By: Cody Wright
SPOKANE, Wash. – The Whitworth men's soccer squad heads back to Oregon this weekend to visit George Fox on Saturday and Lewis & Clark on Sunday. Both matches are scheduled to begin at 2:45 as the second leg of a men's-women's doubleheader.
Check the Whitworth men's soccer schedule for live links to follow the action.
The Pirates: The Pirates moved to 2-2-1 and 2-1-1 in the Northwest Conference after splitting two games last week.
Wednesday's battle with Whitman resulted in a 3-1 Blues win at Whitworth Soccer Field. Lucas McAllister's hat trick within the first 10 minutes of the match gave Whitman a comfortable lead that the Pirates could not come back from. Dominic Gusman got one back for the Bucs in the 82nd minute after he collected a deflection and found the back of the net. The Blues finished with a 14-12 advantage in shots and 5-3 advantage in shots on goal. Aiden Chase made two saves.
Whitworth traveled to Linfield on Sunday and came away with a 1-0 win. Dominic Gusman scored the game-winning goal in the 14th minute when he attacked up the middle and fired the ball into the bottom left corner of the net for his third goal of the season. The Bucs took a season-high 16 shots and put five on target, while holding the Wildcats to just two shots on goal. Dax Flanders made his first start at goalkeeper and made two saves in the clean sheet.
The Opponents: George Fox hosts Whitworth with a 3-3-3 overall record and 1-2-2 mark in conference matches. Last weekend, the Bruins earned a 1-0 win over Lewis & Clark after dropping the previous two matches. GFU has scored 12 goals and allowed 16 so far this season. The Bruins average of 14.2 shots per game ranks second in the NWC. Senior forward Eugene Peltier leads the team with three goals scored and paces the conference with 16 shots on goal. Freshman forward Carson Tapia and senior forward Isaac Williams each have two goals on the season. Junior Chase Nelson has a .681 save percentage in nine starts at goalkeeper for the Bruins. Whitworth split its season series with GFU last season, the latest match being a 5-0 loss in Newberg.
Lewis & Clark is 0-7-1 overall and 0-4 through two weekends of NWC play. The Pioneers fell 1-0 to George Fox and 2-1 to Pacific (Ore.) last weekend. L&C has struggled to find the back of the net this season with just three goals scored. Opponents average 2.5 goals and 19.6 shots per game against the Pio's. Junior midfielder Dylan Weinstein has two goals scored and sophomore Sam London has one. Junior Micaiah Garan has made seven starts at goalkeeper and leads the conference in saves (45) but has allowed 15 goals. Whitworth has outscored L&C 25-3 in five matches since the Pioneers restarted their men's soccer program in 2022. Last season, the Pirates defeated L&C 3-0 in Portland.
NWC Standings: Whitman leads the conference standings with 12 points and a 4-0 league record. Pacific Lutheran (3-0-1) is in second with 10 points and Puget Sound (3-1) is close behind with nine points. Whitworth (2-1-1) and Pacific (2-2-1) each have seven points in a tie for fourth place. Willamette (1-2-3) and George Fox (1-2-2) are fighting for sixth while Lewis & Clark and Linfield are looking for a win.
Watch on FloCollege: Like the rest of the Northwest Conference, Whitworth's home athletic events will be steamed through FloCollege in 2025-26. Fans can sign up to watch Pirate sports on the FloCollege portal. Registration is $120 for an annual subscription or $20 per month. Those who register with a .edu email address get a significant discount.
The Coach: Kevin Moon became the Pirates' head coach in 2023 and has a 24-13-8 record heading into his third season at the helm. Moon was a Pirate player from 1988 through 1991, winning three NCIC titles under Whitworth Heritage Gallery Hall of Fame coach Einar Thorarinnson. Moon served four stints as an assistant coach at Whitworth under several head coaches. He was an assistant coach for the women's team from 1992 through 1996, when the Pirates won a pair of NCIC titles under Damon Hagerott. He was an assistant coach for the men under Sean Bushey in 2001 when the Pirates won a conference crown. Moon returned as an assistant coach with the women's program from 2010 through 2015 under both Hagerotts – Damon and Jael. He was back with the Pirate men under Morgan Cathey in 2018 and 2019.
He also has significant coaching experience in the Inland Northwest. Kevin has a USSF National A License and was an ODP Washington Staff Coach from 2008-10. He was also a 2014 ODP Idaho Staff Coach.
Coming up: Whitworth will return to Whitworth Soccer Field to host a pair of Homecoming weekend matches against Puget Sound on October 11th and Pacific Lutheran on October 12th.
