15th-ranked Pirates One Win Away from NWC Title
SPOKANE, Wash. - Whitworth University has played its way into the situation it wanted. The Pirates are one win away from clinching the 2009 Northwest Conference title and Whitworth will host Whitman College on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on the Whitworth Soccer Field. A victory would give the Bucs a third straight NWC title. The Pirates are 12-2-3 overall and 10-1-2 (32 points) in the NWC after defeating Willamette and Linfield on the road last week. Pacific Lutheran is 10-3 (30 points) in the NWC, while Pacific (Ore.) is 9-2-2 (29 points). Whitworth scored three goals in the first ten minutes to gain significant breathing room in a 5-2 win at Willamette last Saturday. Brent Zahn (Sr., MF, Eagle River, Alaska) scored the first two goals. Elly Bulega (Sr., F, Tacoma, Wash.) had a pair of assists for the Pirates, who posted a season-high goal total. Justin Meyer (So., MF, Olympia, Wash.) scored his sixth goal of the season to tie for the team lead. On Sunday the Pirates again got ahead early when Cameron Bushey (So., MF, Spokane, Wash.) scored in the 12th minute. Keith Kirsch (Sr., F, Colbert, Wash.) added a goal and an assist to lead Whitworth to a 4-1 win at Linfield after leading 3-0 at halftime. Possible Tiebreakers: Should Whitworth tie Whitman and PLU defeat Puget Sound on Saturday, Whitworth and PLU will be tied for the NWC title, but the Pirates will gain the automatic bid based on head-to-head goal differential against the Lutes (+1 for Whitworth). If Whitworth loses, PLU loses or ties, and Pacific wins, Whitworth and Pacific would finish tied for the NWC title. Again the Pirates would hold the tiebreaker with the Boxers based on head-to-head results (1-0-1). Back in the Rankings: Four straight road wins have been noticed by those outside the NWC as well. In the last two weeks Whitworth has moved from fourth to second in the NCAA Division III west region rankings. In addition, the Pirates have reappeared in the NSCAA Division III coaches poll this week at 15th in the national top-25. Searching for the Three-Peat : Whitworth has a chance to win its third NWC title in a row. It has been nearly 20 years since a conference school has accomplished the three-peat. Whitworth was the last to do it - winning three in a row from 1988-90. PLU has the longest championship streak in conference history, winning six straight between 1982-87. Finding Balance: Thirteen different players have scored goals for the Pirates this season. Nine different players have at least two goals this year. Justin Meyer and Kekoa Mountcastle (Fr., F, Waiehu, Hawaii) lead the team with six goals apiece. Five different players have posted at least 10 total points this fall. Opponents: Whitman College comes into its season finale with an overall record of 4-11-3 and a Northwest Conference mark of 3-8-2 after two hard-fought matches last weekend. The Missionaries came from behind to beat Linfield 2-1 on Saturday, then nearly rallied from a 3-0 deficit in a 3-2 loss at Willamette on Sunday. Both matches were on the road. Todd Wallenius is one of the most dangerous offensive players in the conference with eight goals this season. Back on October 11th Whitworth went to Whitman and came away with a 1-0 win on a goal by Justin Meyer. Coming up: Whitworth will host Whitman College in the final regular season match of the year on Saturday, November 7th. The Coach: The fall of 2009 marks Sean Bushey's 14th season as the head men's soccer coach at Whitworth and no Pirate soccer coach has ever served longer in that capacity. Bushey, who has his USSF "A" license, has a 156-71-26 record after 13 seasons as the Bucs' head men's soccer coach (166-77-28 after 14 years overall as a head coach). He has led the Pirates to four Northwest Conference titles in the last five years, and five titles overall. He has been named Northwest Conference Men's Coach of the Year four times. Over the last ten-plus years (including this season), the Whitworth men are 144-45-23 (.733). Coach Bushey's Quotes: Sean Bushey talks about last weekend's wins on the road, and facing the opportunity of clinching with this weekend's match. Click here to listen to Sean Bushey (WMA). Key College Soccer links: Go to Athletics Home Page > Men's Soccer > Sports Releases > |
