PORTLAND, Ore. -- Sports is an emotional realm, and this weekend proved taxing on the minds and bodies of the Lewis & Clark women's soccer team. Following Saturday's road loss to Linfield, in which freshman defender Mali PetersonWood was taken to a hospital with a head injury, the Pios allowed a goal by Kelsey Walker in the 13th minute and lost 1-0 to first place Willamette on Sunday afternoon at Griswold Stadium.

PetersonWood was released later on Saturday, but in Sunday's match, sophomore defender Ashley Cox left the game with a first half knee injury and did not return.

Senior captain Kylie Carera said after Sunday's match how difficult it is to overcome injuries emotionally.

"It slows you down a lot, takes you out of it a little bit," said Kylie Carera. "15 minutes of watching [PetersonWood] get into an ambulance is kind of scary, and then your legs get tired on top of that, so there's mental and physical problems with that, but we hope she's going to be okay. She's back on campus."

Unlike on Saturday, where the Pioneers were outshot 12-3 in the second half, when PetersonWood's injury occurred, Lewis & Clark stayed with Willamette in the final 45 minutes, matching the Bearcats shot-for-shot, 6-6. Of the Pios nine overall shots in the game, though, only three were on-goal, whereas Willamette put half of their ten shots in frame.

Some of Lewis & Clark's best chances came in the first half. Emily Thompson's 9th minute shot forced a save by Willamette goalkeeper Emily Sewall (4-4-1), while Kylie Carera hit the crossbar in the 36th minute.

In the second half, Rochelle Jordan missed high, Anna Thorndike's try went wide and Isobel Fikso forced a save during a four-minute span starting in the 68th minute.

Head coach Jim Tursi said an inability to score was the difference in the match more than allowing the early goal.

"Today, we just made a goalkeeping error early and it was an even game after that," said Tursi. "At the end, we started playing well, but we didn't score. Bottom line is you need to score goals to win games and today we didn't get any goals."

Walker's goal came off a long pass into the 18-yard box that brought out Lewis & Clark goalkeeper Kelley Koeppen (6-4), and Walker put it in the net. It was the first shot of the game by the Bearcats.

Koeppen played the first half and made one save, facing two shots. Sandra Alvarenga (pictured right) played the second half and saved all three shots she faced.

Walker had a game-high three shots, forcing an Alvarenga save in the 75th minute before missing wide in the 76th minute.

Thorndike finished with three shots as well after getting one blocked in the 77th minute and forcing a save in the 88th minute in addition to her miss wide in the mid-second half.

Willamette (5-4-1; 5-1 NWC) has now shutout its last five opponents.

The loss is the first for Lewis & Clark (6-4; 2-4) at home, where the Pios will spend a lot of time in the next seven games. Before closing out the season with three on the road, Lewis & Clark plays five of its next seven at Griswold Stadium, starting this Saturday against Whitworth.

"We have two homes games," said Tursi. "They'll bounce back. We'll look forward to it and have a challenge to get a win and feel better about ourselves."

"We'll get some good rest and try to knock these games out of our mind," said Carera. "We'll practice really hard and come out with a competitive spirit for the weekend and keep moving forward."

Whitworth is three points ahead of Lewis & Clark in the Northwest Conference standings.

Other Northwest Conference Scores - Sunday

Pacific Lutheran 2, Whitworth 0
Puget Sound 1, Whitman 1 (2OT)
Pacific 1, Linfield 0 (2OT)