WALLA WALLA, Wash.  An overpowering first half from Whitman's women's soccer team created an insurmountable lead Sunday at the Whitman Athletic Fields, as the home team downed the visiting Pacific (Ore.) Boxers, 4-2, in Northwest Conference action under overcast and occasionally raining skies. Chelsea Day knocked home the eventual game winner for Whitman during its 27-minute explosion of four unanswered goals.

Day's goal in the 21st minute followed an opening salvo from Lena de Guzman and Pagan Hetherington as the trio's three goals equaled the number of goals Whitman (1-10-1, 1-6-1 NWC) had scored for the season up through Sunday. Kristin Brady's first of the season capped the four-goal outburst and exceeded the team's season total -- after 35 minutes of Sunday action.

It was de Guzman who broke open the dam that seemed to have been impeding Whitman's attack over the first half of the season. She broke past a pair of Pacific (5-6-1, 3-5-0) defenders inside the box then beat onrushing Boxer goalkeeper Kailey Hifumi inside the left post from 12 yards out at the 7:41 mark to stake claim to Whitman's first lead of the season.

The lead doubled five minutes later when Day and Hetherington got together on a pretty play initiated by a Whitman dispossession in the midfield.

Day forced the turnover, gathered the loose ball then spied Hetherington to her right, racing toward an on-her-heels Boxer defender. Day pushed a diagonal thru ball toward the top, right corner of the box and a now-unmarked Hetherington chased down the pass and then made quick work of her one-on-one with Hifumi.

The game-winner from Day was a perfectly placed, arcing ball from 25 yards out, center frame. She had broken free from the defense and found herself facing the goal above the box. Hifumi had no choice but to charge out in an attempt to cut down Day's angles, but the one over her head was one she could do nothing about as Day lifted a hard shot over Hifumi's head but soft enough to settle under the crossbar for Whitman's third of the half.

Brady's goal came from hard work in the box, and maybe a bit of feeling the momentum.

From a little inside the midline Jessie Mano had dropped a service into the box where several Whitman players and their defenders had gathered. Brady was the one who won the loose-ball sweepstakes and made the most of her Lotto ticket, cashing in a shot past Hifumi for yet another Whitman goal.

Pacific earned its way back into the contest in the second half, out shooting Whitman 12-2, but its two late goals were, as it's said, too little and too late to overcome Whitman's early flood of success.

Haley Case played the first half and earned the win between the pipes for Whitman, coming up with a pair of routine saves from far-off shots by a Pacific squad desperate to turn around its early misfortunes. Hifumi took the loss in goal for the Boxers, surrendering all four goals while coming up with one save.

Whitman continues what is a five-game home stand with its next games, Saturday against the University of Puget Sound and Sunday against No. 17 Pacific Lutheran University.