Photos Below: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography

WHITTIER, Calif. (Sept. 3, 2022) – In the sweltering Saturday morning heat, the Whittier Poets defeated the Whitworth Pirates (Washington), 3-2. With the victory, the Poets improve to 2-0, their best start since 2017, which they began with four victories.

Sophomore forward Layla Traylor opened the scoring with a pretty hooking goal off the inside of the left post in the ninth minute, assisted by junior Avery Gonzalez on the play. Both forwards would return to the scoreseheet later in the match. The Pirates then tied the game on a penalty kick inside the box by Kalle Crouch.

The first score of the second half came via Elizabeth Roybal in the 53rd minute off a pass from Traylor, marking No. 29's first assist of the season.

"I received a great ball from Sam (Ceballos), saw Liz (Roybal) making an aweseome run and was able to get her the ball and assist on an amazing goal," Traylor said of the play. "Teamwork makes the dream work!"

Whittier head coach Derek Hanks spoke about his team's star following the match.

"The only person that's going to stop Layla is Layla," Hanks said. "She's a special player. Once we get her out of her head and get her to believe in the player she is like we do, she's going to be unstoppable."

Up to this point in the match, Traylor had accounted for all three of Whittier's goals this season, including scoring the game-winner Thursday night in the team's 1-0 win over Lewis & Clark. Two matches into the 2022 campaign, Traylor has already tied her two-goal output over 15 matches last season.

After the Pirates leveled the match at two goals in the 63rd minute after a textbook lead pass from Ireland Eaton to Kalena Pfaeltzer resulted in a goal, the Poets needed not wait seven minutes of clock time to break the tie for good.

Gonzalez, a transfer from St. Francis College in New York, notched the game-winning strike in the 70th minute, assisted by freshman Alanis Cervantes, seen celebrating the connection together below.

Whittier goalkeeper Vanessa Martinez had a strong performance, saving five of seven shots on goal, including an outstanding save in the 80th minute to preserve the Poets' 3-2 lead. The senior is now 2-0 with a 1.00 goals against average in 180 minutes of play on the young season.

The Poets outshot the Pirates 18-9 overall in the contest and 12-7 in shots on goal.

After the match, Hanks described Whitworth as a "quality side that's going to have a great year" and praised his team's effort.

"I thought the girls battled for 90 minutes, and we never quit," Hanks said. "We asked a lot of them to press the ball hot, and they executed what we wanted. I'm super proud of this group. Training camp was a tough one, we've been working from Day One. To get the result today and to get the result Thursday, it shows the character of our group."

"Even with the brutal heat, our group never stopped working hard and pushed through for the win," Traylor added.

The 2-0 Poets next host Willamette University (Oregon) at noon on Saturday, September 11, which can be watched live on the Whittier College Sports Network.