By Charlie McGuire, Athletic Communications Assistant

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Willamette University men's soccer team survived a pair of late goals to hold off host Whitman College, 4-3, in Northwest Conference action on Saturday, October 28. The Bearcats improved to 7-9-1 overall and 7-5-1 in the NWC.

Following a scoreless first half, there was a barrage of scoring after the break. Willamette struck first, capitalizing on a penalty kick from Jett Starr (Sr., F, Portland, OR/Cleveland HS) in the 49th minute. Starr has scored a goal in 10 of Willamette's last 13 games, giving him 10 goals on the season.

The Bearcats used a nice build out of the midfield to set up their second goal. Lucas Carballo (Fy., F, Riverside, CA/Bloomington HS) put the ball in the net off a quality cross from Dylan Ray (So., D, Torrance, CA/West HS) to give the visitors a 2-0 advantage in the 55th minute.

Whitman answered just two minutes later, on a beautiful header from Christian Gomez after a well-placed cross from Erick Perez-Cuellar into the penalty area. Carballo netted his second goal of the afternoon with just under 30 minutes to play to put Willamette in front, 3-1. Carballo has earned six goals, a team-high four assists, and ranks second for WU with 16 total points.

Andrew Reed (Jr., MF/F, Portland, OR/Franklin HS) appeared to give the Bearcats some breathing room with an unassisted goal in the 73rd minute, stretching the margin to 4-1. The Blues weren't quite done, however, as Oliver Dickson handed out a pair of assists in a span of just over a minute to pull the hosts within a goal with 3:26 remaining in the match.

McCoy Hennes scored first with Riki Kobayashi finding the net a little over a minute later to keep Whitman's hopes alive late in the match. Neither team recorded a shot in the final minutes and the Bearcats held on for the victory.

Whitman outshot Willamette, 15-9, putting nine shots on goal while the Bearcats converted on 4-of-6 attempts on target. The Blues also forced 11 corners while holding the guests to just four.

Willamette senior goalkeeper Pierluca Carnovale (Seattle, WA/Ballard HS) made five saves on the afternoon while Bernie Jones stopped a pair of shots for Whitman.

The Bearcats return to action on Sunday, Oct. 29, traveling to Spokane, Washington, to face Whitworth University. Opening kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. PDT.