McMINNVILLE, Ore. – The Whitman College women's lacrosse team took the field in search of its first win but, despite four goals from Hannah Miller and another three from Katie Hinnen, fell 13-11 to Linfield in Northwest Conference action on Sunday afternoon.
 
Anna Cadigan played the full 60 minutes in goal for the Blues (0-3, 0-2 NWC) who outshot the Wildcats 33-24 for the game. Miller and Hinnen also shared team-high honors with four ground balls.
 
Josie Duey led Linfield (2-1, 2-0 NWC) with four goals and an assist. Kylee Duey and Epi Roldan-Rayo split time in goal and posted a combined eight saves.
 
The Blues offense got off the ground first with three goals in the first 13 minutes. Amelia Leopold, Maddie Florer and Hinnen all got in on the action while Cadigan kept a clean sheet during that stretch.
 
The Wildcats rallied on the strength of a pair of goals each from Duey and Jenna Hessel to take a 5-3 lead as the game approached halftime. The Blues, however, made sure Linfield did not head to the locker room with the lead as Miller and Olivia Engle both scored inside the final two minutes to even the score heading into the break.
 
The Wildcats seemed on their way to running away with the win when they scored five unanswered goals out of halftime. Whitman had other ideas as Hinnen, Miller and Engle scored in consecutive fashion, but the Blues still found themselves down 13-8 with just over nine minutes to play. Hinnen scored then Miller added a pair to shave the deficit to two goals with 6:37 to play, but the Blues were unable to find the back of the net the rest of the way as Linfield held on for the win.

The Blues return to action this Wednesday, March 11 for their NWC home opener against Whitworth. Start time is set for 5:00 p.m.