Area roundup: Micheal Ramos scores game’s only goal to push Whitworth into NCAA second round

Micheal Ramos scored off an assist from Eric Espinoza in the 84th minute to send the 12th-ranked Whitworth men’s soccer team past Covenant 1-0 in the first round of the NCAA Division III Championships Friday at Woodruff P.E. Center in Atlanta.

Covenant (15-5-2) held an 8-6 shot advantage, but couldn’t get any of them past Pirates’ keeper Daniel Kubin.

Whitworth (16-1-3) will play Berry in the second round today. Berry advanced with a 2-1 win over Emory.

Women’s soccer

McKenzie Karas scored her first goal of the season in the 16th minute and Washington held on to beat Rider (12-6-3) 1-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Seattle.

The Huskies (13-6-2) will play in Stanford, California, next weekend against the winner of Sunday’s Kansas/Missouri match.

Volleyball

Whitworth was ousted from the NCAA Division III Tournament after being swept by No. 3 Cal Lutheran at Gilbert Arena in Thousand Oaks, California.

Scores were 25-18, 25-19 and 25-17.

Allie Eason and Michelle Lawrence had 14 kills apiece to lead Cal Lutheran (29-2).

Cassandra Mendoza had 13 kills and Nicole Leonard added nine kills and 15 digs for the Pirates, who ended their season with a 21-6 record.

Cross country

Gonzaga’s Troy Fraley and Nick Roche finished 36th and 37th, respectively, and the Bulldog men took 10th place at the NCAA West Regional Championships at the Stanford Golf Course in Stanford, California.

Fraley and Roche both covered the 10,000-meter course in 30 minutes, 17 seconds.

Washington State, led by Drew Jordan and John Whelan, took 13th. Jordan finished 46th in 30:25 and Whelan was 54th in 30:33.

Washington was fifth. The Huskies’ Aaron Nelson finished seventh in 29:46.

Idaho took 21st. Oregon claimed the men’s team title, followed by Portland and Stanford.

In the women’s race, Washington State’s Abby Regan finished 36th and the Cougars took 13th. Regan completed the 6,000-meter course in 21:13.

Gonzaga, led by Amelia Evans (32nd; 21:10) and Shelby Mills (40th; 21:15) took 16th and Idaho took 21st.

Oregon claimed the women’s team title. Washington’s Maddie Meyers took seventh place in 20:18 and the Huskies finished fourth.

At-large selections for the NCAA Championships will be announced today.

KIJHL

Tyler Wilkerson scored with just less than 6 minutes left and the Spokane Braves (12-8-0-3) edged the Creston Valley Thunder Cats (10-8-1-3) 5-4 in a KIJHL game in Creston, British Columbia.