SPOKANE, Wash. – Whitworth hits the road for final time this season with a pair of Northwest Conference soccer matches. The Pirates play at Linfield on Saturday and at Willamette on Sunday, both matches starting at 2:30 pm. Whitworth defeated both teams at home earlier this season.
Check the Whitworth men's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action. All spectators at Linfield and Willamette are required to have proof of vaccination and masks are required at all times.
The Pirates: Whitworth (7-7-1 overall, 6-5 NWC) split a pair of conference home games last weekend. The Pirates are now 6-1-1 at home this season and 1-6 on the road. With 18 points, Whitworth is alone in fourth place in the NWC standings.
Whitworth had good scoring opportunities, but could not find the net in Saturday's 3-0 loss to league-leading Pacific Lutheran. The Pirates led in overall shots (13-10), though the Lutes led in shots on-goal (6-5). Beckett Arthur had four shots for Whitworth and Bo Broyles made three saves. PLU swept the season series against the Bucs.
Whitworth gave up an early goal to Puget Sound, but rebounded to win 3-1 over the Loggers on Sunday, avenging an overtime setback at UPS earlier in the season. Andyn Maldonaldo got the Pirates on the board in the 35th minute, tying the match. Jose Bautista headed in a corner kick in the 38th minute for the lead. Beckett Arthur scored his league-leading 11th goal in the 90th minute to put the game away. Broyles made seven saves for the Pirates.
Dynamic Duo: Beckett Arthur and Dominic Gusman have become the most dynamic scoring pair in the Northwest Conference this season. Arthur leads the league in goals (11) and in total points (23). Gusman is second in goals (7), third in points (18, including five assists) and is tied for the lead in game-winning goals (4). Each has been named the Northwest Conference's Offensive Student-Athlete of the Week once this season – Gusman on September 20th and Arthur on October 4th.
The Opponents: Linfield is 1-12-2 overall and 0-9-2 in the NWC heading into Saturday's match. The Wildcats played to a 2-2 draw with Pacific (Ore.) at home on Saturday, then fell 2-1 at George Fox on Sunday. Seamus Miller leads the team with four goals this season. Whitworth rolled to a 6-1 win over visiting Linfield on September 19th as Gusman scored three goals.
Willamette (10-3-1 overall, 8-2-1 in the NWC) heads into the weekend in second place and only two points behind first place PLU. The Bearcats beat George Fox 1-0 on Saturday and won 2-1 at Pacific on Sunday. Mack van der Velde has five goals and an assist, while Sean Kim has four goals and three assists for Willamette. One reason Willamette is in second place is because the Pirates defeated the Bearcats 2-1 in Spokane on September 18th behind goals by Arthur and Gusman.
The Coach: Jeremy Payne, a talented and highly accomplished young coach, enters his second season as men's soccer coach at Whitworth University in 2021.
Payne is a graduate of Messiah College (Pa.), where he was the NSCAA Division III Player of the Year in 2012 and 2014. Following graduation from Messiah, Payne became a graduate assistant coach at Eastern University (St. David's, Pa.) in August of 2015 and served in that role for two seasons before he was promoted to head coach in March of 2017. He led the Eagles to a 42-17-5 record and two Division III tournament appearances over the last three seasons.
Coming up next: Whitworth will conclude the season Nov. 6 at home against Whitman (1:30 pm).
