WALLA WALLA, Wash. – A
Daniel Kim goal with 11 minutes remaining in the game trimmed Whitman College's deficit in half but the visiting Loggers from the University of Puget Sound answered not quite two minutes later with their own goal to deflate the Missionaries' come-back hopes in a 3-1 Northwest Conference men's soccer loss at the Whitman Athletic Fields Saturday afternoon.
Whitman slides under .500 at 2-3 within the conference and evens its overall mark to 5-5 with the loss. Puget Sound improves to 7-3-1 overall and 4-1 in the league.
Kim gained possession just above the top of the box left of center and blasted a shot across the frame into the upper right corner at the 79:10 mark to cut in half a two-goal advantage the Loggers had built during first-half action.
Ninety-five seconds later the Puget Sound lead increased back to two with Sam Zisette's first goal of the year. The Loggers gained an odd-man rush in transition through the midfield and worked the ball from the right to left inside the box. Andrew White crossed a pass to Zisette who was able to sneak a shot past charging Whitman goalkeeper
Stuart Ellsworth and inside the left post to restore the halftime margin for the visiting Loggers.
Whitman was able to generate a pair of shots in the 89th minute but the first was blocked and the other was over the crossbar ending the hopes for a rally.
Prior to Kim's tally it looked as if the Missionaries were going to get a mark up on the scoreboard due to solid effort from
Riley Paul in the 70th. Whitman, which out shot the Loggers by an 11-7 margin in the second half, was swarming around the Loggers net and goalie Nathan King. Paul found an opening and launched a low, hard shot that a diving King saved but allowed to rebound back out into the field of play -- right back to Paul. His quick shot cleared King but clanged off the left post denying Whitman its first score of the game.
Puget Sound's 2-0 halftime lead was built in a three-minute stretch in the first half. Sean Ryan scored at the 10:35 mark and Nick Campanelli upped the advantage with a goal at 13:21. Ryan's score was his sixth of the year while Campanelli's tally was his first of the season.
Both Ellsworth and King were busy between the pipes for the teams. Ellsworth finished with six saves in the loss while King came up with five in earning the victory.
Whitman is back in action Sunday at 2:30 p.m. when Pacific Lutheran University visits the Athletic Fields for another Northwest Conference clash.
