Whitworth isn’t currently on the radar for a possible men’s soccer Division III national title, but the Pirates are hoping their early season success can snowball into a postseason run.
Following wins in eight of the first nine matches played, Whitworth sits at BR-122 in the latest HeroSports poll. The Pirates went to a draw in their other match, but carry a low strength of schedule.
Led by the play of Michael Ramos, though, the Pirates continue to plug along and knock off foe after foe. Recently, Ramos recorded a hat trick and assisted on four other goals. Needless to say, his coach was pleased with the effort.
“This year he’s been fantastic, for sure,” head coach Morgan Cathey said to the school’s official website. “He’s a special player and today he showed he’s not just a special player — he’s a special character.”
Ramos and Whitworth have found scoring to be a strong suit this year, recording at least two goals in all but three matches. They followed up the 7-1 win behind Ramos’ hat trick with a 4-1 victory over Pacific (Oregon) to close out September 8-0-1.
Ramos leads the team with 10 goals and nine assists, while Karl Muelheims has four goals and Rylan Berriman three. Samual Jarrett and Sam Engle have also scored three goals each.
“We talked before the game and said we’ve not lacked the ability to create, it’s been the final touch that needs to get better,” Cathey said. “This week we worked hard on the last touch and finish, and it showed today.”
Whitworth sits 3-0-1 in NWC play heading into a pair of games with league rivals Pacific Lutheran and defending champion Loggers of Puget Sound.
An early-season highlight, other than the performance by Ramos, was a 1-0 victory on the road over current No. 8 Wheaton, which has amassed a record of 9-2 to date.
“It was a whole team effort,” Cathey said. “Before the game, we knew that in order for us to be in tune to the game the whole time and track their runners the whole time, it was going to take more than one guy.”
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