Whitworth men clinch NCAA berth

The Whitworth men’s soccer team blanked Whitman 3-0 Saturday in Walla Walla to capture the Northwest Conference title and earn an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

The title is the Pirates’ fifth in the last eight seasons and they’ll be playing in the NCAA tournament for the second time in three years.

Eric Espinoza scored the first goal of his career off a rebound in the 24th minute to put Whitworth (15-1-3, 10-1-3) on top 1-0. Ten minutes later, Tyler Clarke made it 2-0.

The Pirates’ Kash Choudhary capped the scoring in the 69th minute.

Whitworth held a 20-9 shot advantage over Whitman (10-10, 6-8), including a 9-3 edge in shots on goal.

• Braden Ridgewell and Brady Ulen scored to lead North Idaho to a 2-0 win over Peninsula (13-2-4) in the quarterfinals of the Northwest Athletic Conference Championships in Coeur d’Alene.

The Cardinals (16-1-2) move on to the semifinals, where they’ll play Edmonds at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash., next Saturday. Edmonds (8-7-4) advanced with a 2-0 win over Tacoma.

North Idaho beat Edmonds 3-0 on Sept. 16 in the teams’ only matchup this season.

Cross country

The Community Colleges of Spokane men and women captured team titles at the Northwest Athletic Conference Championships at Lewisville Park in Battleground, Wash.

The Sasquatch’s Daniel Schofield earned medalist honors in the men’s race. He covered the 8,000-meter course in 25 minutes, 19 seconds, outleaning Jonathan Cornish at the finish line.

Cody Williamson of CCS was fourth in 25:48 and Jared Seckel was sixth in 25:53.

The CCS women had three top-four finishers and claimed the team title over Lane by a wide margin. The Sasquatch’s Becca Mildes finished second in 18:20. Teammates Sara Fristoe was third in 18:28 and Gracie Ledwith was fourth in 18:31.

Women’s soccer

Gonzaga ended a successful season with a 3-0 loss to Portland (7-9-3, 4-4-1) in a West Coast Conference match in Spokane.

The Pilots’ Parkes Kendrick and Ariel Viera scored first-half goals and Rebekah Kurle capped the scoring with a penalty-kick goal midway through the second half.

The Bulldogs finished 4-4-1 in the WCC, their first four-win campaign in school history. They finished 9-9-1 overall, finishing .500 or better for the first time since 2007.

• Tiara Pajimola scored an unassisted goal in the 87th minute and Whitworth capped off its season with a 1-0 Northwest Conference win over George Fox (3-14-1, 3-7-1) in Spokane.

The Pirates (8-11-1, 7-9) ended their season with three straight wins.

• Sarah Melvin’s 59th-minute goal was the difference in Community Colleges of Spokane’s 1-0 win over Highline (18-2-2) in the quarterfinals of the Northwest Athletic Conference Championships at Spokane Falls Community College.

The Sasquatch (20-2-2) will play Everett (18-2-1) next Saturday in the quarterfinals at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Wash. Everett advanced with a 3-0 win over Bellevue.

Volleyball

Cassandra Mendoza had 12 kills and 10 digs and Whitworth swept Lewis & Clark in Portland to capture a share of the Northwest Conference regular-season title. Scores were 25-12, 25-16 and 25-22.

The Pirates finished tied with Pacific Lutheran atop the league standings, but, based on tiebreakers, Whitworth claimed the conference’s automatic berth to the NCAA Division III tournament.

The Pirates will find out when and where they play when the field is announced on Monday.

• Savannah Blinn led four players in double figures with 18 kills and Gonzaga (15-9, 6-7) snapped a three-match losing streak with a 3-2 West Coast Conference win over San Francisco (12-13, 5-8) in Spokane. Scores were 21-25, 25-20, 15-25, 25-19 and 15-10.

GU’s Jordan Gasser and McKayla Ferris each added 15 kills and Lauren Joseph and Nikki Leonard combined for 56 assists.

• Katelyn Peterson had 13 kills and 21 digs and Idaho (15-11, 11-3) beat Eastern Washington 24-26, 25-13, 25-19 and 25-18 in a Big Sky Conference match at Memorial Gym in Moscow, Idaho.

Talia Fermantez led the Eagles (9-18, 5-9) with 10 kills.