It was a tale of two halves for the Whitman men’s soccer team as they took on Whitworth University this past Saturday, Oct. 12, but after a competitive 90 minutes of play, the visiting Pirates left Walla Walla with a close 2-1 victory.

After a tightly fought first half, the Missionaries ended the first 45 minutes of play down a goal. That goal came when the Pirate’s Sam Selisch found the back of the net with a header off a Whitworth free kick. Unfortunately the Pirates were not done, finding the net again in the second half as Whitworth’s Tyler Clark gathered the ball off a driven cross and drilled a perfectly placed shot into the upper-right-hand corner of the net.

But the Missionaries had stepped up their intensity in the second half, and despite the two goals, they maintained possession and control for most part of the second 45 minutes. Such play rewarded Whitman with a goal from sophomore winger Daniel Kim, who shot the ball beyond the Whitworth keeper who had stepped up out of goal. This was Daniel Kim’s first goal of the season.

Despite intense play and constant pressure, including outshooting the Pirates 22 to five and a header from first-year winger Sam Perkins that narrowly missed the goal in the second half, Whitman was unable to finish off the Pirates.

The men now drop to 3-3-1 in conference but look to improve this coming weekend as they begin the second half of conference play. They take on University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University at home this coming weekend.