SPOKANE, Wash.- Completing the first half of the Northwest Conference men's soccer season in first place in the NWC standings, Whitworth University (8-2-1 overall, 6-1 NWC) will open the second half with a challenging trip to Oregon to take on Linfield College and Pacific University this weekend.

The Pirates are coming off of a 2-1 overtime win over Whitman at home last Saturday. Ben Dixon (Sr., D, Missoula, Mont.) scored the winning goal just over two minutes into the extra time.

Whitworth is three points and a half game ahead of both Puget Sound (10-1, 5-1) and Pacific Lutheran (7-5, 5-1) in the NWC standings. The Loggers and Lutes will play each other on Wednesday at UPS with a chance for the winner to move into a first place tie with Whitworth.

Scott Barnum

Share and Share Alike: Whitworth's attacking philosophy calls for trust between players and multiple options going forward to score. Therefore, the Pirates have 20 assists to 18 goals scored this season. The 20 assists is second in the NWC. Ten different players have tallied at least one assist this season, led by Brent Zahn (So., MF, Eagle River, Alaska), who has four.

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 seven shutouts this season, which is second in the NWC.

Matt Friesen (Sr., F, Newberg, Ore.) has come on strong of late. He is second in the NWC in points per game (1.42), third in total points (16 points, six goals, 4 assists) and fourth in goals scored. Friesen has three goals and three assists in his last five matches.

Regionally Ranked: Whitworth is still ranked highly in both NCAA Division III regional polls. The Pirates are 4th in this week's NSCAA/adidas West Region poll, and are 5th in the D3kicks.com west region rankings.

Coming Up: Linfield comes into the weekend 6-4-1 overall and 2-4-1 in the NWC. The Wildcats defeated George Fox 4-0 at home last Saturday before dropping a 2-0 decision at PLU on Sunday. The loss to the Lutes ended a 17-match unbeaten streak against PLU. On September 16th Whitworth defeated Linfield 2-0 in the teams' first meeting of the season.

Pacific (5-3-2, 3-2-2) is one of the hottest teams in the NWC, having gone 2-0-2 in the last four matches, including a 2-1 upset win at Puget Sound on Saturday. The Boxers followed that win up with a 4-1 win at Willamette on Sunday, which moved the team into fourth place in the NWC standings. Whitworth defeated Pacific 3-0 in the first meeting of the season between the two on September 15th.

The Coach: Sean Bushey is 135-67-22 in his 12th season as head coach at Whitworth (he is 145-73-24 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 111-39-16.