PARKLAND - Trailing 1-0 with 34 minutes remaining in its season
on a cold and wet Saturday afternoon, Pacific Lutheran rallied
behind a pair of Chad Kearns goals to defeat visiting Puget Sound,
2-1, keeping alive its Division III men's soccer postseason hopes.
The win, a school record-tying 14th of the season for the Lutes,
puts them strongly in consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA
Division III postseason tournament. The tournament field will be
announced on Sunday. Whitworth, a 1-0 winner over Whitman on
Saturday, wrapped up the Northwest Conference title and the NWC's
automatic berth in the tournament. The Lutes, 14-5-0 overall,
finished conference play with an 11-3-0 record, good for second
place behind the Pirates.
The Lutes' season seemed on the brink of coming to an untimely
end at the 55:56 mark when the Loggers (9-9-2 overall, 6-6-2 NWC)
scored on Derek Woodworth's fifth goal of the season. Zach Semago
hit a perfectly placed, long diagonal ball over the defense to
Woodworth, running in from the right wing. Woodworth took one touch
and then hit a 15-yard shot past PLU keeper Brian Kostol.
Until that point, the Lutes had dominated possession and shots
on the muddy and slippery field. They got off 10 shots in the first
half, including four that forced saves from UPS keeper Chris
McDonald, while the visitors had managed just three shots in the
opening 45 minutes, with Kostol managing a pair of saves.
It took the Lutes 10 minutes and two seconds to get the tying
goal, and it was a Puget Sound turnover that led to the score.
Kearns picked up the ball about 30 yards from goal, took a couple
of touches and then fired a rocket past McDonald for his 10th tally
of the season.
With 16:19 remaining, McDonald dove to his right to turn away a
hard-hit shot by Lance Davis, forcing a corner kick. Andy Hyres
drove the ball into the penalty area and Kearns, a 6-4 forward,
rose to head it into the back of the net. The goal was Kearns' 11th
this season and assist was the ninth of the year for Hyres.
Puget Sound responded with several late chances, including
Daniel Lee's last second shot from just outside the penalty
box that was blocked by the PLU defense, and the Lutes held on
for the victory.
PLU finished with 17 total shots, including eight on goal, while
the Loggers had eight shots, three on goal. McDonald had six saves
compared to two for Kostol. PLU owned a slight 7-6 advantage in
corner kicks.
- PLU -
