MCMINNVILLE, Ore. – Visiting Whitworth men's soccer opened the second half of Northwest Conference play with a 1-0 shutout win over Linfield on Friday night at the Linfield Soccer Complex.
The Pirates (4-7-2 overall, 2-5-2 NWC) earned their second straight shutout and extended their unbeaten streak against Linfield to 12 matches. The Wildcats fell to 3-7-3, 2-5-2 NWC.
Whitworth played from ahead nearly the entire match as the game-winning goal came in the first two minutes of action. Following a Linfield corner kick, the Bucs quickly went on the counterattack and earned one of their own. Sebastian Alvarez sent the ball into the box where it eventually found Ralph Borromeo. Borromeo pushed it to Zephyr Wall, who put it home for his first career goal at the 1:54 mark.
Linfield applied consistent pressure for the remainder of the match, resulting in a 25-6 advantage in total shots, the most allowed by the Pirates this season.
Despite the one-sided shot totals, the Pirate defense was up to the task. The Wildcats took multiple second-half free kicks in scoring range and sent six shots toward net in the final 10 minutes. Led by goalkeeper Oliver Hart and defenders Jackson Hammond and Ethan Bell, the Bucs preserved the shutout.
Hart followed up his standout performance last Sunday with an eight-save clean sheet. Offensively, six different Pirates recorded one shot. Alvarez and Wall each had a shot on goal.
Dani Paz and Beckham Poirot led Linfield with five and four shots, respectively. Jacob Toves made one save at goalkeeper.
The Whitworth men will look to win their third straight match on Sunday at Lewis & Clark at noon.
