WALLA WALLA, Wash.  Renee van Bergeijk halved the Whitman deficit on a penalty kick conversion late in the first half, but visiting Willamette would hold on for a 3-1 Northwest Conference victory in women's soccer action Sunday at the Whitman Athletic Fields.

The Bearcats (4-1-1, 1-1-0 NWC) got on the scoreboard first, but the goal was the result of some bad luck for Whitman (1-5-0, 1-1-0).

Emmy Manset collected a through ball at the top of the box but pressure from Whitman's Kenz Tierney on her left and from a charging Blues goalkeeper Bryanna Schreiber forced a quick shot from 12 yards out. Schreiber hit the ground for the save but it caromed off her body, banged off Tierney's and trickled back across the goal line not even three minutes into the game.

An unassisted marker in the 31st minute provided the Bearcats with a two-goal cushion, until van Bergeijk's PK.

Jordan O'Roy chased down a leading pass from the left side and broke into the box where she was fouled by a Willamette defender. van Bergeijk stepped up to the mark and coolly slotted a shot low into the left side, converting the second PK chance she'd been presented in two days.

Whitman went into the halftime break buoyed by the PK goal, and started second-half action with renewed pressure in its attacking third, pushing most of the action in the opening 15 minutes.

Several crosses were deflected or snared at the last moment by Willamette goalie Kahiau Freitas, in addition to a shot from Sophie Brussell and another from Olivia Thomson that Freitas saved to preserve her team's one-goal advantage.

The Bearcats put in an insurance goal in the 70th to finally build a cushion that would allow a more defensive approach, limiting the Blues to just one more shot over the remaining 20 minutes.

Whitman takes to the road for its next game action, heading to Pacific (Ore.) University and George Fox University on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, for a pair of conference match-ups.