SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth men's soccer team will conclude the 2022 season with a home match against Whitman College on Saturday. The game will start at 1:30 pm, moving ahead one hour because of daylight considerations.
Check the Whitworth men's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
The Pirates: Whitworth (8-8-3 overall, 5-6-2 NWC) went 1-1-1 on the road last weekend.
The Pirates rolled past Lewis & Clark 9-1 on Friday night. As a first-year program, L&C is not competing as a Northwest Conference member this season, but will start next year. Jordan Voigt had two goals and three assists in the match, while Eric Shaporda had a goal and two assists. Eight different players scored for Whitworth.
The Pirates lost 3-0 at George Fox, despite a huge possession and shot discrepancy in Whitworth's favor. The Bucs outshot the Bruins 17-7. GFU took advantage of a penalty in the box 13 seconds into the second half to open a 2-0 lead.
Similarly, Whitworth could not find the net and settled for a 0-0 tie at Pacific (Ore.) on Sunday. The Pirates outshot the Boxers 12-5, including a 6-2 edge in shots on-goal. Aiden Chase made two saves to earn the shutout in goal for Whitworth.
Whitworth Leaders: Whitworth has gotten strong offensive production from a couple of players in 2022. Beckett Arthur has seven goals and five assists to lead the Bucs in goals scored and in total points (19). Tyler Wisen and Jordan Voigt each have six goals. Jaime Rodriguez leads the team in assists (8) and in total minutes played (1565).
The Opponents: Whitman College comes into Saturday's match 11-7-1 overall, 8-4-1 in the NWC. The Blues were upset 2-1 at Pacific last Saturday, but rebounded to defeat George Fox 2-0. Sophomore Noa Taylor leads the team with six goals and two assists, while junior Edin Romero has four goals and three assists. Whitman defeated Whitworth 2-0 in Walla Walla on October 8, extending the Blues' unbeaten streak over the Pirates to 6-0-1.
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.
