Whitworth Women top Southwestern 1-0

Whitworth plays host to Carroll (Wisconsin) Monday at noon | Photos: Gerald Barnhart - GALLERY

It was the sophomore duo from Shadle Park, Hannah Bokma and Tiara Pajimola, combining once again for the victory as Whitworth downed visiting Southwestern of Texas 1-0 Saturday to sweep the Whitworth Classic while Pacific Lutheran fell in their second contest, 4-0, to nationally-ranked Cal Lutheran.

The second half tally by Pajimola was nearly overshadowed in the final four minutes when each side saw efforts go off the crossbar.

Stump & Hegg led shutout performance

With just under four minutes left Southwestern’s Audrey Silver launched a shot from outside the box that banged off the woodwork, denying visitors the equalizer. Just over a minute later a Whitworth corner from the left side found the head of Rachel Jones (Spokane, WA) just outside the far side of the six. Jones’ effort was stopped late by the keeper, who sent it off the underside of the crossbar before recovering to keep it out.

Each side only had one good opportunity in the first half. Southwestern nearly caught a break in the 38th when a clearance out of the back was blocked, falling to an open Krysta Maples, whose shot was deflected just wide.

With 12 minutes left in the half, a ball played forward behind the Southwestern defense allowed Molly Smith (Missoula, MT) to run onto it and drive deep into the box with space before cutting to goal and hitting the left post from about nine yards out.

“We were organized; we moved the ball real well,” said head coach Jael Hagerott. “They sat back deeper and that was a challenge for us learning how to – we switched the field well, but how can we penetrate and get out.“

The tight contest, dictated by the packed-in defensive stance of the visitors, limited the number of quality chances for the Pirates aside from shots from well outside the box.

In the 31st minute, however, Whitworth finally broke through.

Hannah Bokma

With possession deep in the right corner of the field, Bokma played a nicely driven low ball across the six to the far side of the goal where Pajimola slid in to stab it past the diving keeper. It was her second strike of the season.

“We went with a tighter roster this year, so it’s important that every player contributes. They have been; very pleased overall with our freshman class so far, the sophomores are stepping up and we have good leadership from our seniors and juniors.”

Three minutes later Southwest began to press matters on the offensive end and had the first their few chances in the second half. Sarah Bevins unleashed a nice shot from about 24 yards out on the left side that was just over the goal.

It looked for certain like the visitors had the equalizer in 74th minute, but Whitworth netminder Andrea Stump made a stunning stop. Hayley Warriner got a low shot off from just outside the arc on a broken play that looked headed to the back of the net, but Stump fully extended herself to make a fantastic sprawling save at the last moment, parrying it wide.

Cal Lutheran 4 :: 0 Pacific Lutheran

Kristina Hulse, who nearly led her side to a comeback result in their 2-1 loss against Whitworth the day before, paced the Regals in a dominant performance against the Lutes. She scored the opener in the 20th minute and then set up Nicole Campbell in the 39th to double the advantage. Brittany Eremita pushed the game out of reach just over a minute into the second half and Hulse added her second of the day in the 82nd minute off a corner kick.

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