Women’s soccer takes on Puget Sound in final game

The Pioneers led with a backline of mostly underclassmen to start off the game against Willamette on Nov. 5. The same formation they chose to run at their games from the weekend prior. In an effort to enhance the team offensively, Mackenzie Cornell-Maier ’17 and Isobel Fikso ’17 took midfield.

“As hard as it is to play a new position this late in the season” said Cornell-Maier, “it’s great to see the younger girls out there doing so well.”

Dubbing in some quality players was a generous move considering that “a lot of freshman learning what to do,” has been the main focus during games, said Coach Jim Tursi.

Regardless Cornell-Maier states, “I’m proud that we were able to dominate defensively and keep our first shutout in a while.”

Although the LC Pioneers and the Willamette Bearcats both had four shots on goal during the first half, Fikso was able to dribble the ball all the way up to the left sideline, then make a shot on goal that Willamette’s keeper knocked away. Rochelle Jordan ’17 was available to catch the ball on the rebound but was unable to complete the shot as the ball once again blocked. Committed to breaking Willamette’s backline the ball was passed to Anna Saucedo ’20 who was also unable to complete the task.

With 12 foul kicks and five corner kicks, the Pioneers could not make a goal during the second half of the game. The Bearcats exited the second half scoreless as well.

During overtime, the anticipation revved up as both Fikso and Saucedo ran up three shots each, two of Fikso’s being shots on goal. To the dismay of the team, the build-up led to no avail as the Pioneers could not break through the Bearcat’s defense. The game finished with a 0-0 tie after two overtime periods, breaking the Pio’s loss streak of four games.

“It was a bummer not to finish offensively,” Cornell-Maier concluded.

A complete turnaround was displayed as the LC Pioneers beat the Puget Sound Loggers 1-0 on Nov. 6. “Lewis & Clark has never beat Puget Sound and for us to be apart of that win is worth anything,” said Taylor Hudson ’17. The last game LC women’s soccer won against Puget Sound was in 2006.

The Nov. 6 game was not only a win for the women’s soccer team but also Senior Day. Hudson, Cornell-Maier, Jordan and Fikso were recognized by the crowd at Griswold Stadium as they approached their final game played as LC students. Fikso scored the goal needed to win the game in a free kick during the 43rd minute.

“I looked over at the sideline and Jim said, ‘Iz drive it in,’” said Fikso. “I looked at the wall and they were giving me a little bit of space and I hit it and hoped for the best and I saw it hit the back of the net and it was the happiest moment of my life.”

LC ended the season as the top 6th team in Northwest Conference.

“I mean it was hard,” said Cornell-Maier. “It was the end of the season, it’s hard to put in 90 minutes but I mean we wanted this win so bad it’s been a while and it was worth it to put all that work in and come out with the win.”

When asked to describe how it felt to finish the season with the win as a senior, Jordan said, “The years went on but we’ve stuck with it and really committed and this shows it.”