Lutes Win Another Overtime Thriller
SPOKANE - Chad Kearns scored in the eighth minute of overtime, giving Pacific Lutheran a 3-2 win over Capital (Ohio) for its third consecutive men's soccer victory, and its second in extra time.
Kearns, a sophomore forward from Seattle, scored on a cross from Andy Hyres as the Lutes won their opening game in the Whitworth Invitational to improve their season record to 3-1, all against non-conference opponents.
The final score was indicative of the closely contested match as both teams ended up with 17 shots, the Lutes putting 12 on frame and Capital notching 10 shots on goal.
The Lutes opened the back-and-forth scoring just 5:05 into the match when sophomore midfielder Surafel Wodajo tallied his first goal of the season, finishing a short crossing pass from Jason Bjorgo. The Crusaders' Steven McCarthy responded with the first of his two goals - he now has five this season - at 9:39. PLU broke the 1-1 halftime deadlock on Spencer Augustin's second goal of the season, the assist again going to Bjorgo. McCarthy tied it at 73:03, and the match went into overtime.
Capital had a chance to win it near the end of regulation time, but PLU junior goalkeeper Brian Kostol stopped McCarthy's breakaway effort. Kostol finished the match with eight saves. Shortly thereafter, the Lutes won the match on Kearns' second goal of the season.
The Lutes play their final non-conference match of the season and finish out their Whitworth Invitational schedule on Saturday when they meet Saint Martin's.
- PLU -
