NWC: Whitworth Men lose heartbreaker, Loggers, Lutes, Missionaries win

SALEM, Ore. – Austin Jacobson’s goal one minute into the second overtime period lifted Willamette to a 3-2 upset of 10th-ranked Whitworth on Saturday afternoon.

The Bearcats improved to 9-7-1 overall and 6-5-1 in the NWC. The Pirates suffered their first loss of the season and fell to 12-1-3, 9-1-2.

Whitworth rallied from a 2-0 second half deficit to force overtime, despite playing down a man due to a red card. But Willamette got the match-winner, preventing the Pirates from clinching the conference championship with three games to play in the regular season.

Tyler Yates gave the Bearcats a 1-0 lead in the first half with his third goal of the season in the 28th minute. Willamette controlled much of the play in the opening period, outshooting the Pirates 6-3.

The Bearcats appeared to take total control of the match when Trevor Jenson scored from long distance only three minutes into the second half. It was his fifth goal of the season.

Robby Ubben pulled Whitworth within a goal in the 61st minute with his seventh goal of the year. He headed in Spencer Wolfe’s crossing pass.

The match took a dramatic turn when Whitworth’s Colin Shockman was issued a red card in the 82nd minute. But Pirate goalkeeper Kyle Novak saved a shot by Mike McGrew to keep the Bucs within a goal.

Then Whitworth drew a foul in the penalty box one minute later. Balin Larson converted the penalty kick to tie the match. It was Larson’s second goal of the year.

Playing a man down finally caught up with Whitworth in the overtime period. Willamette outshot the Pirates 4-0 in the first OT, but did not score. They finally broke through at 101:00 on Jacobson’s goal from near the top of the box.

“We were slow in reacting on three dead ball situations and Willamette capitalized,” said Whitworth head coach Sean Bushey. “We did well to fight back and dealt with a lot of adversity. We would have liked better results but credit to them, they played well.”

The three goals allowed were a season-high by the Whitworth defense and nearly doubled the total of four allowed previously all fall.

The Pirates will play at Linfield on Sunday afternoon with one more chance to clinch the NWC championship.

WOMEN: Pirates win at Willamette

Amarh Brace and Johnson Goal Lead Lutes to Wild 3-2 Win at Pacific

FOREST GROVE, Ore. – Rain soaked turf greeted the Lutes at Lincoln Park Stadium as they travelled to Pacific for the 12th round of the Northwest Conference season, needing a win and help to keep their quickly-diminishing championship hopes alive. PLU held up their end with a wild 3-2 win over the Boxers.

The Lutes came out firing, with eight shots in the first half to the Boxer’s one. On the stroke of halftime, Emmanuel Amarh bagged his eighth goal of the season by following up on his initial saved shot to tuck in the rebound.

Amarh completed his brace and extended his lead atop the conference leaderboard two minutes after the break. Giancarlo Santoro worked his way into the area from the left side and set Amarh up inside the six yard box who made no mistake with the finish.

Just six minutes later Pacific made good on a golden opportunity to pull one back when the center whistled for a kick from the mark. Nick Rudella stepped up to take the spot kick, sent PLU ‘keeper Joe Rayburn the wrong direction, and cut the deficit to one.

In the 55th minute, not 60 seconds after getting off the mark, the Boxers’ efforts at a comeback took a big hit when Luis Quintana was shown a straight red after kicking at defender Kevin Wien after a foul. The Lutes took advantage of the extra space in the 69th minute, when Derek Johnson knocked home what would hold up as the game winner.

The Boxers struck back once more 12 minutes later. Nick Rudella headed home his second of the match in the 81st minute off a Garrick Knowles corner kick. PLU had one final chance to stretch the lead back to two from the penalty mark in the 84th minute, but Pacific goalie Michael Summers was equal to the task, guessing the right way on Shane Gutierrez’ effort.

Summers would end the match with seven saves. Rayburn had two saves for the Lutes before being replaced by Sam Watkins for the final 15 minutes. Watkins did not register a save during his stint.

“It was good to get a win,” said head coach John Yorke after the match. “This is always a hard place to play for us. It’s physical. Overall, I liked our energy, I liked our emotional approach.”

The Lutes finished with a 19 to seven shot advantage, with 10 on target to the Boxers’ five.

With the win and Whitworth’s loss, Pacific Lutheran (96-2, 8-3-1 NWC) cut the difference to the top of the table to four points, keeping them mathematically alive in the championship chase. Whitworth will clinch the title with either two points or a single PLU draw or loss from the final two matches of the season. Pacific falls to 4-13, 2-10 in conference play.

PLU finishes the road trip Sunday, October 28th at George Fox. Kickoff is at 2:30 pm, with a live pregame show beginning at 2:15 on GoLutes.com.

WOMEN: Lutes fall at Pacific

McDonald Breaks School Shutout Record In 2-0 Logger Win

NEWBERG, Ore. – Chris McDonald made four saves and now has the most shutouts in Puget Sound history as the Puget Sound men’s soccer team defeated George Fox 2-0 on Saturday. Andrew White and Chris Shaw scored goals for the Loggers (10-3-5, 6-2-4 NWC).

McDonald turned in the 31st clean sheet of his career to claim the school record in that category. He made four saves in the effort against George Fox today as the Bruins (2-14-1, 2-10-0 NWC) held a 9-8 shot advantage in the match.

Of their eight shots, the Loggers put five on goals and two in the net. Andrew White scored the first goal of the match as he finished on a cross from Ryan Rash in the 29th minute. Chris Shaw added an insurance goal in the second half as he put Sean Ryan’s cross into the upper right corner for a 2-0 Logger lead.

For McDonald, it was his 11th shutout of the 2012 season, which is also closing in on a school record.

The Loggers head to Pacific tomorrow for another 2:30 p.m. match.

WOMEN: Loggers at George Fox on Sunday

Linfield 3:4 Whitman (M)

McMINNVILLE, Ore. – Two goals from Domenico Del Prete (Fr., Tigard, Ore.) keyed Linfield’s second-half comeback, but Whitman scored with less than two minutes remaining in regulation to deal the Wildcats a heartbreaking 4-3 loss on a soggy Saturday afternoon at the Linfield soccer field.

The Missionaries (7-8-3, 5-5-2 NWC) scored the only goal of the first half before the Wildcats (7-9, 5-7 NWC) stormed back to take a 3-1 lead. But the visitors tallied three scores over the final 17 minutes to steal the victory and overtake the ‘Cats in the Northwest Conference standings. Whitman moved up to fifth place, dropping Linfield to sixth.

Wet conditions made for poor field conditions that got progressively worse as the game wore on. Though it was difficult to maintain possession, neither club had trouble scoring.

Lewis & Clark 1:0 Whitman (W)

PORTLAND, Ore. -Freshman Emily Thompson scored her seventh goal of the season on Saturday afternoon to lead the Lewis & Clark women’s soccer team past the Whitman Missionaries 1-0 on homecoming.

The win improves the Pioneers to 6-7-3 on the season and 6-4-3 in Northwest Conference action. The Missionaries slip to 4-11-3 overall and 3-8-3 in conference.

Thompson’s goal came in the 63rd minute of action on a quick transition by the Pioneers. Freshman Kylie Carera gathered the ball at the 10 yard-line and threaded it through two Missionary defenders, finding Natalie Levy on the other side. Levy then one timed the ball to Thompson on the other side of the 18-yard box. Thompson took a touch before firing the ball past the Whitman keeper to the far post.

Taylor Hudson ended the day with four shots, three of which were on target, while Thompson, Emilia Emmetti and Anna Thorndike each had two.

Jaclyn Rudd led the Missionaries with three shots, while Hallie Swan finished with two.

Lewis & Clark returns to action on Sunday, Oct. 28 at 12 p.m. when they host Whitworth.

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