Fast Break: MGolf wins conference ʼship. What else is new?

A duck in a Willamette jersey about to score a goal on the soccer field while the crowd cheers behind them. Art by Wes Mowry-Silverman.

Hello, Bearcat Fan! Spring sports, as they are wont to do, continue to ride a very chaotic, poorly-designed rollercoaster that is putting both their playoff hopes in jeopardy and their hearts in blenders. I am speaking from experience. Let’s find out how things fared this week. 

Lacrosse continues to baffle their opponents and themselves but are managing to keep their playoff hopes alive despite being the most inconsistent team in the conference. They faced the Whits over the weekend, losing to Whitman 4-15 on Saturday, but they managed to rout the Pirates 16-9 on senior day to round out their conference record to 3-3. The latter game saw standout performances from seniors Claire Kisielnicki (’26) and Brooklynn Pearl (’26), who totaled eight goals and two assists between themselves. 

Baseball was swept by the Puget Sound Loggers at home on Saturday and Sunday but had won a one-off game against the Bruins earlier in the week on Wednesday 11-6. Despite the win, they remain in last place in the conference. 

Softball also found themselves being swept over the weekend by No. 2 Lewis & Clark, extending their losing streak to 11, a là the New York Mets. Despite the tough losses, there were bright spots in the form of the ’Cats’ pitching, including a solid outing from Maya Filger (’28) in the second game of the series. She only allowed three hits in seven innings from the otherwise offensively dominant River Otters. 

Men’s golf secured the No. 1 spot in the team rankings at the NWC championship by a wide margin, with Brock Olson (’26) tying for No. 1 in individual rankings. Go Bearcats!

Women’s golf does not have enough players to qualify for the team rankings, but Saida Seelig (’26) tied for the No. 29 spot in individual rankings. 

In the wider world of sport: The Trail Blazers lost in Game 1 of their series against San Antonio in the first round of the NBA playoffs, which will surely not deter them from an inevitable victory against the Wemby-led Spurs. West Ham and Tottenham have been fighting — or rather, failing to put up a fight — in the English Premier League to avoid relegation, with the Hammers being a measly 2 points away from the No. 18 spot that Tottenham currently holds. The race will come down to one question and one question only: who will suck more in the remaining fixtures? As an Irons supporter, my money is on West Ham. I have no faith.

In the coming weeks: Track and field heads north to Spokane to compete in the NWC championships on Saturday, and lacrosse has to win out their remaining games against Pacific on Wednesday and Linfield on Sunday to secure a spot in the NWC playoffs. Baseball faces Lewis & Clark over the weekend and hopes to crawl out of the last-place spot, and softball looks to snap their losing streak against the Bruins away for their last series of the season.