McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Dominic Gusman's goal in the 14th minute was the difference in a 1-0 Whitworth win over host Linfield on Sunday afternoon at Linfield Soccer Field.
The Pirates moved to 2-2-1 overall and 2-1-1 in the NWC, while the Wildcats (0-8, 0-4 NWC) remained winless through two weekends of conference action.
Gusman scored what proved to be the game-winning goal when he collected the ball near the midfield circle and saw an open lane up the middle. He used his speed to get by a defender and fired a shot into the bottom left corner of the net for his third goal of the season.
Whitworth went on to take a season-high 16 shots and had five shots on goal, four of which came in the first half. Linfield had seven shots and just two on goal.
Gusman led all players with four shots in the game and two on goal. Noah Whitman, Ben Hippauf and Dom Schauman each had a pair of shots for the Bucs. Dax Flanders made his first start at goalkeeper for the Pirates and made two saves in the second Whitworth clean sheet of the season.
Tate Bliss and Jaren Nishikawa each had a shot on goal for the Wildcats. Jacob Toves made four saves.
The Pirates will head to Oregon again next weekend to visit George Fox on October 4th and Lewis & Clark on October 5th.
