Area roundup: Kitsman’s long goal wins for EWU

Melanie Kitsman scored from 45 yards out on a free kick in the 51st minute to give Eastern Washington a 2-1 Big Sky Conference women’s soccer victory over Weber State on the EWU playing fields in Cheney on Sunday.

After EWU was awarded the free kick just across midfield, Kitsman drove a low, hard shot toward the near post. The Weber (2-13-1, 1-2-1 Big Sky) keeper was distracted by the Eagles’ on-rushing Whitney Brannan, and the ball skipped into the net for Kitsman’s first career goal.

The first goal for Eastern (2-11-1, 2-2) also came off a set piece. Brannan shot from just outside the 18-yard box that a charging Brittany Sparks one-touched into the net for her third goal of the season and 17th of her career.

• Sophomore Emily Hutchins’ goal in the 68th minute from the penalty area off an assist from Sheridan Jones gave Gonzaga (7-8-1, 2-1-0 WCC) a 2-1 West Coast Conference win over Loyola Marymount (8-5-1, 0-2-1) on the GU campus.

Elle Sweeney also scored for the Bulldogs, who followed up Friday’s overtime win over Pepperdine to produce their first two-game win streak of the season.

• Second-half goals by Katrin Omarsdottir and Alex Morgan gave California (7-4-3, 2-2-0 Pac-10) a 2-0 Pac-10 victory over visiting Washington State (6-9-0, 1-3-0). WSU generated just three second-half shots after holding a 5-4 advantage in the first half.

• Washington battled No. 1-ranked Stanford (13-0-2, 4-0-0 Pac-10) even most of the afternoon, but Kelli Stewart’s goal in the 90th minute was all the Huskies (9-5-1, 2-2-0) could generate in a 2-1 Pac-10 loss in Palo Alto, Calif. UW managed just two shots to 35 for Stanford, which put 12 on net.

• Idaho lost a couple of streaks in a 2-0 Western Athletic Conference setback to Utah State (8-5-4, 40-0-1 WAC) in Logan, Utah. The Vandals (14-4, 4-1) had won six in a row and had a school-record 13 matches in which they had at least one goal.

• Puget Sound (12-1-1, 9-1 NWC) pulled out a 2-1 win over visiting Whitworth (10-4-1, 8-2-1) to avenge a 4-0 loss to the Pirates in Spokane and put the Loggers in the driver’s seat to repeat as Northwest Conference champion. Kelsey Griswold scored from 30 yards out in the 28th minute, her second goal of the season, for Whitworth.

• All the scoring came in the first 11 minutes as North Idaho College and Western Nebraska battled to a 1-1 tie in a nonconference match that went two overtimes in Rock Springs, Wyo. Demi Wignot, after receiving a pass 45 yards out, dribbled in and beat the keeper near the right post for the NIC goal in the 11th minute.

Men’s soccer

Ryan Caballeo of Gonzaga stood his ground, but unfortunately for the Bulldogs, Saint Mary’s scored on a rebound on its third shot in a flurry on the Zags’ keeper in the 88th minute to pull out a 1-0 West Coast Conference victory at GU.

The Bulldogs (4-9-0, 1-5-0 WCC) had two good scoring chances, in the 71st and 75th minutes, but Brandon Hoyt, the keeper for the Gaels (7-5-1, 3-3-0), turned them away.

• Whitworth saw its scoreless streak extended to 357 minutes, and its losing streak reach three games, as the Pirates (7-5-1, 4-4-1 NWC) dropped a 1-0 Northwest Conference decision to Puget Sound (7-3-5, 4-2-3) in Tacoma. It’s the Pirates’ longest losing streak since 2002.

Men’s golf

Whitworth’s depth produced a one-stroke victory over Linfield in the Whitman Invitational at Wine Valley Country Club in Walla Walla.

Linfield had a 1-2 individual finish, with Yutaro Sakamoto the medalist with a 5-under 139 for 36 holes, but the Pirates put five in the top 12, led by Christian Boudreau and Corey Meyers, who tied for third with 1-over 145s, for a 591-592 team margin.

Junior hockey

The Fernie Ghostriders (12-1-0-0), collecting four power-play goals and scoring on almost a quarter of their shots, overpowered the Spokane Braves 7-4 in Kootenay International Junior Hockey League action at Eagles Ice-A-Rena.

Jesse Collins had a goal and two assists and Mitch Fowler a goal and an assist for Spokane (9-7-0-0), which scored on three power plays and had a 32-29 margin in shots.