McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Peter Stephens scored the first and last goals as part of a dominant 5-1 win by the Whitman College men's soccer team over Linfield College in Northwest Conference action Saturday.
 
The win puts the Blues at 4-1 in conference just one game behind league-leading Willamette while improving to 5-4 overall. The Wildcats drop to 2-5-2 overall and 0-3-2 in league play.
 
Stephens put the Blues up early, scoring from the top of the box in just the game's fifth minute. Linfield would counter with a goal of its own when Irvin Figueroa scored off a corner for the equalizer. The Blues would regain the lead before halftime, however, when Joe Wally's goal, assisted by Erik Nielson, in the 38^th minute put the his team back up.
 
Goals by Jadon Bachtold and Sam Johnson within minutes apart from each other in the second half sealed the win for the Blues. Whitman spent much of the second half in front of Linfield's goal, logging 15 shots in the period alone.
 
Owen Davis-Bower saw most of the time in net for the Blues, coming off the bench in the 17^th minute for Aidan Nuttall to post two saves. Wildcat goalie Nick Van Kleek posted six saves for Linfield.
 
Whitman visits Willamette tomorrow in a matchup of the league's top two teams. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m.