SPOKANE, Wash. – After suffering a pair of tough losses on the road last week, the Whitworth men's soccer team returns home to host Pacific (Ore.) and George Fox this weekend. The matches on Saturday and Sunday will both start at 2:30 pm.
Check the Whitworth men's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
The Pirates: Whitworth (3-4-1, 2-2 NWC) lost a double overtime heartbreaker at Puget Sound on Saturday, then lost at league-leading Pacific Lutheran on Sunday.
The Pirates had their chances, but could not find the back of the net in Saturday's 1-0 loss at Puget Sound in double overtime. The Loggers scored the golden goal two minutes into the second extra period. Andrew Wolotira made nine saves in his first official start in goal for the Bucs.
Whitworth was only behind 1-0 at halftime at Pacific Lutheran, but the Lutes poured in four second half goals in a 5-0 win over the Pirates. The teams each had six shots in an evenly-contested first half. PLU was able to turn up the pressure in the second period. Cameron Gardner was the only Pirate with more than one shot on target.
The Opponents: Pacific (Ore.) is 4-4-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the NWC this season. The Boxers lost 3-1 at Willamette last Saturday, but bounced back to defeat Linfield 2-0 at home on Sunday. Freshman forward Cooper Sheakley has five goals and one assist, while freshman midfielder Noah Edwards has two goals and five assists. Whitworth swept Pacific in 2019, winning 4-1 on the road and 2-0 at home.
George Fox comes into the weekend 3-5 overall and 1-3 in the NWC. The Bruins won 2-1 at Linfield on Saturday before dropping a close 4-3 decision at home to Willamette on Sunday. Freshman midfielder Alex Rincon has three goals and an assist for GFU. Senior Alex Muir has played every minute in goal for the Bruins this season. Whitworth split with George Fox in 2019, losing 1-0 on the road and winning 1-0 at home.
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.
