Whitworth University, ranked 12^th in the Nation, earned the fourth round of 16 berth in the program’s history on Saturday night with a 2-0 win over Berry College at the Woodruff Physical Education Center on the campus of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.

Whitworth, which improved to 17-1-3 with the win, will be making its first NCAA Round of 16 appearance since the 2009 campaign.  Their next opponent will be the winner of the pod hosted by Christopher Newport University, which began first round play on Saturday afternoon.  The Round of 16 and Quarterfinal locations, dates and times will be announced by the NCAA early Monday morning.

After applying early pressure with its offensive attack, Whitworth utilized a short corner kick in the 11^th minute to take an early lead in the game.  Colin Shockman took the corner, sending it a few yards to his side to teammate Spencer Wolfe.  Taking advantage of a surprised Berry defense, Wolfe then crossed the ball towards the far post, where Sam Engle was waiting to head the ball in, giving the Pirates a 1-0 advantage.

Whitworth was the dominant squad in the first half, controlling possession the majority of time and outshooting the Vikings 15-1 during the frame, including a 7-0 edge in shots on goal.  However, Berry was able to hang in the contest, trailing by just the one goal heading into halftime.

Berry had one of its better opportunities of the game in the 53^rd minute, when a foul call against Whitworth setup a free kick from 19-yards out, but an offside call cost the Vikings a shot at a score. 

The Pirates added onto their lead in the 67^th minute on Eric Espinoza’s second goal of the season.  After taking a pass from Austin Cassidy, Espinoza was able to beat a number of defenders to gain space, sending a shot past the Berry keeper to push the Whitworth advantage to 2-0.

Whitworth goalkeeper Timmy Costa needed to make just one save in the game, as the Pirates defense held the Vikings to just four total shots, en route to its second-straight clean sheet in NCAA Tournament action, and fifth-straight overall, dating back to the regular season.  Whitworth took 21 shots of its own during the game (nine of which were on goal), led by a game high eight from Micheal Ramos.

Berry, which made its first NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship appearance this year and earned a thrilling 2-1 double-overtime win over Emory in the first round, will end its 2014 campaign with a 13-7-1 record.