Whitworth men’s soccer logged one win and one tie in their first pair of home conference games. The Pirates beat Pacific 2-1 on Saturday, Sept. 17, and ended up tied against George Fox on Sunday, Sept. 18. 

The Pirates started strong and aggressive on the field, but Pacific’s Jericho Lara intercepted the ball and scored a goal within the third minute of the game.

Whitworth responded by completely taking control of the ball. This allowed the Bucs to create multiple scoring opportunities, especially on the right side of the field where Sterling Eaglin was creating trouble for Pacific’s defense. 

The Pirates kept attacking and yielding scoring opportunities through a combination of shots, corner kicks and offsides. The mixture of offensive persistence and quality substitutions proved to be a productive recipe for a successful comeback. Head Coach Jeremy Payne inserted Jordan Voigt during the 27th minute of the game and it paid off. Within the first five minutes of Voigt on the field, the freshman from Bellingham, WA scored a header that was set up by Jamie Rodriquez’s corner kick.

Whitworth got two more corner kicks but the score was unchanged heading into the second half. The Bucs dominated the possession count with 76% compared to Pacific’s 24%. The Pirates had more total shots (14-1), shots on goal (7-1) and corner kicks (7-0). 

The second half started off with both teams being assertive on offense. Pacific’s Gabriel Clement hit the crossbar while Whitworth’s Beckett Arthur uncorked a powerful shot on goal that Zach Aderinto saved. During the 60th minute, the ball was crossed to Voigt who calmly grounded the ball and converted the shot inside the box. From that point on, the Bucs kept their lead for the rest of the game. 

Whitworth’s hard work and dedication were apparent this game with more total shots (25-2), more shots on target (10-2) and corner kicks (14-0). 

The game against George Fox ended in a tie. 

The Bucs again started off the game by trailing the visiting Bruins. During the 9th minute, George Fox’s Robert Rodarte gave the visitors a 1-0 lead. The Bucs responded three minutes later with their goal. Beckett Arthur dropped off the ball near the box to Rodriguez who evened out the score. Both teams raised the intensity on offense.

The Bruins took the lead again during the 32nd minute. Whitworth’s Aiden Chase could not secure a long pass that led to an open net goal by George Fox’s Eugene Peltier.

Going into halftime Whitworth had more total shots (6-4) and a larger possession total (56%-44%). George Fox had more shots on target (4-3).

After being down 1-2 after the first 45 minutes, the Pirates came out with even more assertiveness to try to pull another comeback. 

Whitworth was creating great opportunities but they were not able to score. Free kicks, shots over the crossbar and corner kicks all created a positive momentum that eventually led the Bucs to tie the score.

In the last 19 minutes of the game, Whitworth was trying to create scoring opportunities. They managed to secure three corner kicks but none of them resulted in a comeback goal. The game ended 2-2. 

“We miss guys like Dominic [Gusman] and Cole [Friesen] who are very good players that have some quality in them to unlock the game and things are the spaces are tight. Both teams that we played this weekend Pacific and George Fox see a lot of possession and we were playing in their half most of the time. That means the attacking players don’t have as much space to work with and I think it really shows that we missed those guys, but at the same time other guys need to step up and we had chances today we could have put the ball in the net.” 

In summary, The Pirates had more total shots (16-6), shots on goal (6-5) and far more corners (5-1). The possession total rose (60%-40%) for Whitworth. 

Coach Payne pointed out some good things his team achieved this weekend, but he also addressed some of the concerns on the defensive end. 

“We put ourselves in a hole twice and we continued to fight but then we weren’t able to get all the way out of it. I think we’re disappointed not to win today,” Payne said.

More specifically, Coach Payne listed communication and organization on the field as a couple of areas where the team needs improvement.

“I think a lot of it comes down to getting back into the right spaces and just understanding what positions they need to take up,” Payne said. “I think also there’s an element of learning on the job where here’s a lot of young players playing in the backend and I think the hope is as we go throughout the season they get more comfortable. They’re learning and they’re making less mistakes because of that so I think that’s probably it. The energy is good and I think just the communication and learning will come.” 

The Pirates will be on the road next weekend where they will play Pacific Lutheran on Saturday, Sep. 24 and Puget Sound on Sunday, Sep. 25. 

“We just need to be dialed in for that first conference road weekend,” Payne said. “We’ll play PLU [Pacific Lutheran] who’s coming off a loss and we know that we’re gonna get their best and they’re very good. They have very good players. They’re going to put a lot of pressure on us and we’re going to be tested. So the expectation is for us to try to do the right things and to fight and compete.”