Fast Break: Atmospheric river drowns everything but not our suffering

Students of Willamette play a game of pickup soccer with the ducks. Art by Alyssa Diggdon.

Welcome back, Bearcat Fan. No exclamation point this week so as not to confuse the reader, as this column is resuming its usual dreary mood to match that of the weather and the abysmal record of our beloved ’Cats this weekend. The rain drowned everything but our own despair. Let’s get it over with.

Football suffered another loss in Forest Grove against Pacific on Saturday, in which three different quarterbacks played for a total of 77 passing yards. On the bright side, our defense came back to good form, but couldn’t stop the Boxers from a 35-14 win.

Women’s soccer lost to Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran away on Saturday and Sunday 0-4 and 0-2, respectively.

Men’s soccer earned a solid win against the No. 5 Loggers 1-0 but fell to the Lutes on Sunday 3-2. They remain barely in the No. 4 spot heading into their last two matchups of the season.

Volleyball broke their six-game win streak, losing both matches to the Loggers and the Lutes in Tacoma on Friday and Saturday and barely falling to the No. 5 spot in NWC rankings. The ’Cats face the bottom half of conference standings in their last three matches of the season and will be aiming for the No. 4 seed to secure a spot in the playoffs in mid-November. 

In lighter news, triathlon had a good showing in the Lone Star State, placing No. 3 in the DIII section at the West Regional Championship. Natalie Thomas (’27) was the top finisher for the Bearcats, placing No. 70 overall, with Abby Staniec (’26) and Kalima Glascott (’28) following closely behind. 

In the wider world of sport: the Bears broke a four-game winning streak, so we’re back to form. I was starting to believe for a moment, but no longer. The Ducks held strong in an ugly game against the Wisconsin Badgers, prevailing against a Dante Moore injury and an atmospheric river. NBA regular season is back and so are the Jail Blazers (thanks, Chauncey!) The Portland Timbers are in MLS playoffs, battling — and currently losing the series to — the No. 1 seeded San Diego FC, and the Thorns have clinched a spot in NWSL playoffs. I have neglected to cover domestic soccer because, admittedly, I really don’t understand it at all. This is my formal apology to all my loyal readers. Hockey is also happening, I, um, think. I really can’t tell you anything about hockey other than that, though. Ohio State is still No. 1.

In the coming weeks… fall sports are winding down, and winter is coming. Volleyball and soccer face a bye and then their last weekend of competition, and cross country heads to the NWC championships at Pacific Lutheran on Saturday. Men’s and women’s basketball face their first matchups against the Portland Pilots on Nov. 3 and 4, and swim will be competing against Linfield on Nov. 1. Football faces the Bruins on the same date. How will we fare? Hopefully better than this week!