FOREST GROVE, Ore.  A goal from Lindsay Schwartz with 94 seconds remaining in the game lifted visiting Whitman past Pacific (Ore.) University, 11-10, Sunday afternoon in Northwest Conference women's lacrosse action at the Boxers' Hanson Stadium.

Schwartz' goal, her sixth of the game, gave Whitman (2-3, 1-1 NWC) a victory over a squad from Pacific (1-1, 0-1) that finished the previous season as co-champs of the league with George Fox University.

The Blues, in their third season of competition, doubled the inaugural season's win total last season, winning four games. With most of the season to go in 2017 Whitman is already halfway to that mark with all of the opponents it defeated last spring still on the schedule ahead, twice each.

Sunday's win will certainly not be a high water mark for the program, given the growing successes each spring, but the victory will sit within the program's history book as a coming-of-age triumph.

It was Pacific that scored first, and added a second two minutes later, but it was Whitman's response that set a tone of defiance.

Mary Noyes scored an unassisted goal at the 20:26 mark, and then Nina Moore tied things up 40 seconds later off a feed from Noyes.

The Boxers inched ahead seven minutes later only to have the Whitman defiance raise its head again, with another set of back-to-back goals, these from Schwartz and Anna Melville.

Late in the first half the score was knotted at 4-4 when the Blues registered perhaps its fastest trio of goals in program history.

Noyes scored at 6:57, Schwartz won the ensuing draw control and raced down field for a goal only seconds later and added another score at the 6:36 mark after Moore had won the draw control.

Though Whitman toted a 7-5 lead into the halftime break the ex-champion Boxers weren't going to make things easy, pulling even with the Blues at 7-7, 8-8 and then with 6:55 remaining, at 10-10.

Last spring in the season finale the same two teams were knotted at the exact same score, and it was Pacific that scored to secure a win and a share of the NWC crown.

Sunday would be a different tune.

First would come the save.

With 2:07 remaining Pacific's Jordyn Godfrey snapped off a shot that might have served as the game winner, but Whitman goalkeeper Kate Whittingham came up with a game-saving save.

Then would come the goal.

The go-to player for the game was there when most needed, as Schwartz beat Boxer netminder Adrienne Salzwedal , a 2016 second-team all-conference goalie, with 94 seconds remaining.

Whitman wasn't out of the woods yet, though.

A Pacific win on the draw control evolved into a late scoring opportunity, but with 34 seconds remaining Whittingham again stoned Godfrey -- a first-team 2016 all-conference player.

A failed clear by Whitman put the ball back in possession of the Boxers but in the waning seconds Keifer Nace forced a turnover and came up with the ground ball to finally allow the Whitman faithful to breathe in the air of victory.

Schwartz was the big scorer on the day with her game-high six, but Noyes' two goals initiated unanswered runs from the Blues in the first half.

Keifer and Olivia Engle posted three caused turnovers apiece, and Engle and Dana Casterella picked three ground balls each to lead the Blues.

Whittingham picked up the win after making six saves, with Salzwedal taking the loss after accumulating 13 saves.

The Blues host their home opener next, welcoming the University of Puget Sound to the Whitman Athletic Fields Saturday at noon, followed a Linfield College Sunday at noon.