SPOKANE, Wash.- Whitworth University has put itself in position to claim the Northwest Conference men's soccer championship this week when the Pirates play at Whitman College on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. A win or a tie will give Whitworth the title.

The Pirates (13-3-1 overall, 11-2 NWC) defeated visiting University of Puget Sound 2-1 in double overtime on Saturday to move to the brink of the championship, but fell 1-0 in double overtime to second place Pacific Lutheran on Sunday.

Whitworth is five points ahead of PLU (11-6-1, 9-2-1) in the standings. UPS (13-3-1, 8-3-1) was eliminated from championship contention with a 1-0 loss at Whitman on Sunday.

Matt Friesen

How to clinch: If the Pirates can win Saturday at Whitman, Whitworth will clinch its third NWC title in the last four years. If the Lutes (11-6-1, 9-2-1) win at Linfield (Friday) and Willamette (Saturday) and the Pirates lose, PLU will win the title. If the Lutes lose or tie either of their final two matches, Whitworth wins the title. Finally, if Whitworth ties at Whitman and PLU wins twice, the teams will be tied in the final standings. At that point, the Pirates hold the tiebreaker for the automatic bid based on comparable results against UPS (the third place team)..

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 28 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 Keith Kirsch (Jr., F, Colbert, Wash.), 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. His goals against average is 0.62.

Matt Friesen (Sr., F, Newberg, Ore.) continues to lead the Pirates offensively. He has seven goals and four assists this season.

Team of the Decade?: If Whitworth can finish off the NWC title this weekend, the Pirates will have claimed their third NWC Championship in the last four years and fourth since 2001. UPS has won twice and Linfield once over the same time period.

Coming Up: Whitman College has been a tough foe down the stretch of the season. The Missionaries are 3-1-1 in the last five matches, improving to 10-8-1 overall and 6-6-1 in the NWC. Whitman lost a hard fought 1-0 decision to PLU on Saturday before upsetting previously 10th-ranked UPS 1-0 on Sunday. Earlier last week the Missionaries defeated Walla Walla 2-0. Whitworth had to go to overtime to defeat Whitman 2-1 at home on October 6th in the first meeting of the season between the schools.

The Coach: Sean Bushey is 140-68-22 in his 12th season as head coach at Whitworth (he is 150-74-24 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 116-40-16.