WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Blues had a pair of goals sandwiched around the halftime break, as Bailey Bell and Avery Cohen each scored to give the Blues a 2-0 victory Wednesday at James Hayner field.
The Blues improve to 8-4-3 overall and 7-3-1 in Northwest Conference play. The Pirates fall to 3-9-1 overall and 2-8-1 in the league.
First-Half Pressure Pays Off
Whitman set the tone early, getting a shot on frame in the fourth minute. Leah Barnes forced Whitworth keeper Karlee Roderick into a save, and Avery Cohen tested her again in the seventh. The Blues kept coming, with Roderick turning aside efforts from Katherine Sand, Claire Bryngelson and Lauren Dorris. Bryngelson's and Dorris's shots came less than a minute apart in the 23rd.
By halftime, Whitman had put nine shots on goal's doorstep and seven on target. Roderick made six first-half saves to keep it level, and the Blues earned three corner kicks.
The breakthrough came in the 42nd minute, off a Whitman push that included corners in the 39th and 41st. Chloe Anderson, who had a shot go wide just two minutes earlier, found Bailey Bell, and Bell finished for her first goal of the season. Bell had come on as a substitute in the 24th minute and had already put a shot on target in the first half.
Cohen Doubles the Lead Right After the Break
Whitman didn't wait long to build on it. In the 46th minute, just 23 seconds into the second half, Barnes found Cohen, who finished for her team-leading seventh goal of the year. It was Barnes's first assist of the match and gave the Blues a two-goal cushion just over three minutes after Bell's goal.
Anderson Leads a Balanced Attack
Whitman kept pressing for a third, outshooting the Pirates 10-6 in the second half. Anderson was the focal point, putting two more shots on target, in the 74th and 87th minutes, both saved by Roderick. Sand, Kiki Glorioso and Cohen all added looks. Anderson finished with three shots (two on target) plus the assist on Bell's goal, playing all 90 minutes. Barnes also went the full 90 and had two shots and an assist.
Roderick finished with nine saves for Whitworth. Whitman also took seven corners to Whitworth's three.
Pasena-Littlesky Keeps the Door Shut
Whitworth did test the Whitman defense, particularly early. Kaiti Low forced a save by goalkeeper Lindsey Pasena-Littlesky in the first minute, and Emma Ellerd and Ayanna Tobeck each needed to be turned away in the first half. In the second half, she stopped Low early on and denied Ellerd again in the 88th minute. Pasena-Littlesky finished with five saves, one for each Pirates shot on target, and earned the shutout in her 90 minutes of work.
Whitman will look to ride the momentum into the weekend, as they welcome the Pacific University Boxers to town on Saturday.
