SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth men's soccer team will play three matches this week. The Pirates play their final non-conference tune up at Walla Walla before opening their NWC slate against Pacific (Ore.) and George Fox at home on Saturday and Sunday.
Check the Whitworth men's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
The Pirates: Whitworth (1-2-1) played well in a pair of matches down in Atlanta, Georgia over the weekend, but could not find the net often enough in two losses.
Whitworth scored in the second minute against Covenant, but could not add any more goals. The Scots scored once in each half for a 2-1 victory, even though the total shots were even. Beckett Arthur scored his first goal of the season, on an assist by Benjamin Hippauf.
The Pirates fell 3-0 to Oglethorpe on Sunday. Again, the shot count was only 14-10 in favor of the Stormy Petrels. Whitworth could not find the net against host keeper Ethan Harrison, who made six saves. Victor Loyola had two shots on target for the Bucs.
The Opponents: Walla Walla University (0-1) has not played an official match since losing 7-1 at Whitworth on September 1st. First-year midfielder Addison Dobbs scored the Wolves' only goal in that match.
Pacific (Ore.) comes into Saturday's contest 0-3-1. The Boxers lost 6-0 to Warner Pacific and drew 1-1 with Bushnell last weekend. Senior forward Nico Allen had the goal in that second contest. Pacific finished 6-11-2 overall and 3-9-2 in the NWC last season. Whitworth defeated the Boxers 2-0 in Spokane in 2021, but fell 3-0 at Pacific.
George Fox is 1-3 heading into a match on Saturday at Whitman. Last weekend the Bruins defeated La Verne 3-2 and lost to UC Santa Cruz 1-0. First-year forward Eugene Peltier has two goals and one assist this season. Last year George Fox went 6-12 overall and 4-10 in the NWC. The Pirates swept the Bruins, winning 4-1 at home and 3-1 in Oregon.
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 at Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound next weekend.
