EUGENE, Ore.  – The Northwest Christian University women's soccer team tied the game midway through the second half but Willamette University scored with under three minutes to play to claim a 2-1 win in non-conference action at Mike Kelly Field.
 
The Bearcats, who have never lost to NCU and until tonight had never given up a goal in the series, scored early with an Emma Sanders header off a cross from Kelsey Walker in the ninth minute.
 
Willamette held a 7-1 shot advantage at halftime and held onto their 1-0 lead until the 68th minute. Junior Maddi Bartholomew broke free and fired off a 30-yard rocket that went over the keepers head for the score.
 
The Beacons held a 6-5 advantage in shots over the final 45 minutes, but one perfect pass ended all the hard work in the 88th minute when Liz Stewart broke away with the ball right on the defensive backline to go one-on-one with the NCU keeper. Stewart finished with a strike to give the Bearcats the victory.
 
Head Coach Jessica Cardwell said, "I'm really proud of our girls and the effort that they put in tonight. We had a great second half, we pressured hard and we possessed better. Willamette is a very physical team and one that puts in the work and plays quality soccer. Obviously, we would have loved to get the win tonight but we are taking away a lot of important things to implement in our next games.
 
NCU (2-2) will return to action on Saturday, traveling to La Grande for a neutral site contest against Linfield College at 12 p.m. The next day, NCU will stay put to face Eastern Oregon, also at 12 p.m.