SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth men's soccer team returns home for the first time in three weeks for a pair of Northwest Conference matches this weekend. The Pirates host Puget Sound on Saturday and Pacific Lutheran on Sunday. Both will start at 2:30 pm.
Check the Whitworth men's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
The Pirates: Whitworth (6-6-2 overall, 4-4-1 NWC) split on the road in Oregon last weekend.
The Pirates won 2-0 at Linfield on Saturday. Whitworth got second half goals just 2:30 apart from Beckett Arthur and Chris Barry. It was Arthur's team-leading sixth goal of the season, while Jaime Rodriguez picked up his sixth assist of the season on Barry's goal. Aiden Chase made five saves to earn his first career shutout as a Pirate goalkeeper. Whitworth swept Linfield this season by a combined margin of 5-0.
The Bucs fell 1-0 at Willamette on Sunday. Whitworth had the advantage in shots in the opening 45 minutes, but the Bearcats took over offensively in the second half when they scored the match's only goal. Chase made eight more saves in the game for the Pirates. League-leading Willamette swept Whitworth this fall, earning a pair of one-goal victories.
Whitworth Leaders: Whitworth has gotten strong offensive production from a couple of players in 2022. Beckett Arthur has six goals and four assists to lead the Bucs in goals scored and in total points (16). Jaime Rodriguez leads the team in assists (6) and in total minutes played (1201).
The Opponents: Puget Sound comes into Saturday's match 7-3-4 overall, 3-3-3 in the NWC. The Loggers had to suspend last Saturday's match against George Fox because of smoky conditions in the Tacoma area. They earned a 2-0 win over visiting Pacific (Ore.) on Sunday. Junior forward Stuart Methner has four goals and three assists this season, while junior midfielder Graham Hall has four goals and two assists. The Pirates defeated Puget Sound 2-1 in Tacoma on September 25th, thanks to goals from Tyler Wisen and Sterling Eaglin.
Pacific Lutheran is 13-2 overall and 7-1 in the NWC heading into a match at Whitman on Saturday. The 20th-ranked Lutes are rolling. They've won each of their last four matches by four goals, including wins over Pacific (5-1) and George Fox (5-1) last weekend. Three PLU players have scored eight goals apiece this season: sophomore Trevor Thompson, junior Craig Johnson and senior Chris Lozano. The Lutes defeated the Pirates 3-1 on September 24th. Tyler Wisen scored to give the Bucs a 1-0 halftime lead.
The Coach: Jeremy Payne, a talented and highly accomplished young coach, is in his third season as men's soccer coach at Whitworth University in 2022.
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 those three seasons.
Coming up: Whitworth will play three matches in Oregon on Oct. 28-30, at Lewis & Clark, George Fox and Pacific (Ore.).
