SPOKANE, Wash. – The quest for a program-first Northwest Conference championship remains very much alive for the Linfield women’s soccer team, which scored a 1-0 victory over Whitworth Saturday afternoon.

With three matches remaining, the Wildcats (12-3-2, 9-2-2 NWC) remain deadlocked with Puget Sound for the top spot in the league team standings with 29 points. Fourth-place Whitworth now sits at 7-3-4 in league action and 7-5-5 overall.

The Wildcats and Pirates combined for seven shots over the first 22 minutes of the match, six of which were on target. Linfield’s MacKenzie Doty was the one to finally break through, scoring from two yards out after receiving a pass from Anna Sours (Sr., Jacksonville, Ore.).

Doty’s goal was her seventh of the year, which matches team-high honors.

Despite putting up 14 more shots as the game rolled on, the ‘Cats failed to put another point on the board. Fortunately, the Linfield defense made sure it was not necessary, surrendering just six shots the entire match to preserve the win.

Apolonia Martinez made five saves, while Whitworth’s Callie Bergstrom did her best in goal for the home team, making 12 saves.

Doty and Sours both put up three shots for the Wildcats, and Christine Tamamoto (Jr., Honolulu, Hawaii) added two. Five different players had shot attempts for the Pirates.

NEXT: Linfield continues its eastern Washington swing with a Sunday noon match at Whitman. After that, the ‘Cats play their last road game at Pacific Friday afternoon before wrapping up the regular season at home Saturday against Pacific Lutheran.