PARKLAND – Pacific Lutheran goalkeeper Joe Rayburn battled off constant pressure from Whitworth, including a pair of close calls in overtime, as the sixth-ranked Lutes and the defending Northwest Conference champion Pirates played to a 1-1 draw in men's soccer action Saturday afternoon.

The tie pushes PLU's record to 8-0-3 overall and 3-0-2 in conference play. Whitworth goes to 5-2-2 overall and 3-1-1 in the NWC. PLU returns to action Sunday afternoon, hosting Whitman in a conference clash beginning at 2:30 p.m.

"We started off a little bit slow," sophomore defender Bryan Anderson said after the game. "Tomorrow we'll look to get a goal in really fast and put the pressure on them. We kind of sat back at the start of this game."

Whitworth came out strong in the opening period, outshooting PLU 10-to-6 before the halftime break. Rayburn made four saves in the half, surviving the pressure until the 40-minute mark when Zach Waldher passed to Karl Muelheims just a few yards in front of the goal. Muelheims pushed it past the Lute keeper for the score to put the Pirates on the board.

The Lute offense stepped up in the second half, tallying an 8-7 shot advantage, but several close calls missed the net as the minutes ticked away. Finally in the 84th minute, Rigoberto Loreto sent a deep pass from the left side of the field to Derek Johnson on the right side of the net 15 yards out. Johnson kicked it past Whitworth keeper Timmy Costa for the tying score.

From that point until the end of regulation, the Lute offense put the pressure on Whitworth and created several more scoring opportunities. None found the goal, however, and the Lutes found themselves in their third consecutive double-overtime contest.

"We really found a rhythm towards the end of the second half, and we tried to keep the momentum going after we found that first goal," Anderson said.

Whitworth outshot the Lutes 4-1 in overtime, with one shot in each OT period coming particularly close as one tailed just over the cross bar and another going off to the left of the goal. In the end, Rayburn had tallied three saves to Costa's three and the teams closed out 110 minutes of play with a 1-1 draw.