GEORGETOWN, Texas – Southwestern jumped out to an 8-2 lead and pulled out the 16-13 win over Linfield to finish their West Coast trip on Saturday.
Kaitlyn Campbell kicked things off by scoring in the first minute of the game, assisted by Paige Summers to give SU an early lead. Linfield quickly scored the equalizer before the Pirates punched home two more with another goal from Campbell and Adrienne Dodd. After Linfield found the back of the net one more time Southwestern went on a 5-0 run spanning nearly 10 minutes to lead 8-2 with 7:45 to play in the first.
Linfield jumped to action, however, and closed the half on a 5-0 run of their own to cut SU's lead to one, 8-7, at the half.
One minute into the second half, Linfield evened the count once again with a free position goal 8-8, setting the stage for the barn-burner that would be the second half.
The teams traded goals with neither team taking more than a one goal lead until Campbell scored her sixth goal of the game with 10:50 to play, giving SU a 14-12 lead.
Southwestern would never relinquish the lead again despite Linfield's attempts and put the icing on the cake with goals from Allison Schmitt and Emma Albin to close out the game.
The Pirates narrowly won the shot count 31-28, but committed five more turnovers (21-16) and lost the ground ball battle 38-31. The true game changer came in free position shots as SU scored on six of nine while Linfield converted on just three of eight.
Campbell led offensively with six goals on eight shots while Schmitt added in four. Caitlin Stanyard posted seven saves and a team high five ground balls in the win.
Southwestern improves to 4-4 on the year while Linfield remains winless at 0-6. The Pirates return home to face Goucher in their LAX 4-Life Game on March 19th at 6 p.m.
