Whits’ reward: nation’s top scorer
Whitworth College’s mens soccer coach Sean Bushey was putting together a scouting report Monday on first-round NCAA Division III tournament foe Colorado College, but he already knows the Pirates’ two main objectives.
One, try to keep the nation’s most prolific goal scorer, senior Patrick McGinnis, in check. Two, remember what brought the Pirates so much success this season.
“We’ll ask questions of other coaches and other opponents they played and look at their tendencies,” Bushey said. “But in the end our focus has to be on what we do best. We can control ourselves better than we can control others.”
The Northwest Conference champion Pirates (15-2-1) will entertain the Tigers (16-3-1) at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The winner moves on to face St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wis., on Saturday. Colorado College, a Division III independent located in Colorado Springs, received an at-large berth reserved for Pool B schools (independents and conferences without automatic bids).
Whitworth and Colorado College hooked up in the first round in 2001 with Whitworth claiming a 1-0 victory in Spokane. Bushey remembers Patrick, then a freshman, and older brother Sean were a handful in that game.
“They were quite a combination,” Bushey said. “He’s not only a goal scorer, obviously, but he’s a soccer player. He can beat people off the dribble. (In 2001) he beat our defense and put one just over the cross bar. He has a very quick release. He’s a creative player and he creates for others.”
McGinnis has one five-goal game and eight games with at least three. He has scored 38 goals this season, the most by far in Division III — or D-II or D-I, for that matter. It’s the second best single-season in Division III history, trailing only Wisconsin-Platteville’s Jim Jianette’s 41 in 1983.
“I’ve had teams that haven’t scored that many goals in a season,” Bushey said. Informed that McGinnis has attempted 127 shots, Bushey said, “Geez, that’s hard to do. That’s an impressive line.”
The teams have one common opponent. Whitworth split with George Fox while Colorado College lost 4-3 in overtime to the Bruins. McGinnis had two assists in the loss. Whitworth has allowed just 18 goals this season and registered six shutouts, including three in the last five games.
“Our defense has become progressively better through the season,” Bushey said. “We’ve been able to hold in close games, 1-0 versus Linfield and 2-1 versus Puget Sound. Against quality teams we’ve been able to contain them.”
The balanced Pirates have scored 51 goals, led by Niko Varlamos’ 13.
“The first thing we have to do is try to stop them from putting too much pressure on us with their attacking line,” Bushey said. “McGinnis has assists as well, so he’s not just a goal scorer. We’ll just try to be more aware of him. I don’t think it would be to our advantage to change everything.”