SPOKANE, Wash.- Whitworth University forward Keith Kirsch scored one goal and assisted on another to lead the Pirates to a 2-0 win over visiting Linfield College in a Northwest Conference men's soccer match on Sunday afternoon at the Whitworth Soccer Field.

Kirsch had a goal and an assist for the Bucs

Both goals came in the first half as Whitworth improved to 4-1-1 overall and 2-0 in the NWC. Linfield, which came into the week rated 17th by D3kicks.com, fell to 4-2, 0-2.

Ryan Powers (Sr., MF, Newberg, Ore.) scored his second goal of the season in the 27th minute to put the Pirates on the board. Kirsch assisted on the goal, his second assist of the year.

Kirsch added the insurance goal in the 30th minute when he slid to kick a hard cross from Skye Henderson (Sr., MF, Spokane, Wash.) back across the goal mouth and just inside the opposite post.

The Wildcats had a good chance to pull within one goal in the 57th minute when Kurtis Wong beat Whitworth keeper Scott Barnum (So., GK, Fall City, Wash.) to the ball just outside of the keeper box. Wong had a clear path to the goal from a left-side angle, but his shot was kicked away at the last instant by Ben Rotert (Jr., D, Bozeman, Mont.) for a team save.

The Pirates outshot the Wildcats 21-7 and had a 7-4 advantage in shots on goal. Barnum made three saves for Whitworth, while Mike Belzberg made four stops for Linfield.

Next weekend Whitworth will travel to Oregon to take on Willamette on Saturday and George Fox on Sunday. Linfield returns home to host University of Puget Sound.