Wildcat Roundup: Linfield soccer starts season; Monica Potter named women's lacrosse coach
The Wildcat women opened their road trip on Friday, Aug. 29, with a 0-0 draw against the University of California-Santa Cruz, who entered the year as the reigning Coast-to-Coast Conference Champion.
The two squads traded the first two shots on goal of the game in the 17th and 20th minutes, both resulting in the first saves of the season for each goalkeeper. Junior keeper Alexa Fritz remained steady in goal throughout the first 45-minutes, making a crucial save at the end of the half to keep the match scoreless.
Fritz notched another save to open the second half of play, which would hold as the only shot for the first 30-minutes of the half. The Wildcat goalkeeper recorded seven saves on as many shots on goal by the Banana Slugs, who ultimately outshot the ’Cats 11-3.
Juniors Jocelyn Jacobs and Amalia Tufts picked up yellow cards in the second half and the match ended scoreless after 90-minutes.
Seniors Ruby Lacktrup and Sofia Pietrok recorded two of Linfield’s three shots, while freshman Sydney Garner tallied the third.
The’Cats played again on Sunday, facing East Texas Baptist University in Santa Cruz to end the road trip and earned their second draw of the weekend, 2-2.
The offense got going early on Sunday, as sophomore Julia Alvarez fired two shots in the opening nine minutes, both of which were stopped by ETBU’s goalkeeper.
ETBU scored on their first shot in the game in the 18th minute. Linfield responded in the 33rd minute, thanks to freshman Sydney Garner. A corner kick was driven to the middle of the box and snuck past the Tiger keeper, finding the foot of Garner to knot the score at 1-1. The goal was Garner’s first in her collegiate career.
In the second half, ETBU again scored on their first shot of the half in the 53rd minute to regain.
Senior Jenna Stanley retaliated as the 80th minute ticked away, heading a corner kick into the net to tie the game at 2-2. The equalizer was Stanley’s fourth goal scored in her collegiate career and the first since her sophomore campaign, when she found the net in a 2-2 draw against Geroge Fox on Sept. 19, 2023.
Linfield outshot the Tigers, 8-3, with seven on target. Two shots each came from Alvarez, Garner and Stanley, while senior Mia Curtaz and sophomore Lena Caballero Uhtoff took one each. Fritz earned one save, bringing her season total to eight.
The Wildcats return to McMinnville for their home opener against Warner Pacific University on Friday. The game will be streamed on FloSports at 7 p.m. and be played at the Linfield Soccer/Lacrosse complex.
Linfield’s men’s soccer team was not as successful on their opening trip, dropping both matches while being held scoreless.
On Friday, the Wildcats lost to Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota, allowing one goal in the first half and two in the second en route to a 3-0 defeat.
Senior Evan Stafford, junior Jamis Gonzalez and sophomore Jaren Nishikawa recorded Linfield’s three shots on goal. Stafford led the way, totaling two of the ‘Cats six total shots attempted.
Linfield ended the trip with a match against Augsburg University in Minneapolis. The result was unfavorable as the ‘Cats lost 9-0.
They attempted 11 shots, with the lone shot on goal by freshman forward Davidson Kathman.
Sophomore Jacob Toves split time with junior Colby Reese in the net as the duo recorded five saves.
The Wildcats men’s team will host Pomona-Pitzer College on Saturday at 4 p.m. and Warner Pacific on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in their first home matches of the season.
Women’s lacrosse
Last Friday, Linfield Vice President and Director of Athletics, Scott Brosius, announced that Monica Potter is set to become the university’s next women’s lacrosse coach.
Potter previously spent two and a half years as the director of lacrosse in Portland at Lacrosse Northwest, a metropolitan area organization that focuses on recruiting, coaching, and fundraising for boys and girls club teams.
Previously, the St. Louis, Missouri, native spent eight seasons coaching women’s lacrosse at Colorado State University-Pueblo, where she was the first women’s lacrosse coach in program history. During her tenure with the Wolfpack, Potter coached one Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, one Defensive Player of the Year, and two First Team All-RMAC selections.
Potter also was the assistant women’s lacrosse coach at Fort Lewis College for a season and spent two years as the head lacrosse and field hockey coach at Division III Fontbonne University. She guided the Griffins to winning seasons in both years at the helm. In addition to coaching, she also served as the assistant athletic director, NCAA compliance officer and the senior women advisor for the Griffins.
Her coaching career began with Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, in 2004 after graduating from Webster University in 2001.
She takes over a Linfield team that went 8-8 (4-4) last year and made an appearance in the Northwest Conference Tournament for the second consecutive year.
Cross Country
Nine Wildcats competed in the Lewis & Clark Opener on Aug. 29, and freshmen Marcus Stroman and McMinnville-alum Mya Budzik placed as Linfield’s fastest racers in the men’s and women’s five kilometer, respectively.
Stroman finished with a time of 16:37.54 and placed 48th on the men’s side, while Budzik came in 83rd with a time of 22:17.85.
Rounding out the men’s race was junior CJ Brindeiro (84th, 17:16.32), freshman Finley Wodke (133rd, 18:29.26) and junior Joaquin Romirez Dod (133rd, 22:22.41).
In the women’s race, Freshman Jasmine Solso closely trailed Budzik, crossing the finish line with a time of 22:37.04 in 87th. The mark was a personal record for Solso, as she recorded the fastest kilometer split on the team, running the final stretch in 3:50.6.
Finishing in close order behind Solso was junior Liberty McElfatrick (105th, 25:14.24), freshman Ximena Sanchez-Lopez (107th, 26:33.19), and junior Mia McCormack (109th, 28:00.55).
Linfield’s next race is on Sept. 12, where the teams travel to Monmouth for the Ash Creek Collegiate hosted by Western Oregon University.
Article written with assistance of Chase Fisk and Linfield Sports Communication.
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