Eight Linfield seniors are the glue of the 2008 team. Back row: Emma Triplett, Kate Franklin, Kelli Gillespie, Martha Inouye. Front row: Amber Calcagno, Steph Caster, Kristine Siler, Kelly McLeod.
It’s been a while since the Linfield women’s soccer team has experienced the joy of a Northwest Conference victory.
You have to go all the way back to Oct. 24, 2007 to find their last win, a 2-1 overtime result over Pacific highlighted by Kate Franklin’s game-clincher in Forest Grove. The conference losing slide had reached six matches over two seasons, but that all ended Sunday when the ‘Cats played as fine a half as I’ve seen by a Linfield women’s team, beating a pretty good Lewis & Clark team 3-1.
The jumped to a 2-0 first half advantage on Lewis & Clark, outshooting them 9-3. It was great to see Rachel Miles get her first goal in two years. And Kelli Gillespie is back to being a menace on the front line. And there was plenty of energy and teamwork brought to the field by seniors Amber Calcagno, Emma Triplett, Kristine Siler, Steph Caster and Martha Inouye.
Though the Wildcats sport a 3-5 record, this club is just now coming together and is miles ahead of where it was a year ago. Eight seniors – perhaps the most ever fielded by a Linfield women’s soccer team – are going to make a huge difference on the back stretch of this season. While other teams will soon begin folding their tents, thinking about “next year,” I predict this Linfield team is going to get stronger and more resilent as the season moves along.
Go seniors! Go Wildcats! All signs are pointing toward more wins in the weeks ahead.
