Amid steady rain and with a potential national bid up for grabs, Captain Brett Axelrod marshaled his defense from between the goal posts and urged his offense on in what would prove to be one of the most exciting games on campus this school year.
The game was against a Whitworth side that held a slight lead over Whitman in the conference, boasting a record of 8-2-2 to Whitman’s 7-2-3. The winner would pretty much be guaranteed the top spot in the Northwest Conference (NWC) and get an automatic bid to the national tournament.
However, a win for either team was not in the cards. Over 500 fans were in attendance on Nov. 1 as Whitman and Whitworth played to a 0-0 tie after two overtimes. The two overtime periods were 15 minutes each and, since there are no shootouts in conference play, when neither team had scored after these additional 30 minutes, the referees called the game.
Defense dominated on both sides with the rain severely hampering any kind of meaningful offensive drives.
“The rain made it hard to play possession soccer since the ball ran so much faster than normal,” said senior captain Brett Axelrod in an e-mail. “This benefitted Whitworth since they’re not as much of a possession team as we are and helped to even out the game.”
Despite the rain, Whitman was able to outshoot Whitworth 23-15. With 30 seconds left in the first half, senior Stephen Phillips ricocheted a shot off the Whitworth crossbar. The ball landed at the feet of first-year forward, Jordan Thomas, who, having to react in a split-second, sailed the ball high right before the half-time whistle.
In the second-half, Whitman had two good opportunities at a goal. Senior forward, Marc Nabelek, tested the Whitworth keeper early, drilling a shot at the left post that the diving keeper barely pushed wide.
Two minutes later, senior midfielder Greg Phillips skipped a grounder into the Whitworth keeper’s chest. The ball landed in front of the goal but a Whitworth defender was able to clear it out.
Whitman dominated both overtime periods but was unable to capitalize on their higher time of possession, putting only one shot on goal in the two 15 minute periods.
“Everyone’s always physically spent at the end of a 2OT game,” said Axelrod. “But we had played so many up to that point in the season that we felt that we were better prepared for it than Whitworth was, which only added to the disappointment of tying the game.”
In recent years, the Whitman-Whitworth rivalry has become more intense as Whitman’s stronger program has allowed for some nail-bitingly close matches.
“Whitworth is consistently a strong side,” said Axelrod. “Although this was the first time we hadn’t lost to Whitworth in the last four years, we’ve played some real close and physical games with them. We have a natural rivalry just based on our geographic separation from the rest of the conference, but our program’s recent development has blossomed our rivalry with Whitworth into one of competition and not just location.”
Whitman ended their season a week after the Whitworth game with convincing wins over Pacific University and George Fox University, bringing their season record to an impressive 11-2-7, a team record.
