WALLA WALLA, Wash.  Whitman men's soccer is officially in ascendancy, even if the Blues left their home pitch -- and a four-point weekend -- feeling a shade unlucky on Sunday.

Whitman dominated every offensive metric -- shots, shots on goal, corners -- as emphatically as it did in a victory on Saturday, but settled for a 1-1 draw against first-place Willamette in a Northwest Conference match at the Whitman Athletic Fields.

The Bearcats equalized on Quinn Mello-Bastida's free kick in the second half after the Blues had taken a 1-0 lead into halftime, buoyed by a Peter Stephens goal on Gabe Jacobson's assist. The draw represented Whitman's fourth result in five matches, and denied victory to Willamette for the first time in a conference contest this season.

"I'm very proud of our work ethic and composure in the game," Blues head coach Jose Cedeno said. "We were able to create chances even though they were dropping a lot (of players into the defensive third). We out-shot them. We basically shut them down."

The numbers -- and likely any objective eye-witnesses -- supported Cedeno's sentiments, tinged though they were with a vague sense of regret at unfinished business.

The first half was all Whitman: Willamette (6-3-1, 5-0-1 in NWC) didn't even muster a shot (off-frame, at that) until over 40 minutes had elapsed, while the Blues (4-6-1, 3-2-1) peppered the area with eight shots.

Stephens' goal, his second of the season, came 15 minutes in, after Ben Freedman had set the tone with several incisive runs. Stephens ran on to a "great pass" from Jacobson, as Cedeno described it, and buried a no-doubter for a 1-0 lead.

Whitman out-shot the Bearcats 9-1 in the second half. That one shot was a dagger, of course, but the set-piece tally represented Willamette's only shot on target of regulation. The Blues did not allow a shot on frame in the run of play until midway through the first overtime; goalkeeper Owen Davis-Bower had his first two saves during that 10-minute session.

"Today was a good experience for us in adjusting to their adjustments," Cedeno said.

In the second overtime, the Blues flirted with golden-goal dramatics, as outside back Noah Cavanaugh -- a sheer terror throughout the match -- sent a screaming ball into the area in search of hard-crashing Austin Betschart, Whitman's other outside back. Betschart's header sailed just high over the bar.

"Both our outside backs played well. Noah and Austin forced (Willamette) to change their tactics," said Cedeno. He also praised Jacobson, who notched his third assist of the season -- two off the league lead -- and was "more efficient in creating dangerous plays for us."

The Blues out-shot Willamette 20-5, won seven corners to the visitors' one, and had seven shots on goal.

"I felt like we left it all on the field," Cedeno said. "We're starting a small streak."

Whitman hosts Whitworth at 12 p.m. on Saturday.