Fast Break: Evil prevails when Washington wins, but triathlon is looking great

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

Hello, Bearcat Fan! Today I write to you all in high spirits as both the Oregon Ducks and the Chicago Bears won football games over the weekend, so I think I need to buy a lottery ticket to capitalize on my extraordinary good luck. Fortune, however, did not smile on our Bearcats this weekend. Let’s get the bad news over with, shall we? 

Men’s soccer faced off against the No. 2 Pacific Lutheran Lutes on Saturday and the No. 3 Puget Sound Loggers on Sunday at home, battling back hard in the Saturday match to give the Lutes their first conference draw of the season. Despite an early lone goal from first-year phenom Ky Iliev (’29), they dropped Sunday’s match 1-3 to the Loggers.

Women’s soccer also faced the Lutes and Loggers, going scoreless over the weekend and dropping both matches. 

Following in soccer’s footsteps (or perhaps leading the charge, since they played before our footballers), volleyball dropped two matches to the Loggers and Lutes at home, losing the former in straight sets. You win this time, Washington!

On the bright side, triathlon had a strong showing at the Newport Harbor Tri on Sunday, with Natalie Thomas (’27) leading the ’Cats with a No. 3 finish. Not far behind were Sofie Szigeti and Kalima Glascott (’28), who finished No. 4 and 5, respectively. 

In the wider world of sport, the No. 6 Oregon Ducks beat the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions 30-24 in a walk-off interception in double OT, and for that I apologize to my downstairs neighbors. I was very excited. In the WNBA playoffs, the Minnesota Lynx tragically lost to the Phoenix Mercury on Sunday, securing Phoenix a spot in the championship, while the Las Vegas Aces and Indiana Fever wrap up their semifinals series this Tuesday. The Baltimore Ravens start the season 1-3 for the first time in ten years, and the Buffalo Bills and reigning Philadelphia Eagles look utterly unstoppable. MLB Wild Card matchups are set after divisional standings came down to the wire last week, and the Ohio State Buckeyes are still ranked No. 1 in NCAA Football standings. When will our suffering end? Is there no God?

In the coming weeks: can women’s and men’s soccer break some ground into conference standings against Linfield on Wednesday? How will volleyball fare against the Wildcats before a 10-day break? And can football start conference play strong against the Lutes away on Saturday?