By Jake Bilyeu, PLU Sports Information Student Writer

McMINVILLE, Ore. – The Pacific Lutheran men's soccer claimed its third road win in six days with a 3-2 Northwest Conference victory over Linfield Sunday afternoon.

The win improved PLU's record to 7-2 in conference, keeping them tied for second in the standings with Puget Sound. The Lutes are 11-4 overall this season.

"This was a really tough road trip against two quality opponents," PLU head coach John Yorke said. "To come away with two wins makes this a fantastic weekend."

Much like in the teams' last meeting, late penalty kicks played a key role. Both PLU and Linfield converted a PK in the final 12 minutes of play, as PLU took a 3-1 lead on a Bennett Bugbee PK in the 79th minute and Alexander Goseelin made it a one-score match in the 84th minute.

The Lutes knew that they had to start strong after narrowly escaping with a win the last time these teams played. They opened things up early when Joe Sammartino took a pass from Todd Hoagland and drove by his defender to score and put the Lutes up 1-0 in the 24th minute.

The Lutes didn't get to enjoy that lead for very long, though, as Linfield's Brian Degrandmont scored an unassisted goal in the 35th minute to even things up. The teams stayed even through the first half, making the score 1-1 at intermission.

PLU didn't wait long to reclaim the lead after the break, as Jordan Downing took a pass from Bugbee and found the back of the net to put the Lutes back up 2-1. That set the stage for the late penalty kicks, with PLU clinching its second 3-2 win over Linfield in the past two weeks.

"There's a really good character to this team that helps them find their way through some very difficult situations in games," Yorke said. "The team played well as a whole, but Aaron Baumgardner stood out as a very good player today along with Jordan Downing giving us good minutes up front."

The Lutes return home Saturday for a showdown with first place and undefeated Whitworth (8-0-1 in conference play) at 2:30 p.m., followed by a match with Whitman (2-6-1) Sunday at the same time.