Soccer Men Post 3-1 Victory Over Wildcats

News Release Date:
Sunday, October 4

WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- With Sam Freedman, Brian Percival and Conner Bottomly booting goals, Whitman College outshot the Linfield Wildcats 3-1 Sunday afternoon in Northwest Conference soccer action at the Whitman Athletic Fields.

Whitman led 2-1 at halftime and then added an insurance goal early in the second half.  

Sam Freedman

The Missionaries, now 3-5-2 on the season, upped their NWC record to 2-3-1, inching ahead of Linfield (2-4, 3-7-1) in the conference standings.

Conner Bottomly

"It's starting to look as if every team can beat every other team in our conference this fall," Whitman coach Mike Washington said.

"This win moves us up the ladder a little and puts things back in perspective. We need to continue working hard and hopefully keep moving up."

Whitman dropped its three previous decisions by the same 2-1 score. The Missionaries led early in two of those games.

Whitman scored its first two goals Sunday in the first 32 minutes of play. Linfield countered with less than eight minutes left in the first half, trimming its deficit to 2-1.

"I had to wonder at that point, but our players reacted in the correct way and showed they can play with a lead. That was a very positive step for us," Washington said.

Freedman, a speedy sophomore, used his quick feet to notch the first Missionary goal in the 26th minute. Streaking up the left side of the field, Freedman beat Linfield keeper Jon Thompson to a long ball from Whitman freshman Jed Jacobson, poking the ball to the far post.

Brian Percival

"We decided to push Sam up the field a little more today, and it worked," Washington said. "His speed creates a lot of problems for the other side."

Six minutes later, a Linfield foul gave Percival a free kick from the far right side of the field, and he lofted a perfect 25-yard shot over the keeper's head to the left corner of the goal.

Linfield pulled itself back into the game with a free kick of its own at the 37:26 mark of the first half. Michel Camacho did the honors, sending a shot from left to right over Whitman keeper Nic McDonald.

Nic McDonald

Nine minutes into the second half, and just a few minutes an offsides call negated one Whitman goal, Chris Reid centered a ball from the right side for Bottomly, who quickly blasted a 12-yard shot into the netting. 

Both sides took 15 shots, although Whitman put 10 on goal to Linfield's seven.

Jasper Lipton put three of his four shots on goal to lead a balanced Whitman attack. A total off 10 Missionaries took at least one shot. Freedman and Jordan Thomas had two apiece. 

"We passed and possessed the ball much better today," Washington said. "We had a lot of possession in yesterday's game, but we squandered it. We didn't do that today. We got the ball to the right people at the right times."

Camacho paced the Wildcats with seven shots, four on goal. Colin Bebee had three and Kurtis Wong two.

McDonald made six saves to get the win in goal for Whitman.

Box score

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CONTACT: Dave Holden
Sports Information Director
Whitman College, Walla Walla, Wash.
509 527-5902; holden@whitman.edu