Box Score SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth earned a golden-goal victory for the second consecutive day when Samual Jarrett scored less than a minute into overtime to complete a comeback victory as Whitworth topped George Fox, 2-1 on Sunday.
Following the Senior Day win, Whitworth (13-1-2, 8-1-2 NWC) remained in second place and sits two points back of first-place Willamette (9-1-1) in the conference standings. George Fox fell to 2-13-1 overall and 0-11-0 in the NWC.
Willamette began the day in a tie for first place with Puget Sound but defeated the Loggers on Sunday, which dropped the Loggers to third place in the standings. Whitworth plays Willamette next weekend in a match that could end up determining the conference champion.
Whitworth defeated the Bruins in Oregon earlier this season, 7-1, setting season-highs in multiple stat categories. Sunday's match was a much different story, as Whitworth put together its fifth come-from-behind win of the season against George Fox.
The Pirates found themselves trailing by a goal with 15 minutes left in the second half after Joab Logan found an opening in the Whitworth defense and scored his third goal of the season.
Robby Ubben provided the equalizer for Whitworth in the 88th minute, scoring on a diving header off a cross sent in from the right side by Rylan Berriman. It was Ubben's first goal of the year and the fourth assist of 2014 for Berriman.
"I don't think we (the coaching staff) needed to even say much, they knew they needed to go and needed to get it," head coach Morgan Cathey of the team's mentality following the go-ahead goal by the Bruins.
Whitworth wasted little time in overtime, controlling possession and firing a series of shots that concluded with Jarrett finishing a rebounded shot. Ubben hit the right post with a shot before Eric Espinoza fired a shot that deflected to Jarrett, who finished to the left side of the net for his fourth goal of the season.
The game-winning goal can be viewed here on the Whitworth Pirates Instagram account.
Whitworth held a 16-14 edge in shots, including a 7-6 edge in shots on goal. The Bruins outshot Whitworth 10-3 in the first half but the Pirates flipped the script and held a 10-4 advantage in the second half.
Tony Watters made three first-half saves for Whitworth. Shane Nishioka-Healy replaced Watters after halftime and recorded two saves.
Whitworth concluded its regular-season home schedule with two overtime victories, following a 1-0 win over Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday that ended with a Micheal Ramos goal via a free kick just outside the box.
"We're at a place where now we have everything to play for, so that's exciting," Cathey said. "Our guys did everything they could to win these two games to put us in that position."
The Pirates have three matches remaining in the regular season. Whitworth travels to Oregon to face Willamette and Linfield next weekend before facing Whitman on Nov. 8.