SPOKANE, Wash. -- (From Dave Holden, Whitman SID) Slicing through the right side of the defense, Chris Johnson took a pass from Ryan Powers and scored in the 38th minute to propel Whitworth to 1-0 Northwest Conference victory over Whitman in men's soccer action Saturday evening at the Whitman Athletic Fields.

Johnson scored the match winner

With the win, the Pirates inched into first place with a 4-1-2 conference record, just ahead of 4-0-1 Puget Sound. In dropping its third consecutive 1-0 decision, Whitman fell to 1-4-2.

The Pirates outshot their hosts 12-5 in the first half. In the second half, the shots were almost even at 6-5 in Whitworth's favor.

Stephen Phillips took four of Whitman's 10 shots. Senior Ali Seyedali had five shots for the Pirates, while teammates Niko Varlamos and Matt Friesen took three each.

Whitman keeper Brett Axelrod finished with fives saves. Kevin Bostock had two saves for Whitworth.

Both Whitman and Whitworth play next weekend in western Oregon. On Saturday, Whitman plays at George Fox while the Pirates are at Willamette. The two eastern Washington schools swap opponents on Sunday.