This weekend the women’s soccer team competed against University of Puget Sound and George Fox
and Willamette universities. UPS and Whitworth University are the top-ranked teams in the conference. Linfield sits in the third position.
“We didn’t play as well as we’d hoped to,” senior midfielder Rennika Doty said about the Puget Sound game.
Freshman forward Emily Fellows scored Linfield’s only goal off of a free kick, and at the half, the score was tied 1-1. But the Wildcats lost their momentum during the second half of the game. Puget Sound scored two goals within the last 15 minutes of game play to win 3-1.
As for its game against George Fox University, the team played up to its potential.
Before the game, the coach changed up the field formation. Despite the change, the team pulled together to beat the Bruins 2-0, with goals from Fellows and sophomore midfielder Anna Sours.
During the weekend, Fellows scored her 17th goal of the season, which broke Linfield’s 16-goal season record that was set by Kathleen Wochnick, class of ’05, in 2003.
The Wildcats competed against Willamette on Oct. 13. With strong performances from Fellows, freshman defender
Christine Tamamoto and senior midfielder Emily Grachek, the Wildcats conquered the game with a 2-0 lead at the half and a final score of 4-0.
“We dominated every aspect of the game,” Doty said. “It was fun to see all of our hard work pay off.”
Senior midfielder Sara Blake had simliar thoughts.
“We dominated,” she said. “They had two shots on goal the whole game. We kept the ball really well. I feel really good about yesterday’s game. We connected really well as a whole and from that we got the result we wanted. It felt good to win at their place.”
As for the rest of the season, the ’Cats plan to reach their goal: first place in the Northwest Conference.
“It’s within our capability to win conference,” Doty said. “But it’s definitely going to be a fight.”
Blake agreed.
“We have very high expectations,” she said. “We are taking every game as it comes and focusing on what we need to do to be successful.”
Senior forward Brittany Willis had an assist to Grachek for her first goal of the season against Willamette and explained what the Wildcats have been doing to prepare for the ending weeks of the
conference season.
“We come out to practice everyday with the mentality of wanting to get better,” Willis said. “We focus on the little things we know will win us games. We’ve worked really hard this year to prove to people that we should be at the top and that means winning one game at a time.”
This weekend, the Wildcats take on the Lewis & Clark College Pioneers at noon on Oct. 16 in Portland and the Pacific University Boxers at noon on Oct. 17 at home.

Katey Barger/Staff reporter
Corrina Crocker/Sports editor
Barger and Crocker can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Women’s soccer played against tough competition during two home games against Whitworth University and Whitman College on Oct. 2 and 3,
respectively.
The battle against Whitworth on Saturday ended in a 0-1 loss. The one Whitworth goal was scored with 4 minutes remaining in double overtime.
“The [Whitworth] game was tough. They are a good team,” head coach Dominic Doty said. “We didn’t show what our team can do.”
On Sunday, Linfield played Whitman. Even though the team had a tough game the day before, the fatigue didn’t set in, and the Wildcats dominated.
Whitman sophomore forward Julianne Masser scored her team’s only goal after 15 minutes of game play. Linfield senior Rachel Miles scored the first Linfield goal 1 minute later.
Nearing the end of the first half, freshmen forwards Emily Fellows and Megan Kearns each scored within 3 minutes of each other and put Linfield at a 3-1 lead at the half.
Fellows and senior forward Emily Schulte scored during the second half. The ’Cats ended the game 5-1.
“Playing Whitworth was tough, but we showed a lot of heart the next day in the game against Whitman,” sophomore forward Julia Vaughan said.
Next weekend, the Wildcats travel to Tacoma, Wash., to play University of Puget Sound on Oct. 9 at noon. They return to McMinnville on Oct. 10 at noon to compete against George Fox University.
“Puget Sound will be a tough game, especially since we play there, but the girls are ready to prove themselves,” Doty said.
Vaughan and sophomore midfielder Anna Sours both said they are eager for the game against Puget Sound.
Sours said that one of the teams main expectations is not only to win at home but to win away games also.
“We want to go and compete,” Sours said. “We’re coming off a good win against Whitman. We have a chance to go and make a statement.”
The ’Cats will continue to take the season one day at a time. Consistency and perseverance are crucial for their success.
“We have a ton of talent; we just need to outwork our opponents,” Vaughan said.
Linfield is ranked second in the Northwest Conference standings — a tie with Puget Sound. They each have 5-1 overall records, just trailing top-ranked Whitworth (6-1).
“After this weekend, we’ll be halfway through the season,” Doty said. “The season has been going the way we want it to, but we can’t get too content. We have high hopes.”

The men’s soccer team battled against two formidable teams, losing to Whitworth University on Oct. 2 and beating Whitman College on Oct. 3.
Linfield finished the weekend with a 3-3 conference record and a 4-5-1 overall record.
The ’Cats faced a stern challenge with the arrival of the Whitworth on Oct. 2. The Pirates drew first blood, with Whitworth sophomore forward Kekoa Mountcastle scoring in the 12th minute. Whitworth junior forward Jessie Retan slipped in a goal 10 minutes later to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Linfield struggled to score during the game, managing only six shots at the goal. Senior midfielder Colin Bebee attempted half of the team’s shots. His closest was a header in the 26th minute.
Senior midfielder Michel Camacho offered a reason for the lack of shot attempts.
“We came out strong, but as the game progressed, we struggled to keep up with the tempo of the game as well as keep possession of the ball,” he said. “That created the chances they got and was probably a reason why we got so few chances.”
Whitworth junior goalkeeper Brian Sherpe caught Bebee’s header, and a later goal by Pirates’ midfielder Cameron Bushey put the game out of reach. Sherpe finished the game with four saves, and Whitworth defeated Linfield 3-0.
“Whitworth is probably the best team in the league right now,” Camacho said. “They’re definitely organized and technical. It was difficult matching up with them.”
On Oct. 3, the ’Cats regrouped to defeat Whitman 2-1. After a scoreless first half, Camacho chipped in a goal past Whitman senior goalkeeper Tim Shu during the 70th minute to give the ’Cats a 1-0 lead.
Whitman then scored on its own goal a few minutes later when a Whitman defender attempted to clear the ball but knocked it into the net instead.
A goal by Whitman midfielder Sam Freedman during the 78th minute put the score at 2-1 in favor of Linfield, and the Missionaries would get no closer.
Camacho said he felt like the team improved on its performance from the day before.
“We came out strong. We were able to control the game more by keeping the ball — something we couldn’t do against Whitworth,” he said.
Next up for the ’Cats is a match with the Willamette University. Willamette holds a 3-6-2 overall record and a 1-4-1 conference record.
Linfield can attempt plenty of shots against a Bearcats team that has been badly outshot by opponents this season. Overall, the Bearcats have attempted 88 shots, while their competition has attempted 181 — a 93-shot difference.
On the other hand, Linfield has outshot its competition this season. The ’Cats have attempted 147 shots this season to the competition’s 128. Linfield has also outscored its opponents 19-16, while Willamette has been outscored 10-14.
Camacho and sophomore forward Danny Snelgrow lead the team in shot attempts with 35 and 34, respectively.
The ’Cats have allowed 16 goals this season, which is not bad. But for a team that has been stressing defense all season, it’s a number they will have to keep down. For perspective, the top two teams in the conference, Pacific and Whitworth universities, have both allowed fewer than 10 goals by the competition.
The ’Cats have a chance to even up their overall record with a win against Willamette University on Oct. 9.
Camacho said he knows that Linfield is capable of beating the Bearcats, but it will be up to the team to show up and take the game.
“It will by no means be an easy game. They’re strong in the back but have had some trouble scoring goals, like us,” Camacho said. “It’s just a matter of us going out and taking care of the game.”

Matt Bayley/Staff reporter
Matt Bayley can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

The women’s soccer team is still the top-ranked team in the Northwest Conference.
The team traveled to Forest Grove to take on Pacific University on Sept. 25 and hosted Lewis & Clark College on Sept. 26.
The women are 4-0 in the NWC and stand in first place for the second week in a row, as the team remains undefeated.
Freshman Emily Fellows scored the only goal for the win against Pacific. Fellows headed the ball into the back of the net with less than 3 minutes to spare in the second half.
“Being undefeated is a good feeling, but we have a big weekend coming up and we’ll be tested,” senior Sara Blake said. “We just have to take this season game by game and get the job done.”
During the Pacific game, senior goalkeeper Kelsey Hasselblad had her first shutout with four saves in the goal.
“It feels good not to get scored on, no doubt,” Hasselblad said. “We had three years of a lot of that happening so it’s great to take a break from the ego blows of 4-nil losses.”
The women’s soccer team had the win against Lewis & Clark at home Sept. 26. The Wildcat’s outscored the Pioneers and won 3-0.
Fellows had the first goal off an assist from senior midfielder Sara Blake, for the ’Cats putting them to a 1-0 advantage. Sophomore midfielder Anna Sours kept the lead with the second goal, while senior Rennika Doty scored the final goal in the 84th minute.
Hasselblad saved four shots on goal at Pacific, while saving two shots on goal in the game against Lewis & Clark, making it her second shutout of the weekend.
Hasselblad was named Northwest Conference Women’s Soccer Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week on Sept. 28.
“There is no way a goalkeeper could win that award without her defenders,” Hasselblad said. “They are the ones that keep me bored back there — the way a keeper likes to be.”
The women will host Whitworth University on Oct. 2 and Whitman College on Oct. 3. The women play both games at noon.
“This weekend we have great competition against both Whitworth and Whitman,” Blake said. “It will be a good test for us.”

Corrina Crocker/Sports editor
Corrina Crocker can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

After finishing the weekend with a 1-1 record the men’s soccer team resumes conference play this week. The men lost a physical match to Pacific University on Sept. 25, before regrouping to beat George Fox University on Sept. 26.
The ’Cats lost 0-1 to the Boxers. Pacific didn’t hesitate to get physical, hitting the ’Cats often and hard. Between both teams, 26 fouls were called.
Linfield couldn’t get past the violent Boxer defense despite holding a 13-8 shot advantage.
Pacific scored a goal on a penalty kick midway through the first half.
The ’Cats had opportunities to score during the game’s final minutes, but Pacific senior goalkeeper Andrew Stevermer
deflected shot after shot.
Despite the tough loss, Linfield senior goalkeeper Jon Thompson remained confident in the team.
“Although we didn’t get the result we wanted, I think that battling against the No. 1 team in the conference opened our eyes,” Thompson said. “We can compete against any team in this league, and we were one penalty away from at least going to overtime.”
While the team’s defense was solid, the offense was missing as the ’Cats were held scoreless for the first time this season.
Sophomore forward Danny Snelgrow offered a reason for the offensive struggle against Pacific.
“We couldn’t score because we weren’t focusing when we got our opportunities,” Snelgrow said.
After a disappointing loss to Pacific, the ’Cats let out their frustration to the tune of a 7-0 victory over the Bruins.
Snelgrow dissected the Bruins’ defense with surgical precision Sept. 26. He scored his first goal of the game off of an assist from senior midfielder Kevin Donato and pounded in a second goal before halftime. The ’Cats outshot the Bruins 18-1 during the first 45 minutes.
Snelgrow said that his second goal gave him faith.
“I knew everything was clicking when I hit that second goal,” Snelgrow said. “There was usually a wall holding me back from scoring, but I felt like I battled through it and with my confidence felt like I could score anything.”
The ’Cats built their lead in the second half as Snelgrow’s onslaught continued. Donato recorded his second assist of the game in the 49th minute, setting up a third goal for Snelgrow.
Snelgrow zipped in his fourth goal off of an assist from senior midfielder Colin Bebee. Senior midfielder Michel Camacho added to the lead with a goal of his own. Camacho’s goal was followed by another from Snelgrow, which put the ’Cats ahead 6-0.
Sophomore midfielder Cody Escott completed Linfield’s scoring with a goal in the 73rd minute.
Snelgrow finished the game with five goals, tying a Linfield record for goals scored in a single game. Snelgrow shares the record with Jeff Brooks, class of ’85, who set it in 1984.
Thompson said the ’Cats played with a sense of urgency after dropping a close game to Pacific.
“I feel like our team knew that we had to win the game to compete, and we showed our offensive flair,” Thompson said. “We played together as a team and got the big win.”
Next up for Linfield is a match with visiting Whitworth University on
Oct. 2. The Pirates started the season strong with a 5-2-1 record. Thompson stressed the importance of beating a formidable Whitworth team.
“Whitworth is going to be a tough match. They are always at the top of the table and always have a good team,” he said. “This could be our defining match. If we can come up big and get two wins, then we are right on track.”

Matt Bayley/Staff reporter
Matt Bayley can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

One week was all it took for the women’s soccer team to reach the No. 1 spot in the Northwest Conference.
The women’s team traveled to Tacoma on Sept. 19 to beat Pacific Lutheran University on its own turf. The women outscored the Lutes, 5-2.
Five Wildcats pushed balls into the back of the net. Senior Rachel Miles scored the first goal for the ’Cats, followed by freshmen Megan Kearns and Stephanie Socotch. Freshman Emily Fellows and sophomore Anna Sours capped the game with the fourth and fifth goals, respectively.
After finishing last season tied for fourth place, the women’s team is sitting pretty.
“It is what it is. Standing doesn’t mean anything as of now. We are focusing on the weekend,” junior Jenna Quiring said about the Sept. 19 statistics.
The conference season just began, but expectations are already high for the women’s team. Letting this get to their heads is not an option, senior Sara Blake said.
“It is definitely a good feeling to be in first, but in no way can we be content. We have many more games to play and a lot of things to prove to others and ourselves,” she said.
Staying focused is key for the women, but improving is essential to remaining in the top spot.
“I think they are slowly improving each game which is all we can ask for right now,”
assistant coach Spencer Winter said. “I think as a team, we have high standards for ourselves this year and no one wants to let
anyone else on the team down.”
With the increased popularity of the women’s soccer program, a junior varsity team has been added. Winter, class of ’09, is the head coach of the junior varsity team and the assistant coaching on the varsity team.
“I think having a JV team has been huge because girls that may not have gotten a lot of playing time on varsity are able to get game time that they otherwise wouldn’t,” Winter said.
This weekend the women face off against both Pacific and Lewis & Clark Universities.
“If we keep the intensity level and our work rate high, we will do well this weekend,” Quiring said. “When we’re working together, offensively and defensively, good things happen.”
The women’s game against Pacific will take place at noon Sept. 25 in Forest Grove, and at noon on Sept. 26, the women will take on Lewis & Clark
College at home.

Corrina Crocker/Sports editor
Corrina Crocker can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

Conference play for the men’s soccer team began Sept. 18 and 19. Linfield lost to University of Puget Sound and beat Pacific Lutheran University to finish the weekend with a 1-1 conference record.
The Wildcats dropped their first conference game against Puget Sound, 1-2, in a muddy, rainy battle. The Loggers got on the scoreboard early with two first half goals on just four shots.
But Wildcat seniors Michel Camacho and Jon Thompson said they weren’t convinced that the goals should have counted. They agreed that the referee incorrectly called a handball on a Wildcat, and that Puget Sound’s second goal was scored after time expired in the first half.
“The two goals scored on us were questionable,” Camacho said.
In spite of the unclear calls, he said that the team wasn’t up to par.
“Overall, I thought the team didn’t play well,” Camacho said.
Linfield scored its only goal in the second half. Camacho sent a pass to freshman Michael Swain, who slipped a shot in past the Puget Sound
goalkeeper. The ’Cats failed to score again, despite outshooting the Loggers, 16-13.
“I felt like we lacked focus, which ended up costing us the game,” Camacho said. “We couldn’t finish the chances we got in the first half.”
Thompson agreed.
“We dug our own grave,” he said. “At the same time, we got sucked into their game.”
Linfield bounced back against Pacific Lutheran on Sept. 19. After losing their previous six meetings with the Lutes, the Wildcats prevailed 3-2.
Although Pacific Lutheran outshot Linfield by a wide margin (20-9), the ’Cats built a 3-0 lead. Camacho scored Linfield’s first goal off of an assist from freshman Tyler Repic. In the second half, the ’Cats quickly scored two more goals, one from senior Carter Elhabbassi, which was assisted by freshman Andre Brobakken, and a second from freshman Harper Taylor — his first goal of the season.
In the second half, the game’s momentum turned in favor of Pacific Lutheran. Outshooting the ‘Cats 14-3, the Lutes rattled off two goals late in the game.
Thompson said that Pacific Lutheran was the aggressor in the second half and that the team began playing back on their heels.
“They took advantage of us sitting back,” Thompson said. “We don’t want to let up. We can’t just shut off during those last 20 minutes; it needs to be a full 90-minute effort.”
The Wildcats withstood a barrage of shots from the Lutes in the closing minutes and won 3-2.
Linfield competes with Northwest conference leader Pacific University in the ’Cats home-opener at 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 25. With a 6-0-1 record this season, the Boxers will provide a strong test.
However, Camacho said that, when they are on top of their game, Linfield can beat anybody.
“Pacific is always a battle. In the end it’s still going to come down to how well we execute our game plan and if we can show up for the game,” he said. “We showed it this weekend by beating PLU, a team we haven’t beat in a long time. Not only can we play with anyone in the league but we can beat anyone in the league.”

Matt Bayley/Staff reporter
Matt Bayley can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

The men’s soccer team starts conference play this week after finishing preseason play with games
against Corban College and Concordia University, Sept. 10 and 11. The ’Cats beat Corban and lost to
Concordia in the hard-fought games at home.
In their third preseason game, the men won 2-1 over Corban in a thrilling victory, despite being down 0-1
at halftime.
Head coach Ian Lefebvre used the halftime to motivate the team.
“He knew that we could play better than what we showed in the first half,” senior Kevin Donato said. “He
told us to pick it up, that it was on us to give the game away or take it from them.”
Linfield rallied in the second half, scoring off of a penalty kick by senior Carter Elhabbassi and a goal from
Donato in the second overtime.
The Wildcats played tenacious defense in the last minutes of the game, not allowing a single Corban
goal.
Senior Michel Camacho said the team’s attention is on the defensive end.
“The main focus this year has been defense. It’s been more than lacking the past few years,” Camacho
said. “It’s been the source of our problems. We’ve noticed that we’ve been growing defensively as a team.
A lot of it is effort, and a lot of it is learning to play together. It’s easy to see that we’re improving.”
Concordia came to McMinnville
the next night to play Linfield in its final preseason game. The game was a match of defensive execution,
as neither team had scored by halftime. However, in the second half, Concordia found enough offense to
overcome a strong defensive effort from Linfield, winning the game 2-1.
The men’s team finished the preseason with a record of 1-2-1. Last season, it finished preseason 1-3-1.
But despite the similar record, Camacho and Donato noted
areas of improvement.
“The work ethic is there, more than it has been in previous years,” Camacho said. “As a program and a
team, we’ve figured out the effort that has been needed to be successful in the league.”
Donato also felt that player relationships were improving.
“Chemistry is getting better with players,” Donato added. “It’s something we are trying to improve on.”
Linfield opens its conference schedule this weekend, with a couple of games in Tacoma, Wash. After
matching up with Puget Sound University and Pacific Lutheran University on Sept. 18 and 19, respectively,
the men come back to McMinnville to face off against Pacific University for their first home game on Sept.
25.
The players know the conference is tough but have high expectations for this season, and they hope to
improve on last year’s 5-13-1 record.
“We’re always looking to improve,” Donato said. “I felt last year was pretty disappointing.”
The team will get to take the first hopeful step toward a successful season on Sept. 18, when it plays
Puget Sound.

Matt Bayley/Staff reporter
Matt Bayley can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com.

The women’s soccer team dominated its first conference game against Willamette University on Sept. 15.
The women ended the game with a score of 4-1, as Willamette sophomore Irene Vazquez scored a
goal off of a pass with 8 minutes left in the game to keep Linfield from handing the Bearcats a shutout.
Freshman Emily Fellows took the lead for goals scored as well as shots on goal for both teams. Fellows
had a total of eight shots on goal and also earned her third hat trick for Linfield.
“I feel good about having success this early in the season, but I couldn’t have done any of it without the
rest of team,” Fellows said.
Senior Kelsey Hassleblad agreed with Fellows about a team effort.
“We have some awesome freshmen that have picked up the level of play on the field,” Hassleblad
said. “Our team chemistry is awesome and even half of our starters being newcomers — it seems as though
we’ve been together for years.”
This year the women’s team has high expectations with a large senior class and a talented freshman
class.
“This is the most talented freshman class to come through the Linfield Women’s soccer program,” head
coach Dominic Doty said. “The future of our women’s soccer program is very bright.”
Doty is in his second year with the women’s team. With such success after last year and a turn around
from the year prior, Doty said he knows what the team should strive to achieve.
“Last year’s team set the stage for this year. As a program, we have changed the culture of soccer at
Linfield,” Doty said. “Because of that, our team this year is very hungry. They realize what they are capable
and won’t settle for anything less.”
After displaying success as a team throughout preseason and the conference opener, the women’s team
still faces the rest of Northwest Conference. The women will be traveling to Tacoma, Wash. to play Pacific
Lutheran University on Sept. 19.

Corrina Crocker/Sports editor
Corrina can be reached at: linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com

No two games are the same — the Linfield women’s soccer team can attest to that. With a mixed bag of results during preseason,

conference season is right around the corner, and the polls suggest Linfield is expected to win fourth.

The high number of women that came out this year brought talent to the team. Freshman Emily Fellows was picked for last week’s

Northwest Conference Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week. The award earned her a starting position in all games so far. She

“For the rest of the season, I want to keep working hard to improve as a team and individually and hopefully we can all have a

successful season,” Fellows said.

The last preseason game wrapped up at home against Warner Pacific with a score of 4-0. Freshman Emily Fellows had all four

goals for Linfield. The third goal was taken by Fellows as well, after being fouled in the box.

“As a team we have been working together, but we’re always looking to improve every day in practice and at games,” Fellows

added.

The girls had a good start and maintained it, overcoming a weekend of upset as the women had traveled to Corban and Southern

Oregon and lost both games.

“I definitely think we have started the season off well,” senior and captain Sara Blake said. “We have set high standards for

ourselves as a team, but we still have a lot of learning and growing to do.”

concluded the preseason with seven goals and two assists in four games.

The women’s team kicks off the conference season against Willamette University, September 15 at 5 p.m.

Corrina Crocker/Sports editor
Corrina Crocker can be reached at linfieldreviewsports@gmail.com