WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Five years ago when British native Mike Washington took his Whitman College men’s soccer team to England for a series of exhibition games, the Missionaries came home without a single victory.
The results were notably different when Washington and his 2006 squad wrapped up a two-week exhibition tour earlier this month with a 2-1-2 win-loss-tie record.
"It was a good trip for us," Washington said. "We played reasonably well, we learned a lot, and I think the boys had a good time as well."
After opening its tour with a 1-0 victory over Bridgwater Town and battling Dorchester Town to a 1-1 deadlock, Whitman tied the Paulton Rovers 1-1 on Aug. 7, slipped past Bath City 2-1 on Aug. 9, and then suffered its only loss on Aug. 11, falling 4-1 to a strong academy team from Bristol City.
The Bristol Rovers, one of England’s Division II soccer clubs, sponsors its academy team through nearby Filton College, where athletes work on a three-year degree while honing their soccer skills. A year ago, six of Bristol’s academy players celebrated their graduation by signing professional soccer contracts.
"Bristol was the best team we played on our trip," Washington said. "They weren’t any more talented than we are, but they were physically and tactically stronger, and that’s what beat us. They put quite a lot of pressure on us."
Whitman still held its own in the first half, trailing 1-0 at the break. But with junior Craig Yuen, one of Whitman’s key defenders, sitting out the second half with a stomach muscle strain, and with Washington changing the game plan to compensate, Bristol City capitalized and broke the game open.
Down 3-0 late in the game, Whitman notched its only score after senior Chris Dorough was pushed on a corner kick, drawing a foul. Sophomore Stephen Phillips nailed the penalty kick, although Bristol City countered with its fourth goal a few minutes later to complete the scoring.
Andy Huntington, a junior who led Whitman in scoring the past two seasons, missed the last two games of the trip due to a hamstring pull. The injuries to Yuen and Huntington are not believed to be serious, Washington said.
Dorough and fellow senior Egan Brinkman keyed Whitman’s 2-1 victory over Bath City. Dorough opened the scoring in the first half with a "blistering shot from 30 yards out," Washington said, sending the ball to the far top corner. Bath City got the equalizer just seconds before halftime.
"This was the strongest team we had played so far," Washington said. "They were fast, skillful and as a whole very well organized. They forced us to defend deep in our own half."
The Missionaries adjusted in the second half by pushing the "line of confrontation higher up the field, which allowed Bath City less room to play," Washington said. "Each team had two or three scoring chances in the second half."
With time running out, Whitman strikers pressured Bath City defenders into a bad pass. Sophomore Greg Phillips (older brother of Whitman’s Stephen Phillips) intercepted to key a counterattack. After a brief scramble, Brinkman booted the winning score, a dipping volley just over the Bath City keeper. Dorough got the assist.
Brett Axelrod, Whitman’s sophomore keeper, had a "massive game" in goal to preserve the victory.
In the earlier 1-1 tie with the Paulton Rovers, Dorough scored off an assist from Huntington to give the Missionaries a 1-0 second-half lead. After breaking up a Paulton attack, Whitman’s Brinkman found Huntington streaking down the field. "Andy ran onto the ball, took it up the right wing and crossed to Dorough, who finished from six yards out," Washington said.
Paulton evened the score about 15 minutes later and the game ended in a tie.
"We dominated the game in terms of possession but we didn’t create enough scoring opportunities," Washington said. "We controlled the midfield through solid performances by junior Mike Brown and Greg Phillips. James Millikan, a sophomore, also played well in goal for us."
Whitman concluded its English road trip with an Aug. 14 visit to the storied Manchester United Football Club. Manchester United and its 76,000-seat stadium, Old Trafford, are the English equivalents of the New York Yankees and Yankee Stadium. Washington, who turns 57 in November, still gets “goose bumps” when he visits the Manchester grounds, which include a club museum and an expansive memorabilia store stocked with millions of pounds of soccer merchandise.
Mike Washington, Whitman’s head coach for the past nine years, is a native of the Bristol area. A veteran of England’s highly competitive club ranks, he played and then coached through his early 30s.
Whitman begins its official fall workouts on Sunday, Aug. 20, and plays its first scrimmage on Friday, Aug. 25, hosting Albertson College at 7 p.m.
For a recap of the first two games of Whitman's trip to England, please click here.
And for a news release written in advance of the trip, please click here.
Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information,
(509) 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu