George Fox Remains Undefeated in NWC with Win over Bearcats

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

NEWBERG, Ore. -- George Fox University continued to surge through the Northwest Conference schedule on Saturday, April 14, as the Bruins remained undefeated in conference play with a 20-1 victory over Willamette University at the Austin Sports Complex. GFU advanced its NWC record to 8-0, while the Bruins improved to 11-2 on the season. Willamette dropped to 4-9 overall, 2-6 in the NWC.

The Bruins led 14-0 at halftime. George Fox finished the game with a 33-3 advantage in total shots.

Miranda Piros (Fr., MID, Newberg, OR/Newberg HS) tallied Willamette's only goal at the 18:33 mark of the second half. It was her 27th goal of the season.

GFU's strong first half, included eight goals in the opening 10 minutes. Madison Strickland and Lois Ray each scored two of the goals. The Bruins won the first seven draw controls which allowed George Fox to control the early action.

For the game, Ray was the Bruins' leading scorer with five goals and five assists. Strickland, Bailey Faust and Jennifer Burke each scored three goals. Andre Garcia-Milla provided a goal and four assists. The Bruins' passing was effective on offense, as an assist was earned on 18 of the 20 goals.

The Bruins achieved a 19-4 margin in draw controls and built a 21-13 edge in ground balls. GFU led the ground ball battle 16-9 at halftime, but recorded a much slimmer 5-4 advantage in the second half.

A total of five penalties were called during the game, with four on Willamette and one on the Bruins. George Fox scored two man-up goals.

Willamette goalie Kara Phillips (Sr., GK, Kirkland, WA/Lake Washington HS) earned six saves and led the Bearcats with four ground balls. Anabel Ohsman (So., ATT, Shohomish, WA/Glacier Peak HS) won two draw controls and was one of seven WU players who forced a turnover.

The Bearcats will play at Pacific University on Saturday, April 20 in Forest Grove, Oregon, starting at 1 p.m. (PDT).