After six goals scored and four assists performed by 10 different Pirate players, the Whitworth men’s soccer team took home a 6-1 victory against the Whitman Missionaries during Homecoming Weekend.
“All week, we focused on desire and purpose, which were what we focused on [Saturday],” senior Michael Ramos said.
This made Saturday’s game a positive response to their first loss on the previous weekend, junior midfielder Sam Engle said.
The Pirates’ first two goals came in the first half, similar to their Whitman game last year played on Nov. 9.
Sophomore forward Rylan Berriman gave the Pirates a lead off of an assist from junior defender Spencer Wolf in the seventh minute of the game. Whitman’s goalkeeper moved forward into the field hoping to pick up the ball, but the ball went past him to Berriman. Berriman kicked the ball with his left foot and found the left corner of the net.
“The game opened up and we had a lot more room for us to attack. We went to the ball and had better scoring positions,” Engle said.
Pirate forwards and midfielders came together in the box in front of Whitman defenders. After three attempts, a fourth kick by freshman midfielder Jonah Snyder led the ball to find the back of the middle of the net for his first career goal.
The score, off of an assist from freshman midfielder Kash Choudhray, doubled the lead for the Pirates with only six minutes left to play in the first half.
“Great performance from everybody, especially the guys in the back in the first half where they were so good to not let problems arise,” Head Coach Morgan Cathey said. “They solved, they learned, they grew and then from there, in the second half, we could see then that in the third goal, [the way the players scored] was more confident.”
In the 64th minute, Ramos kicked the ball across from the right to the left side of the net to Choudhray, who gave the Pirates their third goal with his first career goal as Pirate.
The key to success on the scoring play could be attributed to unselfish play and putting trust in other players, Ramos said.
“We got a bunch of guys in the score sheets,” Engle said.
Less than three minutes later, Berriman scored the Pirates’ fourth goal off of an assist from Engle.
The Missionaries scored their first and only goal in the 73rd minute. However, less than five seconds later, Ramos scored the fifth goal for the Pirates, unassisted.
With less than six minutes left to play in the game, sophomore midfielder Sam Donaldson’s unassisted goal gave the Pirates their sixth and final goal of the game.
“We found good spaces and pockets then goal after goal came and this is what we need going into next weekend: confidence and knowing that we did our best,” Cathey said.
The Pirates improved to 10-1-1 overall and 5-1-1 in the NWC.
Whitworth travels to Tacoma to play Puget Sound on Saturday, Oct. 18 at 2:30 p.m.
