SPOKANE, Wash. -- Whitworth used three goals in a four minute span of the second half to pull away for a 4-1 win over visiting Willamette in a Northwest Conference men's soccer match on Sunday afternoon.

Johnson had a goal and an assist.

Chris Johnson assisted on one of the three and scored on another to key the attack, which improves the Pirates' record to 3-2-1 overall and 2-0 in the NWC. The upset minded Bearcats fell to 1-4-1, 0-1-1.

Willamette took a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute when Austin Bell broke free down the right sideline and passed to a wide open Trevor Jones, who finished past Pirate keeper Lance Beck.

Whitworth tied the match near the end of the first half when Ali Seyedali fired a free kick from outside the penalty box over the Willamette wall and just inside the right edge of the net at 41:21.

The teams remained tied through the first 20 minutes of the second half, despite the fact that Whitworth had several scoring chances turned away by Willamette keeper Mark Bennett.

But Johnson gained a loose ball and broke free on the left side. His cross to the middle was passed along by Jordan Lister to a streaking Niko Varlamos, who scored from point blank range at 65:22.

Just over two minutes later Seyedali lofted a high pass that Johnson ran under and headed past Bennet for a 3-1 Pirate lead at 67:58.

Jordan Lister scored from the left side at 69:37 to complete the rally. Matt Friesen had the assist.

Bennett finished with seven saves for the Bearcats, while Back, making his first career start, finish with a single save.

Despite the early deficit, Whitworth controlled play. The Pirates outshot the Bearcats 26-2, including an 11-2 advantage in shots on goal. Willamette did not have a shot in the second half.