Box Score

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Despite out shooting visiting Willamette University by a 13-9 margin through two periods of regulation time, Whitman College's men's soccer team wasn't able to come away with a score and eventually suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 double-overtime loss to the Bearcats in the Northwest Conference opener for both teams Saturday afternoon at the Whitman Athletic Fields.

The game-ending goal came in the game's 118th minute off a free kick from nearly 40 yards out. Stefan Wutte's service into the box found a gaggle of players from both teams about 10 yards out from the goal line but it was the Bearcats' Yazan Hishmeh's glancing header that tipped the ball just high enough over the glove-tips of leaping Whitman goalkeeper Stuart Ellsworth to finally put an end to the nearly two-hour contest.

The loss draws Whitman's overall record to an even 3-3 while dropping it's early-season conference mark to 0-1. The win lifts Willamette to 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the league.

Throughout regulation Whitman held just enough of an edge that it seemed inevitable that one of its 13 shots would have found its way onto frame and past Willamette goalie Braydon Calder. But Calder stopped all five shots that got through to the goal and wasn't tested in either of the overtime periods. At the other end of the pitch Ellsworth had a strong game between the pipes for Whitman, finishing with three saves and several leaping jabs that cleared set piece services into the box. In the second minute of the second overtime Ellsworth punched away three serves into his territory within a span of 40 seconds to keep the attacking Bearcats at bay.

The hotly contested match saw four yellow cards handed out, three to Willamette players and one to a Whitman player. The heat wasn't just on the field as temperatures in the mid-80s under a cloudless sky with little breeze made any shade valuable to the nearly 200 fans that watched the two-hour battle.

Whitman has little time to worry about Saturday's results as it heads right back into action Sunday at 2:30 p.m. when Linfield College visits the Athletics Fields for another Northwest Conference contest.