Whitman junior Calder Hughes booted a pair of goals, including the game winner seven minutes into overtime, as the Missionaries opened their fall season with a 2-1 victory over Warner Pacific College in Portland, Ore.
"The boys played very, very well," Whitman coach Mike Washington said. "We wanted to control the tempo as much as we could, and for the most part, we were able to do that. Warner Pacific has a very strong, physical team."
Whitman scored its game-winning goal at the 7:04 mark of overtime. Hughes started wide left, collected a pass from sophomore Will Hallifax and then beat Warner Pacific's keeper one-on-one.
Whitman grabbed the early 1-0 lead when Hughes scored in the sixth minute of play. Hughes fed the ball to sophomore Brian Logan in middle of the field and then scored off a return pass at the mouth of the goal. "It was a nice play," Washington said. "Calder made his way into the six-yard box and just steered the ball into the net. It was great to score early, which is something we've been working on."
Warner Pacific, an NAIA school that opened its season last week with a 1-0 victory at Simon Fraser, evened Saturday's score at 1-1 at the 36:37 mark of the first half. "Their goal was basically a mistake, a miscommunication by one of our defenders," Washington said. "He was trying to play the ball back to our keeper, and they scored off it."
Whitman outshot the Knights 15-12, which included a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal. Whitman keeper Travis Exstrom went the distance, registering three saves.
The Whitman men's soccer team may not have passed its first stiff test with flying colors, but it didn't fail the exam, either. The Missionaries gave Albertson College, an NAIA national powerhouse, all it could handle Sunday afternoon before the visiting Coyotes rallied for a hard-fought 2-1 victory.
The loss dropped Whitman to 1-1 on the season. The game was Albertson's first of the season and elevated coach John Calpin's record to 151-85-10 at the start of his 17th season with the Coyotes.
Playing on their new field for the first time, the Missionaries took a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute of the first half. Following a free kick, sophomore Niels Larson headed the ball across the front of the goal, where sophomore Jeff Waggoner tapped it home. "It was a kind of a goal-mouth scramble," Whitman coach Mike Washington said. "It wasn't pretty, but it was effective."
Whitman's lead held until the eighth minute of the second half when Coe Michealson scored for Albertson. Jake Carson tallied what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 78th minute.
"Albertson was the more dominant team throughout much of the game, but we didn't quit at the end," Washington said. "We applied some pressure and created two or three real scoring opportunities in the final 10 minutes. We had chances to tie the game at the end."
Albertson returns most of the team that placed second last fall in the Cascade Collegiate Conference and then won its regional tournament to advance to the NAIA national championships. The Coyotes lost in the opening round to Alabama's Mobile College to finish 17-6 on the season.
"We knew they were going to be a very strong team," Washington said. "We don't want to schedule easy non-conference games. We want to be tested and pushed early in the season, and we were today. We need to know what issues we face. We need to know we have to work to get better. This game came at the right time for us."
Washington was pleased with the way his squad responded to Sunday's challenge. "You certainly can't fault our effort. The boys played very hard. Our defense, led by Will Hallifax, was fantastic, and Travis Exstrom kept us in the game with some great saves in goal. We really didn't give them much at all. Apart from a few poor defending decisions that led to one of their goals, this was a game Albertson deserved to win. They were a better team today."
The Coyotes outshot the Missionaries 18-11. Exstrom made 12 saves in goal.
Calder Hughes kicked his third goal of the young season to spark the Whitman men's soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Whittier College Friday evening in Whittier, Calif. The Missionaries improved to 2-1. The game was Whittier's first of the season.
With Vico Rust assisting on the goal by Hughes, Whitman led 1-0 at halftime. Charlie Schneider added the second Missionary score in the waning minutes of the second half.
Whittier, an NCAA Div. III school, competes as part of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Assisted by Vico Rust, Jeff Waggoner scored his second goal of the season to help the Whitman men's soccer team salvage a 1-1 tie Saturday evening against Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Waggoner, a sophomore, scored eight minutes into the second half to pull the Missionaries into a 1-1 deadlock. Neither side scored again despite playing through an overtime session. The tie gives Whitman a 2-1-1 early season record.
Occidental tallied its only goal in the 27th minute of the first half, courtesy of a penalty kick. Referees handed out a total of 11 yellow cards, drawing a critical response from Whitman coach Mike Washington, who felt his squad dominated play in the second half despite some erratic officiating.
Whitman outshot its hosts 12-11. Travis Exstrom went the distance in goal for the Missionaries, collecting five saves.
Playing host to NCAA Div. II Montana State-Billings, the Whitman men's soccer team lost a hard-fought 2-1 soccer decision Sunday afternoon at the new Missionary athletic fields.
The loss dropped Whitman to 2-2-1 on the season, while the Yellowjackets earned their first win of the year, improving to 1-2-2.
Chris Newton put Montana ahead early with an unassisted goal to the upper left corner of the goal, just past the outstretched hand of Whitman keeper Travis Exstrom. Newton's goal came at the 7:53 mark of the first half and was all the the scoring the Yellowjackets could muster before intermission. Exstrom made seven saves in the half and eight total in the contest.
At the 62:32 mark of the second half, Montana's David Austin scored on a put-back after Newton's shot was tipped by Exstrom. Austin's goal proved decisive after Whitman's Calder Hughes punched in his fourth goal of the young season with just over ten minutes to play in the game.
While disappointed in his team's overall performance, Whitman coach Mike Washington also noted that his squad was short-handed. Niels Larson, a center-midfielder, was serving a one-game suspension after drawing two yellow cards in Whitman's last game. One of those cards was assigned to Larson by mistake, but the Missionaries did not have time to file an appeal. "We no doubt missed Niels' presence and leadership in the middle today," Washington said.
In addition to Larson's absence, Whitman played without forward Nate Hoffman (family reasons) for the entire game, and senior midfielder Scott Burns was sidelined late in the first half because of heat exhaustion.
Washington said his team's play against Montana was disappointing because players showed little inclination to play as they had practiced the past week. "We basically spent an entire week on possession play and the rhythm of the game," he said. "And I didn't see any of that today. We have some defending issues to work on, and we only have a day to do it, but I'm confident we can bounce back for Wednesday's match."
In the Northwest Conference opener for both schools, the Whitman men's soccer team dropped a 3-0 decision to eastern Washington rival Whitworth Wednesday evening in Walla Walla. The loss leaves the Missionaries at 2-3-1 overall, while the Pirates elevated their season record to a 4-1.
Whitworth jumped ahead when Brendan Siefken found Brandon Carlson for the opening score at the 3:36 mark of the first half. Carlson s first shot ricocheted off the left post, but he followed his shot and found the net with his second attempt.
Bobby Labelle scored for the Pirates later in the first half on a controversial goal. After Whitman's Travis Exstrom batted away two shots, the Missionary goalie went down in a collision and found himself pinned beneath an opposing player. With Exstrom out of the picture, Labelle squeaked off a shot in traffic.
Siefken completed the scoring early in the second half. His goal was assisted by Paul Johnson.
For the game, Whitman managed 13 (five on goal) shots. The Pirates fired off 27 shots, 16 of them on goal. Exstrom had 13 saves for Whitman, while two Pirate keepers had five saves in combining for the shutout.
Willamette sophomore Ricardo Sanchez headed a ball into the net in the 74th minute of play to lead the Bearcats to a 1-0 Northwest Conference victory over Whitman Saturday afternoon in Walla Walla.
Willamette evened its NWC record at 1-1 and improved to 2-1 on the season. The Missionaries dropped to 2-4-1 overall and 0-2 in conference.
Sanchez, who led the Bearcats in scoring last season with 11 goals and six assists, tallied Saturday's game-winning goal after one of his teammates, freshman Brian Lund, centered the ball from the right side.
"Sanchez is a very good player," Whitman coach Mike Washington said. "We kept him under control as long as we kept the ball from swinging wide. If Willamette gets the ball to the outside, Sanchez finds little seams in the defense and he finishes very well."
Other than the one scoring play, the game was evenly contested. Willamette outshot the Missionaries by a slim margin, 14-11, although the visitors enjoyed a 10-2 advantage on corner kicks.
"We changed a few things today, and we tried to play a more direct game and put more pressure on the other side," Washington said. "I thought the boys responded well to the game plan, and overall we played a much better game than we did Wednesday against Whitworth. We were moving in the right direction today."
Whitman's best scoring opportunities came in the first 45 minutes of play, Washington said. "We had four good chances in the first half. We just didn't finish them off."
Missed scoring opportunies proved costly as the Whitman men's soccer team dropped a 2-0 Northwest Conference decision to Linfield Sunday afternoon in Walla Walla.
The Wildcats, the defending NWC champions, grabbed an early 1-0 lead when sophomore Abe Gardner rifled home a shot at the 14:03 mark of the first half. Linfield made it 2-0 in the 28th minute of play when senior Chris McDonald scored with an assist from Gardner.
In between those two scores, however, Whitman junior Calder Hughes bounced a shot off Linfield's crossbar and sophomore Niels Larson's breakaway shot was stopped by Wildcat keeper Luke Voiles.
"Any time you score, the game changes," Whitman coach Mike Washington said. "Had we converted either one of those opportunities, the game could have turned in our favor."
While neither side found the net in the second half, Whitman generated a few more prime scoring opportunities. "I'm disappointed that we're not winning more games at this point, but I'm not disappointed in the way we're playing," Washington said. "We created a lot more good scoring chances today. What we need to do is get past the frustration of not finishing those chances."
Linfield raised its record to 5-3 overall and 2-1 in the NWC. The Wildcats return much of the squad that advanced as far as the NCAA Div. III semifinals last fall before finishing the season with a 21-1-1 record.
Sunday's loss dropped Whitman to 2-5-1 overall and 0-3 in conference.
Linfield outshot the Missionaries 15-9. Whitman keeper Travis Exstrom had five saves on the day. Voiles had three saves for Linfield.
The Whitman men's soccer team continued to struggle with its offense Saturday afternoon, losing 2-0 to Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma.
The loss drops the Missionary record to 2-6-1 on the season and 0-4 in the Northwest Conference. PLU evened its slate at 3-3 overall, 2-2 in the NWC.
Whitman managed only nine shots in the game, one on goal. Meanwhile, Lute forward Andy Yarborough got the home team going early, scoring the game-winner only 1:14 into the contest. Yarborough struck again in the second stanza, at the 65:27 mark, for an insurance goal.
"We didn't play well today," Whitman coach Mike Washington said. "We were very flat, very much off our game. We allowed the early goal on a defensive mistake and never really recovered after that."
Whitman's defense took another hit late in the first half when starting goalkeeper Travis Exstrom suffered a head injury in a collision. "Travis was having trouble with double vision, so that was it for him," Washington said.
Sophomore Eric Dottarar took over in goal and collected five saves in playing the rest of the way.
"We did better in the last 10 minutes of the first half," Washington said. "We got a little more aggressive, but we still weren't closing people down quickly enough. PLU is a team that likes to send the ball forward a lot, and we allowed them to do that."
Whitman's play again picked up late in the second half, but "it was a case of too little, too late," Washington said. "Overall, it was a disappointing performance by our side. It was frustrating because we had hoped to get things turned around a bit today."
Rebounding from a mid-season scoring lull, the Whitman men's soccer team scored three times Sunday afternoon at the University of Puget Sound, but it wasn't quite enough as the two squads played to a 3-3 tie after 90 minutes of regulation and another 30 minutes of double overtime.
It was Whitman's second tie of the season. The Missionaries are now 2-6-2 overall and 0-4-1 in the Northwest Conference. UPS is 6-4-1 on the season, 2-2-1 in the NWC.
Out to a quick start, Whitman squeezed all of its scoring into the first 23 minutes of action. Sophomore Niels Larson, the team's leading scorer last season, got the Missionaries on the board first with an assist from junior Calder Hughes at the 7:17 mark. Both Larson and Hughes played at Portland's Lincoln High School.
UPS answered with its only goal of the half in the 19th minute of play. Whitman regained the lead a few minutes later when Larson struck again, knocking home an unassisted goal from 30 yards out. Then, less than a minute later, the Missionaries extended their lead to 3-1 when Hughes capitalized on a penalty kick to boot his fifth goal of the season.
UPS rallied in the second half for a pair of goals to send the game into overtime. After two scoreless 15-minute periods, the contest was ruled a draw.
While victory eluded the Missionaries at the end, coach Mike Washington said his team played a much game against Puget Sound than it did at Pacific Lutheran on Saturday. "UPS wore on us a bit in the second half, but there was no doubt we were the stronger team by the end."
"We changed a few things today, put some people back in our old line-up from last year," Washington added. "I think it made some people more comfortable. We were able to play much better soccer, and we got a lot more out of our bench today."
Missionary keeper Travis Exstrom, after getting knocked out of Saturday's game, played all 120 minutes in goal, recording five saves along the way. The Loggers outshot Whitman 22-20, though both teams had eight shots on goal. Whitman committed 38 fouls, while the Loggers were only whistled for 21.
Playing to a stalemate for the second time in as many games, the Whitman College men's soccer team tied Pacific University, 1-1, Saturday afternoon at the Whitman Athletic Fields in double overtime.
Whitman is now 2-6-3 on the season, 0-4-2 in the Northwest Conference, while the Boxers stand at 3-5-1 overall, 0-5-1 in the NWC.
For Whitman, it may have been a game of missed opportunities, as the Missionaries on more than one occasion missed one-on-one shots against Boxer keeper Ryan Stanley. Missionary coach Mike Washington echoed these sentiments. "This was a dogfight," Washington said. "A couple of teams tired of losing went at it for 120 minutes today. We had our opportunities and they had theirs. The difference was we missed our shots, and Travis blocked theirs."
Alluding to the solid play of Missionary keeper, junior Travis Exstrom, Washington was at least pleased with the Missionary play in goal. Exstrom registered 12 saves in going the distance in goal. At least three times in the first half, Pacific had numbers and great opportunities to score, only to be snubbed by an outstretched limb of Exstrom. "Travis kept us in the game today," Washington said.
The two teams battled scoreless for the first 65 minutes of the game, before Whitman's Jeff Waggoner made a quick inbounds pass to freshman Brad Bowen, who quickly beat his defender and then placed his shot to the upper right corner of the net for the only Missionary score.
Pacific made its only goal of the afternoon with just under 15 minutes to play in regulation. After Jacob Lovelli misfired on a shot from left to right, Duston Sackett found himself in the right place at the right time for a header from center to the lower left of the goal, knotting the game at 1-all.
The Boxers outshot Whitman, 32-26. Both teams committed 25 fouls.
Four minutes from its third double-overtime tie/thriller in as many games, the Whitman College men's soccer team finally surrendered an overtime goal, as Northwest Conference rival George Fox University pulled out a 2-1 win at the Whitman Athletic Fields Sunday afternoon in a persistent rain.
The win improved the Bruins to 6-4-1 overall, 5-2 in the NWC, while Whitman fell to 2-7-3 overall, 0-5-2 in the NWC.
For Whitman, it was a game of inches, as the Missionaries pestered Bruin goalkeeper Ron Besser with 18 shots on goal. "We had our opportunities," Missionary coach Mike Washington said.
"We played outstanding soccer against one of the best sides in our conference today," Washington said. "We just didn't win. I was disappointed for the boys not to get a win, but not with how they played."
After 73 minutes of scoreless action, the Missionaries scored first when Niels Larson's header was blocked by Besser, only to be re-headed by Whitman's Calder Hughes for the go-ahead goal with 16:15 to play in regulation.
At that point, the Missionaries seemed to lose focus a bit, as the Bruins blasted Missionary keeper Travis Exstrom with shots on goal throughout the final 10 minutes of regulation. Finally, NWC scoring leader Merrick Brownlee found a crack in the defense, squibbing in a goal off a pass from Bryan Erickson at the 80:50 mark in the game. Earlier, Brownlee's penalty kick was blocked by Exstrom after a Missionary handball led to the free kick.
Both teams had chances to win in the first overtime, as Exstrom and Besser each had a pair of game-saving punches to keep balls away from the net. In the final overtime, Bruin Nigel Hunter booted in the game-winner with 4:07 to play in the contest.
Exstrom finished with a season-high 22 saves, including ten in the two overtime periods. "Travis is just an outstanding keeper," said coach Washington. "Without him, the game would have been over before it started."
Bruin keeper Besser finished with 14 saves of his own on the afternoon. The Bruins took 48 shots, 15 more than the Missionaries. There were four yellow cards handed out in the game, including one to Bruin Greg Cobb after he kicked Exstrom in the head during the final overtime.
Playing in its fourth overtime game in a row, the Whitman College men's soccer team got the better of the University of Puget Sound Loggers, 1-0, in a heated Northwest Conference match Saturday afternoon at the Whitman Athletic Fields.
The win was the Missionaries first conference victory of the season, bring the team's overall record to 3-7-3, 1-5-2 in the NWC. The Loggers fall to 7-6-1 overall, 3-4-1 in the NWC.
After 90 minutes of regulation left each side scoreless, Missionary freshman Harris Esarey made quick work of the overtime period. After the Loggers opened the stanza with the ball, the Missionaries took over and quickly found a streaking Esarey up the left side for the decisive score just 45 seconds into overtime. Fellow freshman Adam Yadon was credited with the assist.
"That's just a great goal for the first score of your freshman season," Missionary coach Mike Washington said. Essary, who entered the game late in regulation, had probably the freshest legs on the field by the end of the game.
Washington credited the Missionary defense in keeping the Loggers in place for much of the contest. "Our whole defense played fabulously today," Washington said. "Tyler Chisolm deserves a lot of credit for keeping a wrap on Chris Raymond, as well."
Though the Loggers outshot Whitman, 22-17, the stats may be misleading as rarely was Missionary keeper Travis Exstrom challenged in collecting his 11 saves. Of Whitman's 17 shots, only four were on goal, although a number of hard shots were just off to either side.
"Our defense laid a good foundation for our squad today," Washington said. "We came out focused and determined in this game. Hopefully that will carry over into tomorrow's game."
Playing a man short on the field, the Whitman College men's soccer team pulled off a dramatic double-overtime victory over Northwest Conference rival Pacific Lutheran University, 2-1, Sunday afternoon at the Whitman Athletic Fields.
The win was the second of the weekend for the Missionaries, as the team now stands at 4-7-3 overall, 2-5-2 in the NWC. The Lutes drop to 5-6-2 overall, 3-5-1 in the NWC.
Sophomore Jeff Waggoner booted in the game-winner at the 110:07 mark, officially. Running on a dead sprint after a pass from Brian Logan, Waggoner bolted downfield from left to right, nailing the shot in the upper right corner of goal, beyond the outstretched hands of Lute keeper Nate Wiggins.
Missionary head coach Mike Washington was extremely pleased with his team's effort. "I'm happy overall with the way we competed in the game," Washington said. "And I think we had a lot of contribution from a lot of different people today. Matt Butts and Adam Yadon added some depth to the starting line-up today, while our bench just played tremendously."
Washington noted the contributions of Bryce Andrews, Andy Shanstrom, and Nate Hoffman off the bench as a key role in the victory. "We really needed some guys to come off the bench today and spell our regulars," Washington said. "And I think we got that."
After a back-and-forth first half, the Missionaries got on the board first at the 40:20 mark. Waggoner dribbled all the way down the left side before centering the ball to classmate Calder Hughes who booted in the point-blank score over Lute keeper Nate Wiggins. For Hughes it was the seventh goal of the season, as he leads the Missionaries in scores.
The Lutes got their lone goal at the 77:25 mark in the second half. Justin Stevens passed from left to center, where Rylan Cordova made a conspicuous catch of the ball before booting it over Missionary keeper Travis Exstrom.
In an interesting twist in the game, Exstrom was red-carded and ejected from the match nine minutes into the first overtime after making a play on a ball well out in front of the goal. He challenged a Lute for possession, tackling his opponent in the process. Along with Exstrom, fellow Missionary Calder Hughes left the game to make room for goalkeeper Nate Davis. Davis played the final 11 minutes in goal, holding the Lute attackers at bay. Exstrom, the NWC-leader in saves per game, had 12 saves in his 99 minutes of action.
The Missionaries were whistled for 24 fouls in the game, while the Lutes were only called for seven offenses. PLU outshot Whitman 32-28. It was Whitman's seventh overtime game of the season. The Missionaries are 3-1-3 in overtime contests this year.
It was the final Missionary home game for Whitman seniors, Dan Gestaut, Nate Hoffman, Josh Weissman and Scott Burns.
Playing in a regulation 90 minute soccer match for the first time in six games, the Whitman men's soccer team fell 3-0 at Linfield Saturday afternoon in McMinnville. The loss drops the Missionaries season record to 4-8-3, 2-6-2 in the Northwest Conference. The Wildcats are tied for second place in the conference at 6-4, and are 9-6 overall.
With junior goalkeeper Travis Exstrom serving his one-game suspension after receiving a red card in last week's action, the Wildcats may have found the chink in the Whitman armor, as the Missionaries surrended three goals for the first time in nearly a month. Nate Davis went the distance in the Missionaries goal, collecting four saves along the way.
The Wildcats scored the decisive goal just six minutes into the game, then found the net again at the 15:11 mark in the opening period. Linfield scored the final goal with just under six minutes to play for the final margin of victory.
As a team, the Missionaries were out-shot 20-9 by the Wildcats. The home team enjoyed an 8-4 advantage in corner kicks, while the Missionaries were whistled for 16 fouls to the Linfield 12.
Losing junior all-Northwest Conference goalie Travis Exstrom to a questionable red card for the second time in as many games, the Whitman men's soccer team fell to Willamette 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Sparks Field in Salem.
Whitman is now 4-9-3 overall, 2-7-2 in the NWC. Willamette is 7-5 overall, 6-5 NWC.
Whitman coach Mike Washington was discouraged at the game's outcome. "We played hard today, and I think the team gave itself an opportunity to win this game," Washington said. "When we lost Travis it really hurt our chances. It was a pretty bad call, and we had to play a man down for the last 30 minutes of the game."
Exstrom left the game with the score tied at 2-2, recording nine saves before his departure.
After the two teams traded goals in the first half, Whitman's Charlie Schneider gave Whitman its first lead of the ballgame early in the second period at the 53:08 mark, as he booted a loose ball in for the second Missionary score. Jeff Waggoner scored the first Whitman goal at the 14:46 mark in the contest, on assists from Scott Burns and Niels Larson.
Willamette's Michael Semenza scored the tying and go-ahead goals in the match for the Bearcat margin of victory.
Willamette out-shot Whitman 24-19, due in part to an undermanned Missionary squad. Willamette lost a player of its own late in the match due to a second yellow card to A.J. Nash.
With Travis Exstrom, Whitman's starting goalkeeper, watching from the sidelines, George Fox converted three of its 14 shots into goals and posted a 3-1 victory over visiting Whitman Friday afternoon in Newberg, Ore.
"We outshot them, and I think we outworked and outplayed them," Whitman coach Mike Washington said. "From that perspective, it's very disappointing to lose a game 3-1."
"We really missed having Travis out there," Washington said. "It's not that Nate (Davis) isn't a good keeper, but he hasn't had the experience and the playing time that Travis has had for most of the season. Travis has developed a chemistry with the rest of the team during the season, and that's hard to replace."
Exstrom was forced to sit out Friday's game after drawing a red card while attempting to stop a breakaway scoring threat in last Sunday's game. "It was a judgement call against Travis that was not correct," Washington said. "It was a call the official made from some distance away. There was no contact on the play."
The Missionaries outshot the Bruins 20-14 over the course of the game, and Whitman took four corner kicks to just one for its host. But George Fox jumped in front early when Derek Doughedrty knocked home a loose ball at the 1:47 mark of the first half.
The Bruins extended their lead to 2-0 early in the second half when conference scoring leader Bryan Erickson nailed his 11th goal of the season.
The Missionaries busted into the scoring column at the 60:45 mark when junior Calder Hughes scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season. Freshman Harris Esarey had the assist.
George Fox finally iced the game with its third goal with less than 16 minutes to play.
"The game was back and forth, but we had our share of the play," Washington said. "I thought we were the better side today, even though you have to give George Fox credit. They play a lot of long balls down the field and put a lot of pressure on your defense."
George Fox improved to 8-7-1 on the season and 7-5 in the NWC. The Missionaries fell to 4-10-3 overall, 2-8-2 in conference.
Pacific's Duston Sackett scored with five minutes left in overtime to give the Boxers a 2-1 rain-soaked victory over Whitman Saturday afternoon in Forest Grove, Ore.
It the sixth time this season the Missionaries have played into overtime against a conference opponent. The loss dropped Whitman's overtime record to 2-2-2.
Pacific has had better luck in its overtime matches, winning three times in four games (with one tie).
Whitman saw its overall record fall to 2-9-2 in the NWC and 4-11-3 on the season. The Boxers are 3-8-2 in conference and 6-8- 2 overall.
Steady rain and a torn-up field after the women's game made for sloppy footing for both sides. "The field was atrocious," Whitman coach Mike Washington said. "It was very muddy, top to bottom."
"Despite the conditions, we adapted pretty well and played pretty well," Washington added. "It was another good effort by our boys, even if we didn't get the result we wanted."
Pacific took a 1-0 lead when it scored in the 27th minute of the play. Whitman sophomore Tyler Chisholm, assisted by sophomore Jeff Waggoner, evened the score in the 64th minute.
Whitman keeper Travis Exstrom made 14 saves against 32 Pacific shots. The Missionaries finished with 17 shots on the day.
"Will Hallifax and Harris Esarey played well defensively, and Jeff (Waggoner) worked very hard at the other end," Washington said.
Playing without four of its starters, the Whitman men's soccer team fell 2-0 to Northwest Conference champion Whitworth Saturday afternoon in Spokane.
The host Pirates, who had clinched the NWC title last weekend, finished their regular season with a 10-3-1 mark in conference play. Whitworth now advances into the opening round of the NCAA Div. III national playoffs.
Whitman, which saw its record fall to 2-10-2 in the NWC and 4-12-3 overall, hosts a final non-conference game next Saturday, Nov. 10, against Colorado College. That game is set to start at 1 p.m. at Whitman's new athletic fields near DeSales High School.
Four players, all starters, did not play Saturday after being suspended for violation of team rules, Whitman coach Mike Washington said. The suspension will continue through next Saturday's season finale, he added.
"It's unfortunate this had to happen," Washington said. "But every team has rules that need to be followed, and when they're not, we all have to be men about it and accept the responsibility. In the long run this will hopefully make us a stronger team."
The Pirates jumped in front early and led 2-0 at halftime. "With four of our starters missing, I think we were a bit nervous to start the game," Washington said. "We settled down after the first 20 or 30 minutes, and we gave a good account of ourselves from that point forward."
The Pirates outshot the Missionaries 27 to 5, which included a 10-4 edge in shots on goal. Whitman keeper Travis Exstrom, who leads the conference in saves, picked up seven more in going the distance on Saturday.
"Our defense was given a lot of work today, and our players responded well," Washington said. "Will Hallifax, Pat Flanigan and Josh Weissman were strong on defense."