LINFIELD UNIVERSITY LACROSSE VERSUS PACIFIC LUTHERAN • APRIL 3, 2026

WELCOME TO LINFIELD UNIVERSITY

COMMUNICATIONS

Chase Fisk, Kelly Bird

STATISTICS

Katie Putnam, McKenzie Heckman

PENALTY MONITOR

Sam Haynes

Emerson Teller

Julia Alvarez

VIDEO WEBCASTS

Maddy Funk, Joe Stuart, Joel Nelson

Kelly

WILDCAT SPOTLIGHT

helping fill the gap

Having received a helping hand upon her arrival to Linfield, Gabby Crist now serves as a Registration & Orientation Leader

by Karlie vercauteren ’28

As the second highest-scoring player in Linfield University women’s lacrosse program history, Gabby Crist has learned to use her skills to lift up her teammates.

Crist has been competing in lacrosse since the third grade, but only began to take the game more seriously once she reached middle school.

“I was better at lacrosse than any other sport that I played, and I liked the fast pace” Crist says. She continued to stay active with other sports, also playing soccer, volleyball, and bowling throughout high school, but her home base was always the lacrosse field.

Despite her love for the sport, Crist started experiencing burnout and decided to take a step back.

“In playing club lacrosse, you get to a certain point where you keep doing it because you’re going to play in college, or you stop. I stopped playing club at the end of my fresh man year of high school because I was like ‘I don’t want to play in college or anything.’’’

Evidently, Crist reevaluated this plan, but only years later. She continued to play for Lake Oswego High School and enjoyed stellar junior and senior seasons. On a whim, she and a friend filled out Linfield’s lacrosse recruitment survey and “the rest is history . . . Thank gosh I did (that survey) because it’s the best decision I ever made.”

There were factors beyond the lacrosse program that influenced Crist’s choice to come to Linfield. Chief among them was her desire to stay close to her mom, Melinda McDonald, who lives in Lake Oswego. Crist is a mama’s girl through-and-through and while she tempo rarily considered attending Northern Arizona University, at the end of the day “I knew I couldn’t be that far from my mom.”

While Crist knows now that attending Linfield was the correct choice, the beginning of her time as a Wildcat felt less certain. Thought the lacrosse program served as her new focal point, Crist was lacking a bit of support in other areas and had to struggle to find herself off the field. And even within lacrosse, she was experiencing a massive shift.

Crist was a defensive player throughout high school, describing it as “my home on the field.”

Once she started playing for Linfield, however, the new coaching staff transitioned her to the offensive attack position, which was “quite the transition,” to say the least.

Despite any reservations she may have had, Crist shone in this role and quickly had to deal with the ramifications of being such a talented player. Opposing teams started face guarding Crist, a shocking experience that presented a steep “learning curve” for her to climb.

“It was definitely a lot to take in, just because I hadn’t played attack since early middle school,” she says. “Dealing with some good games and then being face guarded or having a lot of double teams was a lot to get adjusted to.”

Luckily, “playing a bunch of sports growing up made me a lot more versatile and it helps in my game play now.” The primary way Crist has learned to adapt is by working to support her teammates.

“This year, my main goal for myself on the attacking side of things was to get more assists and set up my teammates more. I passed my assists (record) in 2024 halfway through the season, which I was really happy about, and I just think that it’s more fun; I love setting up my teammates.”

s teammates certainly benefit from her efforts, on and off the field. Fellow senior Grayce Miller says “Gabby has the biggest heart I know. She cares so deeply for everyone she knows and everything she does. She wants the best for everyone around her and will stop at nothing to make sure it happens. Anyone’s lucky to have her in their lives.”

True to Miller’s words, Crist puts considerable effort into the challenge of her new position, and her mom has been there to watch it all unfold.

“My mom has come to every single game, she’s not missed one . . . She’s my biggest supporter and my No. 1 fan. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”

Even with everything she invests into lacrosse, Crist makes time for plenty of other campus involvements: she’s held several work study jobs, is a Registration & Orientation Leader (ROL), and part of Phi Sigma Sigma sorority.

“I always knew that I wanted to be in a sorority because my mom was in one,” Crist says, adding that “I wanted to be an ROL because I was kind of missing one key support person with my transition, with having a student to help me out and show me the ropes. I wanted to be that person and fill that gap for first-year students.”

Crist’s attitude toward being an ROL, and the joy she gets from seeing her group members hanging out together after all this time, are emblematic of her character and overall approach to life. Her bright personality and contagious energy allow her to build and maintain strong communities where everyone feels heard and valued.

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LINFIELD LACROSSE COMPLEX

LINFIELD LACROSSE COMPLEX

THE DREAM OF A MODERN lacrosse and soccer facility at Linfield became reality in 2020.

In Phase 1 of the project, the natural grass field was converted to FieldTurfTM, providing Linfield teams an ideal year-round practice and playing surface while substantially reducing maintenance and game setup costs. The field was draped with branded mesh screening, providing for a more

intimate and enclosed setting. Six enclosed storage spaces to house team equipment and supplies are included.

Phase 2 calls for a new seating for 250 spectators as well as an adjoining paved plaza. It includes construction of a new pressbox on the west side of the field. Dressing rooms are part of a multi-purpose structure planned for the stadium’s northwest corner. The new

building will contain a dressing room for visiting teams and game officials, restrooms and a concession stand.

Under the leadership of Linfield alumnus Rob Gloeckner of Tarkett Sports, the grass field was converted to a FieldTurfTM surface.

The custom-branded storage containers are being furnished by Boxwell co-founder Rod Bolls, a former Wildcats soccer player.

HEAD COACH MONICA POTTER

fresh optimism

Veteran coach Monica Potter plans to breathe new life into the Linfield lacrosse program during her first season at the helm

Monica Potter is in her first year as Linfield women’s lacrosse head coach. She comes to Linfield with over a decade of collegiate coaching experience throughout Colorado and the Midwest.

Potter begins her time at Linfield after spending two and a half years as the director of lacrosse in Portland at Lacrosse Northwest. During her time spent overseeing Lacrosse Northwest, Potter provided leadership and mentorship to the coaching staff, while recruiting, coaching, and fundraising to make the club teams successful.

Prior to Lacrosse Northwest, the St. Louis, Mo. native spent eight seasons coaching women’s lacrosse at Colorado State University-Pueblo, where she was the first women’s lacrosse coach in program history. During her tenure with the Wolfpack, Potter coached one Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, one Defensive Player of the Year, and two First Team All-RMAC selections.

Potter also was the assistant women’s lacrosse coach at Fort Lewis College for a season and spent two years as the head lacrosse and field hockey coach at Division III Fontbonne University.

She guided Fontbonne to winning seasons in both years at the helm. In addition to coaching, she also served as the assistant athletic director, NCAA compliance officer, and the senior women advisor for the Griffins.

Her coaching career kickstarted at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., in 2004 as the head women’s lacrosse and field hockey coach before building the first lacrosse program at Adrian College in Michigan over two seasons. During her time at Lindenwood, she took a lacrosse program with a losing record to an undefeated season, claiming the Central Plains Division Championship.

A graduate of Webster University in 2001, Potter earned a master’s degree in Sports Management from Lindenwood in 2006. After a pair of years in Portland, the Wildcats head coach looks to bring her Pacific Northwest recruiting experience to McMinnville, where she looks to return a team to the NWC Tournament for the second consecutive season. The Wildcats went 8-8 overall a year ago, including 4-4 in the Northwest Conference.

LINFIELD WILDCATS

PACIFIC LUTHERAN LUTES

LINFIELD VERSUS PACIFIC LUTHERAN

match breakdown

THE RECORDS

Linfield enters the week at 3-6 overall and 1-0 in Northwest Conference play, having defeated the Pacific Boxers at home prior to Spring Break. Pacific Lutheran begins NWC action today, entering the week with a 2-6 record and is coming off of a loss to Kalamazoo College.

LINFIELD AT A GLANCE

Aiming to rebound from the Spring Break trip to Southern California, Linfield took on three teams from the SCIAC, falling in each matchup. The Wildcats’ first NWC matchup two weeks ago saw a dominant offensive performance at home as Savannah Irwin and Heidi Schaefer scored four goals each in a 12-4 romp over the Pacific Boxers. Senior Gabby Crist ranks among the conference’s best offensive players, entering the week averaging 2.44 goals and 1.22 assists per contest.

PACIFIC LUTHERAN AT A GLANCE

The Lutes’ two wins this spring have each come by two goals, defeating Eastern Oregon 12-10 and Lawrence 7-5. PLU averages 4.88 goals on just 17.25 shots per contest. Taylee Alldredge and Issabella Marchio lead the team with nine goals each. Goalkeeper Kassie Diller enters the week ranking No. 4 in the NWC in saves with 8.11 stops per match.

SERIES HISTORY

The Wildcats are 3-0 against the Lutes over the past two seasons, averaging roughly 15 goals in each meeting and allowing an average of two. The two squads have only met once in McMinnville, with Linfield winning 16-3 last March.

THE NORTHWEST CONFERENCE

LACROSSE STANDINGS

LINFIELD SPORTS NETWORK

The Linfield Sports Network will again bring fans live action of all home Linfield lacrosse matches during the 2026 season. Fans can enjoy live video webcasts with play-by-play commentary on their computer, tablet, mobile device or smart TV.

Live coverage begins 10 minutes prior to the start of each contest. Broadcasts include a complete postgame wrap-up with analysis and statistical breakdown.

McMinnville native Joe Stuart, a 2020 Linfield graduate, is the Athletics Broadcast Operations Coordinator, managing all aspects of Linfield’s webcasting outreach and handling lead play-by-play duties on Linfield football, baseball and softball webcasts in addition to basketball. Stuart assists with other external sports communications and social media needs.

Linfield junior Maddie Funk will handle play-by-play duties on Linfield lacrosse broadcasts this spring. Funk is a graduate of Livermore High School in Livermore, California, and a member of the Linfield women’s soccer team. She is majoring in journalism and media studies and plans to embark on career in broadcasting.

All LSN broadcasts, both live and on demand, can be accessed at golinfieldwildcats.com/watch or from within the Linfield Athletics app on mobile, tablet or smart TVs.

KEEPING TABS ON THE WILDCATS

All Linfield Sports Network webcasts are now carried on FloSports, a conference-wide pay-to-watch platform

Linfield University has joined together with its eight fellow Northwest Conference institutions in support of a new partnership with streaming provider FloSports to offer live and on-demand video coverage of nearly every athletic event Linfield participates in

An annual subscription costs $107.88 ($8.99 per month). A monthly subscription runs $19.99.

Linfield students, faculty and staff with linfield.edu email addresses will enjoy discounted rates of $71.88 per year ($5.99/ month) or $9.99 if purchased monthly.

Schools are expected to receive annual investments from FloSports to build and expand broadcast capabilities and make other investments within the athletic department. Linfield personnel will continue to staff and operate all home broadcasts.

“Entering into this agreement with FloSports was a conferencewide decision,” said Linfield Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Brosius. “While it does represent a change in how our streams are viewed, we do believe this partnership signifies a positive step forward. We anticipate increased quality of our streams conferencewide, as well as programming allowing viewers to watch college sports not just from within our conference, but from all across the country. This is the direction other Division III conferences are moving toward. Many of our out-of-conference competitions already require a FloSports subscription.”

As Brosius noted, FloSports subscribers will have the capability to access more than 40,000 events nationwide spanning 25 different sports.

WATCHING flosports MADE EASY

FloSports expects to deliver live and on-demand coverage of Linfield events across 15 different sports: Football, volleyball, men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s wrestling, men’s and women’s swimming, men’s and women’s tennis, baseball, softball, and women’s lacrosse. Northwest Conference Championship events in all sports except golf and cross country will also be streamed as part of the annual agreement.

Beyond live competition, FloSports plans to invest in original content and storytelling initiatives online and across social media aimed at elevating the profile of NWC student-athletes and institutions. The NWC joins several of its regular non-conference opponents in partnering with FloSports, the industry leader and primary media rights partner for Division III conferences.

Each year, FloSports will provide a global platform to live stream over 800 regular-season and postseason events.

FloSports is available via web, mobile apps (iOS and Android), and streaming platforms including Roku, Apple TV, and Amazon Fire TV. The FloSports app is expected to be pre-installed on most topselling Smart TVs in the U.S. this year.

LINFIELD DANCE

A Heritage of Confident Service

OUTLAST OUTLIVE

We’re tough where it counts. From dominating wild trails to maneuvering rushing streams, roaming vast canyons and tackling remote peaks, our trucks prove their rugged capability over and over.

The Linfield Athletics Hall of Fame, sponsored by Pacific Office Automation, was established in 1998 as an avenue to honor former athletes, coaches, staff and contributors and to preserve the memory of their past achievements.

A new class of inductees is honored at the Hall of Fame Banquet each fall. Inductees are chosen from a list of submitted nominations and voted upon by the Hall of Fame Executive and Selection Committees. The 20-member panel is made up of current and former staff members, past inductees, a member of the media, and a former athlete representing each of the preceding six decades.

Nominations must be submitted in writing using an official nomination form. Hall of Fame nominations are considered in any one of six categories: Athlete, Coach, Team, Athletics Staff, and Meritorious Service.

RECENT HONORS

Through 24 games, Sain leads the NWC with a .524 average and a .596 on-base percentage. The junior also tops NWC statistics with 42 hits, 34 runs and 15 doubles.

In NCAA Division III statistics, she ranks third in doubles, ninth in hits, 17th in RBI (33) and 19th in batting average.

A 2025 first team all-NWC honoree, Sain is the daughter of Erin Moser and Dustin Sain. She is currently majoring in exercise science.

Linfield has compiled a 22-2 record and is ranked No. 3 in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Top 25 poll.

Linfield’s Meara Sain continued to crush the ball during a recent four-game series sweep at NWC-rival Whitworth, earning her first Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of Week honor.

The Eugene, Oregon, native hit .615 (8-for-13) at the plate, with eight doubles and a pair of home runs while driving in a team-high nine runs. Linfield’s bats cruised past Whitworth, ending three of the four games early via the eight-run rule. Sain slugged 1.462 in the four games, walking once and striking out just once in her 13 at bats.

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