By Jake Bilyeu, PLU Sports Information Student Writer

WALLA WALLA – The Pacific Lutheran men's soccer team finished the first leg of its eastern Washington road trip in strong fashion Saturday, picking up a 2-0 victory over Whitman and a milestone win for head coach John Yorke.

It was a back and forth matchup early on, with both teams trading near misses. At the 27-minute mark, PLU's Eddie Na broke through for the Lutes. A foul set the stage for a penalty kick, which Na converted for his fourth goal of the year to give the Lutes the first lead of the game.

Just eight minutes later, the Lutes struck again. Diego Aceves rebounded a Troy-Mikal Oliger shot and dished it to Bennett Bugbee, who finished the play with a score. That gave the Lutes more than enough to pull off the win.

With the win Saturday, Yorke tied the school record for career wins as soccer head coach. The 149th win of his career tied former Lute coach Jimmy Dunn atop the PLU leaderboard.

While the Lutes were capitalizing on of their own scoring chances, Whitman was threatening with many shots of its own. While the Lutes outshot their opponent 18-15, Whitman matched PLU with five shots on goal.

Providing first-half offensive support for goalkeeper Mike Arguello - who made five saves to earn his second shutout in the past three matches - wound up being the key to the game. It also helped Yorke and his squad prepare for Sunday's showdown with Whitworth.

"Scoring two in the first half allowed us to conserve some legs in the second half and get a lot of players into the game," Yorke said. "It was a good way to start a road trip, and I was proud of the guys for the effort they put in."

Yorke won't have to wait long for a chance to surpass the school wins record, as he and the Lutes travel to take on undefeated Whitworth in an early-season conference showdown Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in Spokane.