NEWBERG, Ore. – Held in check almost all game by the George Fox University defense, the high-powered and 17th-ranked Linfield College Wildcats managed to get one second-half goal from their leading scorer to edge the upset-minded Bruins 1-0 in Northwest Conference women's soccer action Saturday here at the Austin Sports Complex.

The Wildcats out-shot the Bruins 19-4 in the first half and 8-1 in shots on goal, but with stellar goalkeeper Alyssa Montero, the conference leader in saves, stopping all eight shots that were on target, the teams entered the halftime in a 0-0 deadlock.  George Fox actually had a chance to take the early lead when Hannah Harder turned at the top of the box and hooked a liner toward the goal that Linfield keeper Kallina Haase stepped in front of at the 12:38 mark, which was the first on-goal shot of the game.

Emily Fellows, the NWC's top scorer who entered the game 19th in the NCAA Division III with 18 goals, nearly gave the 'Cats the lead seven seconds before the end of the first period when her shot from 15 yards out hit the crossbar and bounded back into the field of play.

Montero made two more stops early in the second half on shots by Emma Vukic and Ellie Schmidt before the Bruins had their best chance of the game to break through four minutes in.  Becca Allen put a long shot from outside the left corner of the box toward the net at 48:46 and Tear'sa Krieger followed with a short shot 20 seconds later, but Haase was there to corral both threats.

Fellows finally put the visitors on the board at 54:06 when she headed a well-placed corner kick from Vukic inside the left post for her 19th goal of the season.  The Linfield defense did the rest, allowing only one more shot by the Bruins over the final 36 minutes.

Linfield finished with a 36-7 advantage in total shots, 15-3 in shots on goal, and 6-0 in corner kicks.  Fellows led the 'Cats with 12 shots, five on target, while Harder, Allen, and Jenna Prewitt had two shots each for the Bruins.  Montero collected14 saves, boosting her season total to 139, while Haase had three saves in posting her fifth shutout of the year.

George Fox fell to 3-13-1 overall and 1-11-1 in the conference while been blanked for the 12th time this season, a new record.  Linfield improved to 15-1-1 overall and 11-1-1 in the NWC, moving ahead of the idle University of Puget Sound in the league standings into first place, 34 points to 32.

NEXT: George Fox continues a four-game season-ending home stand Sunday against Pacific University … Linfield goes to Puget Sound Sunday for a showdown with first place in the conference on the line … Both games kick off at 11:00 a.m.