SPOKANE, Wash.- Whitworth University, off to its best start in men's soccer in 18 years, will host the University of Puget Sound (Saturday) and Pacific Lutheran University (Sunday) in a key weekend of Northwest Conference action. The 8th-ranked Pirates (6-0-1 overall, 2-0 NWC) are coming off of a road sweep of Linfield College (1-0) and Willamette University (2-0). Last year Whitworth went to double overtime against both UPS and PLU at home on the same weekend. The Loggers (away) and the Lutes (home) handed the Pirates their only losses in a 12-2 NWC record.

Caleb Barnhill

Saturday is For the Kids: As part of Saturday's doubleheader against the University of Puget Sound, Whitworth will celebrate National Youth Soccer Month at the Whitworth Soccer Field. All kids in a soccer uniform attending either the men's or women's games on Saturday will be able to pick up a free item (limited to availability - first come, first choice) and enjoy a day of outstanding collegiate soccer. Whitworth is happy to partner with US Youth Soccer to help celebrate soccer as the number one youth participation sport in America.

Goal Scorer: Whitworth's Caleb Barnhill (Sr., F, Sultan, Wash.) currently leads the Northwest Conference in goals per game (0.86) and in total goals (6). Barnhill had the game-winning goal last Saturday at Linfield.

The Montana Mountain: Bryan Olson (Jr., D, Missoula, Mont.), who has led the Pirates in minutes played each of his first two seasons, joins with Travis Jette (Sr., D, Missoula, Mont.) and Ben Rotert (Sr., D, Bozeman, Mont.) to form the bulk of Whitworth's defensive line. The trio has limited opponents to 25 shots on goal this season and have been a big reason the Bucs have a team goals-against average of 0.68.

Powerhouse Schedule: Whitworth took on five non-conference opponents that posted a cumulative record of 70-23-4 in 2007. Three of them (Gustavus Adolphus, UC Santa Cruz and Wisconsin-Whitewater) were participants in the NCAA Division III tournament last season, while Cal Lutheran was co-champion of the SCIAC.

National Rankings: Whitworth has risen back to 8th in the national polls this week after dropping to 13th last week after standing at 8th the week before. The 2-0 road weekend allowed Whitworth to rise to first in the regional ratings and up five spots in the national rankings as well. Click here for the latest NSCAA national DIII poll. The latest NSCAA West Region rankings are here.

The Coach: The fall of 2008 marks Sean Bushey's 13th season as the head men's soccer coach at Whitworth. No coach has ever served longer in that capacity at Whitworth. Bushey, who has his USSF "A" license, has a 142-69-22 record after 12 seasons as the Bucs' head men's soccer coach (152-75-24 in 13 years overall). He has led the Pirates to three Northwest Conference titles in the last four years, and four titles overall. Last season (2007) Whitworth won an NWC title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament. In 2005 he led Whitworth to the NCAA Division III Final Four after the Pirates won their second straight NWC championship. It was the first time a men's soccer team had repeated as Northwest Conference champions in more than ten years. In 2004 he led Whitworth to its second NWC title in his tenure and to the second round of the NCAA tournament, while in 2001 he led the Pirates to a conference championship and the NCAA Regional Finals. He has been named Northwest Conference Men's Coach of the Year three times. Over the last nine-plus years (including the beginning of this season), the Whitworth men are 126-41-17 (.731).

Live Stats Offered: Live statistics of all Pirate home matches this season will be available on the Whitworth University Men's Soccer web page. The link for the matches is:
http://www.whitworth.edu/Athletics/Teams/Soccer/livestats/xlive.htm

The Opponents: The University of Puget Sound comes into the weekend with a 2-3-1 overall record and a 0-0-1 conference mark after a 1-1 tie at George Fox University on Sunday. Kyle Benson leads the Loggers in scoring this season with three goals. Last season UPS defeated Whitworth 2-1 in overtime in Tacoma, then the Pirates pulled out a 2-1 double overtime win in Spokane.

Pacific Lutheran University is also 2-3-1, 0-0-1 heading into the weekend. The Lutes tied 0-0 at Pacific (Ore.) on Saturday. PLU has had balanced scoring this season with three different players who have totaled two goals apiece. Whitworth and PLU each won on the other's home field last season. The Pirates won 1-0 in Tacoma while the Lutes won 1-0 in double overtime in Spokane. The Lutes will be playing their fourth match this season at Whitworth's soccer field. In late August PLU lost to Gustavus Adolphus and Cal State East Bay by 1-0 scores at the Northern Captital Management Classic. On September 13th PLU traveled to Spokane to take on Wisconsin-Whitewater and lost to the Warhawks 3-1.