Whitworth University’s Micheal Ramos broke a scoreless tie
in the 84th minute with his 14 goal of the season to
propel the 12th-ranked Pirates to a 1-0 win over
Covenant College in the first round of the NCAA Division III
Men’s Soccer Championship at Emory University in Atlanta,
Georgia on Friday night.
Whitworth, now 16-1-3 in 2014, will advance to the second
round on Saturday in Atlanta to face Berry College, which defeated
host and 11th-ranked Emory University 2-1 in
double-overtime earlier in the day on Friday. The match is
slated for a 6:00 PM start at the Woodruff P.E. Center.
Both teams played solid defense in the first half, combining fort
just seven shots during the frame. Covenant took five shots
during the first 45 minutes of the game, including one on goal,
while Whitworth registered a pair of shots, both on target.
Ramos finally broke through for the game-winning strike with just
over six minutes remaining in regulation. Eric Espinoza sent
a perfectly-placed through ball to Ramos, who when on a break
towards the end line, before launching a shot to the inside of the
far post and into the net.
Whitworth withstood a late scoring chance from Covenant, when a
header from Snoopy Davidson off a corner kick in the
89th minute was cleared off the line by the Pirates
defense, keeping the clean sheet intact.
Covenant finished the game with an edge in shots, 8-6, with each
team registering three shots on goal. Both goalkeepers
– Daniel Kubin for Covenant and Timmy Costa for Whitworth
– played the whole game, making two saves apiece.
Covenant ended its 2014 campaign with a 15-5-2 record.