gave the Pirates a numerical advantage on attack. Whitworth took two shots during the player-advantage, but Willamette goalkeeper Olivia Austin (Fy., GK, San Diego, CA/La Jolla HS) saved a free-position shot by Witte with 1:12 on the clock and stopped a shot by Megan Whitman with 37 second to go. Shaw returned to action with 25 seconds left, but was called for another green card with four seconds remaining. Hemman took Whitworth's final shot, which sailed wide just before the buzzer.

Austin recorded 13 saves for the Bearcats to earn the win. Sage Fosnock achieved 12 saves for the Pirates.

For the game, Whitworth held a 32-27 lead in total shots, but both teams placed 24 shots on goal. The Pirates also earned a 15-12 margin in draw controls. Despite playing shorthanded for much of the game, Willamette claimed a 22-16 advantage in ground balls, including 11-9 in the second half. Willamette scored on 5 of 8 free position shots, while Whitworth was 2 of 11.