Linfield women's soccer misses out on postseason

The Linfield women’s soccer team was again left out of the NCAA Division III Tournament when the draws were announced Monday morning.

For the second straight season, Linfield (16-2-2, 12-2-2) was not selected as one of the 21 at-large bids to the playoffs after finishing the regular season in second place in the Northwest Conference. The Wildcats finished up their regular season schedule this weekend with wins vs. Whitman and Whitworth.

Linfield was first in the NWC two weeks ago, tied with Whitworth, but it lost a match at Pacific to drop them out of the tie. Whitworth then lost to Puget Sound, which went on to win its 11th straight conference championship.

The Wildcats were left out of last year's Division III national tournament was well after finishing second to the Loggers. Last year, they tied with Pacific, which was enough for UPS to overtake them.

Puget Sound plays Trinity in the first round while Cal Lutheran -- which the Wildcats beat early in the season -- plays Wartburg.

There were two teams in the field with records of .500 or lower, including Agnes Scott at 9-9-1.

Linfield was on the bubble after failing to clinch the automatic-bid that comes with the conference championship, and their chances were hurt more after other top-seeded teams lost in their conference tournaments.

Linfield football

The No. 3-ranked Linfield football team beat Puget Sound 47-7 Saturday to clinch a share of the Northwest Conference championship for the fourth straight season and the automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.

The Wildcats passed for a school-record 541 yards nad piled up a season-high 692 yards of offense in the win. Quarterback Mickey Inns passed for 422 yards and three touchdowns, and backup Josh Yoder passed for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

The Wildcats finish up the regular season this Saturday at home vs. Pacific. The NCAA playoffs begin the following week.