SPOKANE, Wash.- Whitworth University has a chance to close in on its fourth Northwest Conference soccer championship since 2001 when the Pirates host second-place University of Puget Sound (Saturday) and third-place Pacific Lutheran University (Sunday) this weekend.

The Pirates (12-2-1 overall, 10-1 NWC) survived a shootout with visiting George Fox last Saturday, winning 4-3 behind a pair of goals and an assist by Keith Kirsch (Jr., F, Colbert, Wash.). On Sunday Whitworth controlled visiting Willamette University in a 2-0 win.

Whitworth is five points and a game ahead of Puget Sound (13-1-1, 8-1-1) and two games up on Pacific Lutheran (9-6-1, 7-2-1) in the NWC standings.

Keith Kirsch

Big Weekend: Keith Kirsch earned Northwest Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts this past weekend. The junior transfer from Community Colleges of Spokane scored two goals and assisted on another in the win over George Fox. He added an assist in the win over Willamette. It is the second time this season that Kirsch has won the award.

Share and Share Alike: Whitworth's attacking philosophy calls for trust between players and multiple options going forward to score. Therefore, the Pirates have 27 assists to 26 goals scored this season. The 27 assists is second in the NWC. Twelve different players have tallied at least one assist this season, led by Brent Zahn (So., MF, Eagle River, Alaska) and Kirsch, who each have five.

In addition, the Pirates have been solid defensively. The strong back line of defense has helped Whitworth keeper Scott Barnum (So., Fall City, Wash.) post nine shutouts this season, second in the NWC.

Matt Friesen continues to lead the Pirates offensively. He is fourth in the NWC in points per game (1.20), fourth in total points (18 points, seven goals, 4 assists) and fourth in goals scored.

Regionally Ranked: Whitworth is ranked highly (third) in today's (Oct. 24) NCAA Division III West Region poll, which has the most impact on post-season advancement. In addition, Whitworth is fourth in the NSCAA West Region ranking.

Coming Up: Puget Sound comes into the weekend ranked 10th in the NSCAA/adidas top-25 poll and 2nd in the NCAA West Region rating. The Loggers won 1-0 at PLU last Wednesday to break the second-place tie between the two, then won 3-0 at home over Linfield on Saturday. On September 30th UPS defeated Whitworth 2-1 in overtime in a closely contested match. The Pirates' last win over the Loggers was in 2005 when Whitworth swept UPS by identical 2-1 scores.

Pacific Lutheran is still alive for the Northwest Conference title, but the Lutes will need some help after dropping the match at home to UPS last week. PLU went on to beat Pacific 2-0 at home on Saturday. Earlier this season (Sept. 29) Whitworth came away with a 1-0 road win over the Lutes.

The Coach: Sean Bushey is 139-67-22 in his 12th season as head coach at Whitworth (he is 149-73-24 in his 13th season overall as a head coach.) Bushey is a two-time winner of the NWC Coach of the Year award (2001, 2004) and has led his team to conference titles in 2001, 2004 and 2005. In 2005 Whitworth advanced to the NCAA Division III final four. Since the start of the 1999 season, the Whitworth men are 115-39-16.