Lute Women Break Even In Opening Conference Weekend

THIS WEEK:  After splitting the opening Northwest Conference matches with Lewis & Clark and Linfield, the Pacific Lutheran women's soccer team heads over the mountains to visit Whitman College and Whitworth University.  The trip to the eastern half of the state poses a formidable challenge for the Lutes, with the long travel times and tough opponents being strenuous.  The trip starts with a game in Walla Walla where the Lutes will play the Whitman College Missionaries.  PLU is 36-11-4 all-time against Whitman, and under current coach Lynette Buffington, they are 2-3-1.  The two teams split the season series in 2009, and the Lutes will seek to improve on the overall record with a win this weekend.  On Sunday, the Lutes will head northeast to Spokane to play Whitworth University.  The Pirates have become a perennially high finisher in NWC play in years of late, finishing second the past three years behind Puget Sound.  The Lutes are 13-22-3 overall in their games against Whitworth, yet have not beaten the Pirates since 2006.  PLU will hope to break that streak with a crucial away-win on Sunday.  The games are both at Noon on Saturday and Sunday. 

LINFIELD 5, PLU 2:  Jordann Gilmer scored a pair of goals for Pacific Lutheran, but Linfield proved to be the dominant force on Sunday as the visiting Wildcats scored a 5-2 Northwest Conference women's soccer win over the Lutes at the PLU field.  Both of the PLU goals came against the run of play, because Linfield controlled the action for the majority of the match. The Wildcats rolled up a 30-4 advantage in shots, putting 15 of their efforts on frame, and they also had a 15-0 margin in corner kicks.  At the half, Linfield owned a 14-2 advantage in shots and had compiled five of their corner kicks. Still, the Lutes came right out and tied it on Gilmer's second goal as a Lute.  Chambard finished the match with nine saves and the PLU defense cleared another potential goal off of the line. Hasselblad did not make a save in the match. 

PLU 2, LEWIS & CLARK 0:  Pacific Lutheran scored two first half goals and went on to win its Northwest Conference opener, 2-0, against Lewis & Clark College.  After scoring just one goal in its three pre-conference matches, the Lutes came out firing to beat the Pioneers.  Goals from Jordan Daniels and Karli Hurlbut, both in the first half, gave the three points to the Lutes.  As she has done on several occasions in past seasons, junior center back Jordan Daniels headed home a corner kick to give PLU a 1-0 lead midway through the first half.  Daniels scored two goals in 2009, and it was her first of the 2010 season.  The second tally came from Hurlbut when she played a 1-2 pass with forward Jodann Gilmer and placed the return pass into the back of the net.  Hurlbut was the leading goal scorer for the Lutes in 2009 with six goals, and she is starting off this season on the right foot with an early-season goal.  Lauren Chambard got the shutout in goal for the Lutes, facing nine shots and recording four saves on the day. Lewis & Clark's Elise Delgado recorded six saves and also benefitted from her defense clearing another ball off the line.