PARKLAND - Chad Kearns scored his 11th goal of the season in Pacific Lutheran's 11th match as the Lutes defeated the visiting Pacific Boxers, 1-0, in a Northwest Conference men's soccer match played Sunday afternoon at the PLU soccer field.

The victory put Pacific Lutheran (5-5-1 overall) right back into the Northwest Conference men's soccer race with 12 points from a 4-2-0 record. The Boxers (8-1-2 overall), ranked No. 11 in Division III men's soccer, saw their NWC record fall to 4-1-1, good for 13 points and tied with Whitworth atop the table.

Kearns, a junior forward from Seattle, slid to the ground about 10 yards away from the goal and redirected a cross from Surafel Wodajo past Pacific keeper Andrew Stevermer and just inside the lower right post at the 52:43 mark. The assist was the eighth of the season for Wadajo, a junior midfielder from Renton.

The PLU defense and frosh goalkeeper Joe Rayburn made the goal stand the rest of the way, giving Rayburn his second shutout in three starts this season. Rayburn finished with four saves as Pacific put four of their nine shots on goal. Senior Brennan Hall and sophomore Greg Noll marshaled the central defense, while junior outside backs Tom Molyneux-Elliot and Aaron Grossberg protected the wings.

Pacific pressed for the tying goal inside the final five minutes and seemed to get it with about three minutes left when the ball rolled across the line following a scrum on a corner kick. The goal was disallowed, however, because of hand ball, and that was Pacific's last good chance.

In addition to Kearns' goal, the Lutes had a three-shot flurry with about three minutes left in the first half that resulted in three saves by Stevermer. Other than that, Pacific's first team all-conference goalie was not called on to make a save as the Lutes finished with nine total shots, four on goal.

Corner kicks were fairly even with Pacific getting four and PLU taking three.

Pacific Lutheran returns to action next Sunday when it hosts the Puget Sound Loggers in another Northwest Conference match beginning at 2:30 p.m.

- PLU -