Whitworth Pirates Soccer
Sports Information
Whitworth Beats GFU, Closes In on NWC Title
Nov. 8, 2008

Complete box score.

SPOKANE, Wash.- Caleb Barnhill scored twice to lead Whitworth to a 5-0 win over visiting George Fox, moving the Pirates within a single point of clinching the Northwest Conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III men's soccer tournament.

Barnhill scored his 11th and 12th goals of 2008

Whitworth, ranked 14th in the latest NSCAA Division III coaches poll, improved to 13-2-2 overall and 9-2-2 in the NWC. The Pirates now have 29 points in the standings, two points up on Whitman (8-2-3 NWC, 27 points). If the Pirates and Missionaries tie in the final standings, the teams will officially share the conference championship but Whitworth will claim the conference's bid to the national tournament based on a 1-0-1 record against Whitman this season.

Barnhill (Sr., F, Sultan, Wash.) got the Pirates on the board early when he took a pass from Travis Jette (Sr., D, Missoula, Mont.) and scored from the left side of the box in the seventh minute of the match. It was the 11th goal of the season for the leading scorer in the NWC.

Cameron Bushey drew a foul in the box in the 29th minute then converted the penalty kick for his third goal of the season and a 2-0 Whitworth lead.

Taylor Willi's (Fr., MF, Grants Pass, Ore.) free kick went forward to John Prugh (Sr., F, Bozeman, Mont.), who got to the ball an instant before Bruin keeper Jake McGuire and scored his sixth goal of the season in the 50th minute.

Elly Bulega (Jr., F, Tacoma, Wash.) went high for a loose ball in the box and lofted it over McGuire in the 54th minute for a 4-0 Whitworth lead. It was Bullega's seventh goal of the season.

Barnhill completed the scoring in the 71st minute when he tracked down a ball flicked across the box by Joey Mattina (Jr., MF, Missoula, Mont.) and finished for his 12th tally of the year.

McGuire finished with five saves for George Fox (2-14-3 overall, 1-10-2 NWC), while Brian Sharpe (Fr., GK, Centennial, Colo.) collected a pair of saves for the Pirates. Whitworth outshot the Bruins 16-5, including a 13-2 edge in shots on goal.

Whitworth heads into Saturday's meeting with Pacific needing only a tie against the Boxers to clinch the NWC's bid to the national tournament. A win would give Whitworth an outright title. The Bucs are aiming for their second conference title in a row, and fourth in the last five years. George Fox will travel to Whitman to battle the Missionaries. Both matches are scheduled for 1:30 p.m.

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