Pirates capture NWC crown

Karl Muelheims scored in the 51st minute to give Whitworth a 1-0 victory over Linfield on Sunday in McMinnville, Ore., clinching the Northwest Conference men’s soccer championship.

The Pirates (13-1-3, 10-1-2 NWC) won their seventh conference title in the past nine seasons and eighth overall under coach Sean Bushey, who is in his 17th season, with a week to go in the regular season.

• Santa Clara’s Erik Hurtado had a hat trick as the Broncos sent Gonzaga to its eighth straight loss, a 3-1 West Coast Conference setback in Santa Clara, Calif. Zach Hamer scored for the Bulldogs (4-11, 0-8 WCC), who host San Diego on Friday and Loyola Marymount on Sunday.

Women’s soccer

Idaho clinched a berth in the Western Athletic Conference tournament with a 3-1 Senior Day victory over New Mexico State in Moscow.

Senior Erica Hart (Gonzaga Prep) scored twice and junior Nitalia Zuniga added a goal for the Vandals (6-13-1, 3-4-1 WAC), who will play in the WAC tournament for the third consective year.

Idaho plays Texas State in the tournament quarterfinals in Logan, Utah, on Thursday.

• Senior Brandi Vega scored the only goal of the match in the 37th minute to give Washington State a 1-0 Pac-12 victory over Oregon in Pullman.

Vega’s goal was her seventh of the season and Gurveen Clair recorded her fourth solo shutout of the season for the Cougars (11-6-1, 5-4-1 Pac-12). .

• No. 18 Pepperdine scored with four minutes left in regulation for a 1-0 victory over Gonzaga in WCC play in Spokane.

The Bulldogs dropped to 7-10-1, 1-5-1 WCC.

• Lewis & Clark scored in the 35th minute and held on the rest of the way for a 1-0 Northwest Conference win over Whitworth in Portland.

The Pirates (10-6-2, 10-2-2 NWC) remain tied for first place in the conference standings after Linfield also lost Sunday. Whitworth completes its season by playing Puget Sound in Ellensburg on Wednesday and hosting Linfield on Saturday.

Golf

The Whitworth men closed out the fall schedule with a team victory at the Northwest Conference Fall Classic in Ridgefield, Wash., while the women finished third.

The Pirate men finished at 587, 19 strokes ahead of second-place Puget Sound. Whitworth’s Jesse Salzwedel finished second at 1-under 143, a stroke behind medalist Ryan Kukula of Willamette. The Pirates’ Stephen Plopper and Lyle Rudnicki finished at 147 and tied for fifth place. Rudnicki’s 67 on Sunday was the best round of the day.

The Pirate women finished at 692, 63 strokes behind first-place George Fox and 11 behind second-place Whitman. Emily Guthrie finished second in the player standings with a 153, five strokes behind medalist Kelsey Morrison of George Fox.

Rowing

The Washington State women’s rowing team won all four races it competed in at the Portland Fall Classic.

The Cougars won the Varsity 8+ final in 17 minutes, 23 seconds, the Junior Varsity 8+ final in 17:24, the Varsity 4+ final in 19:15 and the Junior Varsity 4+ final in 19:39. WSU entered a second boat in the Junior Varsity 8+ final, and it finished third.

Gonzaga finished first and third in the Novice 8+, fourth in the Varsity 8+ and fifth in the Second Varsity 8+.

Swimming

Whitworth opened its season with a first-place finish in combined scoring at the Northwest Conference Relay Meet in Portland. The Pirate women won their meet and the men finished second, good for a final team score of 89, 19 points better than second-place Whitman.