OSHKOSH, Wis. - Whitworth University's Keith Kirsch scored halfway through the first overtime to lift the Pirates to a 2-1 victory over Gustavus Adolphus College in the opening round of the NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament on Friday night at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.

Keith Kirsch scored the match-winner

The goal completed a second half comeback for Whitworth (15-3-1) after the Pirates fell behind 1-0 ten minutes into the second period.

Mike Butterworth put Gustavus on the board first when he got under a long pass forward from Matt Strom at the top of the box. Whitworth keeper Scott Barnum came out to field the ball, but did not and Butterworth had a clear path to his 15th goal of the season in the 60th minute of the match.

Elly Bulega (So., F, Tacoma, Wash.) finally tied the match in the 79th minute, heading in a short pass from Ben Rotert (Jr., D, Bozeman, Mont.) after a short scramble in the box that followed a Pirate corner kick. It was Bulega's first goal of the season.

In the 95th minute Rotert sent a long clearing pass ahead to Kirsch (Jr., F, Colbert, Wash.), who barely beat a defender to the ball then just sent the ball under Gustie goalkeeper Trevor Brown and into the net for the match winner. It was Kirsch's seventh goal of the season, tying him for team lead with Matt Friesen (Sr., MF, Newberg, Ore.).

Rotert's two assists are his first of the season.

The Gusties outshot the Pirates 10-8 overall, but Whitworth had a 6-4 edge after halftime. Barnum finished with four saves for Whitworth while Brown made four stops for GAC. The Bucs also had a decided advantage in corner kicks, 7-2.

Gustavus (16-4-1) had been 16-0 this season when scoring first. The Gusties also lost a first round match for the first time in eight all-time appearances.

Whitworth, making its fourth appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament, is now 3-0 all time in first round matches. The Pirates received a first round bye in 2005.

This was the second-ever meeting between the teams. Gustavus defeated Whitworth 2-1 in the 2005 NCAA Division III semifinals before falling 1-0 to Messiah (PA) in the national championship match.

Whitworth will now play the winner of tonight's second match between the host Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans and Wartburg (IA) Knights. Tomorrow's second round match will kick off at 4:00 p.m. (PST).