INW College Recap - Week 13: Season coming to a close, with a few exceptions

It was a difficult weekend for college soccer fans in Eastern Washington as the Washington State Cougars were knocked out of the tournament at home in penalty kicks, and despite finishing third with an emphatic win in their home finale, the Gonzaga men were not selected Monday for the men's tournament.

Elsewhere, however, some teams will continue to play in national tournament action. Rocky Mountain College is the lone team from the region still alive with their NAIA tournament campaign set to begin this weekend, but there are several other schools featuring INW players still in play. Among them are the Santa Clara women (DI), Puget Sound women (DIII), Corban men (NAIA), Concordia women (NAIA) and Westminster women (NAIA)

INW College Recap - Week 12: GNAC & NWC - Puget Sound sweeps NWC titles; CWU falls in GNAC semi

In the GNAC, Central Washington's postseason hopes were dashed in the semifinals by third-place Seattle Pacific, who rallied with a pair of late goals to reach the final and eventually win the title against top-seed Western Washington via penalties. On the men's side the Falcons finished a close second to defending champion Simon Fraser, coming up just one point shy of the guaranteed berth.

In the Northwest Conference, the Puget Sound Loggers, having already clinched the men's title, made it a sweep as the women wound up seven points clear with a pair of wins while fellow contender Linfield collapsed with two losses.

Pirates prevail 2-0 as Whitworth, Whitman men close out NWC campaigns

Saturday was about more than the final score for the regional foes | Photos: Gerald Barnhart 

Local foes Whitworth and Whitman met Saturday afternoon in Spokane with the host Pirates coming away 2-0 victors on goals from Matt Bray and Will Wren. It was the Northwest Conference finale for the two programs, though, first-year Whitworth coach Morgan Cathey is hopeful the team has an outside shot of being selected as an at-large representative of the NWC in the Division III NCAA Tournament with their 17-3-3 overall record and 10-2-2 conference campaign.

"I think, hopefully, we still have a chance on Monday," said Whitworth head coach Morgan Cathey. "Being fourth in the region I think we'll have to see what happens with the at-large bid. I don't know if we are in a place right now over UT-Dallas, but I think our guys thoroughly deserve to be considered in the NCAA tournament talk. I think we haven't lost in seven or eight games."

INW College Recap - Week 11: GNAC & NWC - Central Washington set for GNAC tournament as two-seed

In a preview of their GNAC semifinal contest coming up this weekend, the Central Washington Wildcats concluded the season with a narrow 1-0 victory over Seattle Pacific to move into second, though the tournament is being held at Starfire Sports Complex in Tukwila, WA.

The GNAC men still have one week outstanding as they will not play a tournament, and the Northwest Conference still has one more weekend of play remaining, though the Puget Sound men have clinched the men's title. On the women's side the Loggers are also in the top spot, though they leaped into it by defeating Linfield, who had been at the top for most of the campaign. They both have two games in the final weekend of action.

Whitworth women snare 1-0 win in home finale; Wren leads men to 3-0 win

The Whitworth men will celebrate Senior Day next Saturday vs regional foe Whitman | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

The Whitworth women closed out their home slate with their eighth conference play shutout performance and claimed the victory against visiting Lewis & Clark on a late goal from Jackie Day, and the Pirate men had yet another easy go of it as they blanked Linfield 3-0 in a game in which reserves saw plenty of action and defender Will Wren tallied a brace playing up top.

Whitworth and Willamette play to a pair of draws

The Pirates play at home again Sunday on what will be Senior Day for the ladies | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

Finding goals was a difficult task Saturday at Whitworth as the Pirate ladies finished in a scoreless draw, their third in four games, against visiting Willamette and the men rallied for a 1-1 draw against the Bearcats, eliminating them from contention for the conference title that went to the University of Puget Sound with the day's results.

INW College Recap - Week 10: GNAC & NWC - Whitworth men continue to roll with road sweep

The Whitworth men are doing their best to repeat as the conference champions, but it looks like catching Puget Sound, who have a five point lead and relatively easy slate remaining, is a tall task at this point. This week, the Pirates earned a pair of shutout wins on the road versus Pacific and George Fox. Meanwhile, the Whitworth ladies continue to fight despite having a limited squad, earning a scoreless draw at Pacific and taking league-leading Linfield nearly the distance before falling in the final minutes of overtime.

It was a tough week for the region's schools in the GNAC as MSU-Billings and Northwest Nazarene men's sides faced league-leaders Western Washington and Simon Fraser. Each had close-knit contests against the Vikings, but were routed by the Clan north of the border. The Central Washington women, meanwhile, earned four points on the week.

INW College Recap - Week 9: GNAC & NWC - Whitworth gets rare sweep of UPS, PLU; Northwest Nazarene ties unbeaten SPU

The Whitworth men have not had a home sweep of fellow regular NWC title contenders Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran since 2005, but the Pirates completed the feat with an impressive 1-0 victory against the Loggers in which they did not allow a shot on goal, handing them their first conference loss, and then downed the Lutes in convincing fashion, 4-1, a day after Pacific Lutheran fell 1-0 on the very last second of overtime at Whitman. Meanwhile, Northwest Nazarene posted an impressive result in GNAC play, getting a last-minute goal to tie unbeaten Seattle Pacific 2-2.

Whitworth men win big against Pacific Lutheran after scoreless women's contest

The Pirates trek to Oregon next week before returning home | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

The Whitworth men and women both dominated on the day in their doubleheader with visiting Pacific Lutheran University Sunday with the injury-plagued ladies settling for a scoreless draw in the first contest and the men rolling to a 4-1 victory after a three-goal first half performance.

The victory for the men marked the first time the Pirates swept the duo of visiting teams (Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran) since 2005. Though they had lost only three times over the course of those 14 games the last eight years, they missed the sweep on four other occasions due to draws. The bad news on the day, however, was that Puget Sound won 2-0 at Whitman to keep the gap at five points in the table.

Whitworth men hand Puget Sound first NWC loss 1-0; ladies fall 3-0 to Loggers

Another Whitworth home doubleheader Sunday vs Pacific Lutheran | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

The Whitworth University men dominated in a 1-0 home victory over the previously perfect University of Puget Sound, who were unable to register a shot on goal in their first conference loss of the season. The win followed a loss earlier in the day for the Whitworth ladies, an injury-plated side that came back in the second half to make the play on the field a lot more even than the eventual score would show as the second-place Loggers used a pair of goals from Kylie Beeson to snare the 3-0 victory.

INW College Recap - Week 8: GNAC & NWC - MSUB, NNU finish deadlocked with each other, unbeaten for the week

INW region foes MSU-Billings Yellowjackets and Northwest Nazarene Crusaders could not get the better of one another this week with the the ladies finishing in a 1-1 draw Thursday and the men playing to a scoreless affair Saturday. The Crusader women played to another 1-1 draw Saturday against visiting Western Oregon while the Yellowjackets topped Saint Martin's 2-1. Meanwhile, Central Washington downed Seattle Pacific and Simon Fraser. In the NWC, regional foes Whitworth and Whitman squared off on the men's side with the Pirates prevailing 2-1. Whitman also narrowly defeated Walla Walla U in a non-conference contest and both schools blanked George Fox on the women's side.

INW College Recap - Week 7: GNAC & NWC - MSUB & NNU men pick up weekend sweeps

In the GNAC this week both MSU-Billings and Northwest Nazarene men's sides swept their respective pair of games, but the big result was the 2-1 victory goalkeeper Cody Lang (Spokane, WA) helped lead Seattle Pacific to over top-ranked Simon Fraser. Meanwhile in the NWC it was a rough road week for Whitman and Whitworth with only two points between the four teams as the Pirates picked up a pair of draws at Pacific Lutheran.

INW College Recap - Week 6: GNAC & NWC - Whitworth & Whitman men, Central Washington women sweep

The Whitworth Pirates and Whitman Missionaries dominated their foes from George Fox and Pacific on the weekend by an aggregate 17-6 tally. Things did not go as well on the women's side as the Pirates dropped both contests and Whitman fell in the first to Pacific only to rebound for an upset win over 20th-ranked Linfield.

In the GNAC, it was the Central Washington women having the best outing among the three INW schools as they defeated the other two, Northwest Nazarene 4-1 and MSU-Billings 2-1 in overtime, for a sweep on the weekend.

INW College Recap - Week 5: Mixed results for INW teams amidst start of GNAC, NWC conference play

Conference powers Simon Fraser men and Western Washington women were tough opponents for MSU-Billings and Northwest Nazarene in the first week of conference play in the Division II GNAC while the Whitworth and Whitman men and women ended up with a mixed bag of results on the road as they kicked off conference play in the Division III NWC.

INW College Recap - Week 4: Eastern Oregon women continue hot start with two more wins amidst GNAC, NWC & NAIA action

In the GNAC, it was a tough trip to California for MSU-Billings, who suffered a pair of 2-1 overtime losses. On the other side of that scoreline though was Central Washington women, taking a 2-1 extratime win at Eastern New Mexico. The NWC saw the Whitworth and Whitman women split a pair of 2-0 contests with one another while the Whitworth men split a pair in Oregon.

In a trip to Vegas, the Frontier Conference saw some tough competition with the Rocky Mountain men posting the only victory, a 2-1 win over Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and their female counterparts earning a scoreless draw against 15th-ranked CSU San Marcos. The Great Falls men came close to a win, falling to CSUSM 3-2 in overtime.

In the CCC, the Eastern Oregon women continue to impress under second-year coach Jennifer Simonetti with the best start in program history, blanking Point Park University (PA) 2-0 and Walsh University 1-0 in overtime, both on the road.

INW College Recap - Week 3: Frontier domination highlights DII, DIII & NAIA action

The NAIA's Frontier Conference duo of Rocky Mountain and Great Falls posted some dominating wins in the Red Lion Challenge against their counterparts from the Cascade Collegiate Conference as their conference won eight of ten games in the event. Meanwhile, the CCC's Concordia women rolled to a big win over quality DIII side Whitworth. The Whitworth men, however, completed a successful road trip to Texas with a draw and a victory.

Whitworth’s Pirates best known for defense; kick off postseason Saturday

Final words on a chilly night beneath the temporary lights at Whitworth | Photos: Gerald Barnhart

When it comes to the Pirates of Whitworth, the story is more of a case of defending the ship instead of plundering the opposition or living carefree like Captain Jack Sparrow. These buccaneers, who mark their return to the NCAA Division III tournament at 3:00 pm PT Saturday in San Antonio (Trinity University) against Mississippi College, have posted one of the nation’s best defensive performances this year via a crew of six that have stifled one opponent after another.

College Recap - NWC & GNAC: Whitworth women fall short as men learn NCAA foe; MSUB falls to WWU in Final

A rough Halloween week proved to be more trick than treat for the Whitworth women as they saw their title hopes dashed with three losses. After clinching the title last week, the men played their reserves in the final match as they awaited news of their NCAA DIII Tournament draw. Meanwhile, in the Division II GNAC, MSU-Billings bid for a berth via an upset against Western Washington was dashed in the league final.

College Recap - NWC: Whitworth men claim title, women in virtual 3-way tie

The two conference leaders Whitworth and Linfield won their opening games Saturday but slipped up on Sunday, allowing Puget Sound to virtually pull even a point back with a game in hand. The final week will see a dramatic finish with the Pirates playing UPS Wednesday and Linfield Saturday. After suffering their first loss of the season in overtime Saturday, the Whitworth Pirates rebounded Sunday to claim their seventh NWC title in the last nine years – the eighth under 17-year coach Sean Bushey.

College Recap - NWC: Four wins for Whitworth; Linfield tops UPS-W

Whitworth remained in the hunt for a double with the women winning a pair of one-goal decisions on the weekend and the men posting big victories that allowed them to get reserve players on the field. Meanwhile, Linfield topped Puget Sound to reduce the one-loss contingent on the women's side to just two teams and Pacific Lutheran was surprised by visiting Linfield, giving the Pirates more breathing room.