Go WEST young man (and NORTH)

[Kuiper]

NWC action on Saturday

Willamette 1 - Lewis & Clark

The pain marches on for Lewis & Clark.  It was 0-0 until Willamette found the back of the net in the 79th minute.  The Pioneers (soon to be River Otters) continue to search for their first win and they may have their best chance of the season tomorrow afternoon against 1-win Linfield at home.  Willamette gets only their second win of the season. 

Pacific Lutheran 1 - Whitman 1

PLUS was up 1-0 for a long time after scoring in the 14th minute, but Whitman has gotten comfortable with giving up early leads and scoring late.  This time, they find the equalizing goal in the 51st and the two teams played to a stalemate from there.  Whitman remains on top in the NWC with a 6-0-1 record (7-0-4 overall), while Pacific Lutheran is second at 5-0-2 (6-3-2 overall).

Whitworth 1 - Puget Sound 1

Whitworth looked like it was cruising to a victory until Puget Sound found a goal in the 89th minute off a rebound that was put back in to come away with a tie.  Whitworth remains in 3rd in the NWC with a 4-1-2 record and Puget Sound is right behind them at 4-2-1.

George Fox 4 - Linfield 2

Two teams just above Lewis & Clark in the bottom of the table left defense at home and went for a win in this game.  The game looked like it would end 2-1 for GF, but GF scored what it thought was an unnecessary insurance goal in the 82nd to make it 3-1.  Turns out it was needed as Linfield scored a goal in the 89th and George Fox came back with a late goal of its own in the 90th.

[Kuiper]

SCIAC conference games after dark were crazy tonight

Whittier 3 - Redlands 3

For regular readers (are there any? as if! ), you know that I've been saying for the last few weeks that Redlands has missed Zachary Darmanyan on offense.  He provides some playmaking ability and he draws defenders away from Anders Beckton.  Lo and behold, first game Darmanyan is back since 9/24, Redlands goes out to a quick 2-0 lead with goals in the 13th and 18th minutes, both off of Darmanyan assists.  Whittier picks up a goal in the 25th minute to make it 2-1, but Redlands gets a third goal in the 28th to take a 3-1 lead, which they held onto for 50 minutes.  Darmanyan's return, however, didn't magically do anything for Redlands' defense.  Whittier scored in the 79th and 85th to salvage the tie and drop from 1st to a tie in 2nd with La Verne in the SCIAC.  Redlands loses a chance to move up and remains in second to last.

Occidental 3 - CMS 3

Like the Redlands-Whittier game, the beginning of the game was bonkers.  Two teams desperate to get back into the SCIAC conference tournament race came in with a game plan of throwing everything forward (and dispensing with defense).  By the 16th minute, it was 2-2.  Even crazier, they alternated goals and they were both braces.  CMS' John Laidlaw scored in the 2nd and 11th minutes.  Oxy's Devin Bening scored in the 9th and 16th minutes. The second half started like the first half.  CMS scored in the 48th and Oxy scored in the 57th to make it 3-3.  Then, in the 59th, Oxy's Matt Shea, who had the assist on Oxy's 3rd goal, got a straight red card and Oxy had to change its tactics and CMS couldn't break them down despite being a man up.  The tie does move Oxy past Pomona-Pitzer for the 4th and final SCIAC tournament slot, while keeping CMS just behind Pomona-Pitzer for the 5th spot with the two teams playing each other next week in the 6th street rivalry game.

Chapman 1 - Pomona-Pitzer 0

Very tight game, but Chapman had a moment of quality in the 53rd minute and that was the difference.  Chapman vaults to the top of the SCIAC table with the teams ahead of it tying or losing and Pomona-Pitzer drops out of the last tournament slot.

[Kuiper]

ASC action tonight

Mary Hardin-Baylor 1 - Hardin-Simmons 0

Mary Hardin-Baylor has been the class of the ASC this year with a 9-1-2 record overall, while Hardin-Simmons has struggled 3-6-1 record.  Nevertheless, any game between the two "Hardin Children" is going to be a hard fought match.  This was no different.  The game was a statistical dead heat, but the difference was a Cru goal in the 50th minute.  They go to 2-0 in the ASC, and first place, while H-S is in last place in the ASC with an 0-2-1 record after losing to Howard Payne last game and tying East Texas Baptist the game before.  Fortunately, with only 4 teams, H-S will have chance for revenge against everyone the second time through the conference.