Story courtesy of Whitworth Sports Information
In the first-ever regular season meeting between the Pirates and Gusties, Elly Bulega helped Whitworth (2-0) break open a close game and claim a 4-0 win over Gustavus in the championship game of the Northern Capital Management Classic in Spokane, Washington.
The key point of the match occurred in the 41st minute. Pirate goal keeper Brian Sherpe made a save on a point blank shot by Gustavus forward Chris Golv. As the Pirates cleared the ball forward, Bulega took possession just past midfield and sprinted by two defenders before firing a shot just under Gustie keeper Luke Strom for a 1-0 Whitworth lead. John Brookover had the assist.
Early in the second half Bulega took another pass from Brookover near the top of the box, dribbled around a pair of defenders and connected into the lower left corner to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead in the 49th minute.
Bulega added his assist in the 74th minute when he passed to Travis Gutierrez, who timed his shot perfectly for a 3-0 lead.
In the 87th minute Caleb Barnhill stripped a Gustie defender of the ball and scored from the left side of the box for the final tally of the match.
The final score did not indicate the overall competitiveness of the match. Total shots were even 9-9 and Whitworth had a slight 5-4 edge in shots on goal.
Sherpe made four saves for his first career victory in net as a Pirate. Strom made on save for Gustavus (1-1).
Whitworth and Gustavus had split a pair of previous meetings (both in the NCAA Division III tournament).