Contact: Mark Albanese, Director of Sports Communication

TACOMA, Wash. - Rachel Ross tallied a pair of scores while Lena Moreno provided a pair of assists as the 20th-ranked Pacific Lutheran University women's soccer team steamrolled Northwest Conference rival Linfield College 4-0 on Saturday at East Field.

"We were excited to play at home again in front of our friends and family and a good crowd," said Head Coach Seth Spidahl.  "We wanted to get out to a fast start both defensively pressing and offensively playing fast when we had the ball, and they did exactly what I asked. We scored five minutes in and we were in good form today."

Ross needed less than five minutes to put the homestanding Lutes (11-0-4, 8-0-3 NWC) on the scoreboard, beating the Wildcat keeper off a cross from Katie Coronado. Pacific Lutheran maintained the 1-0 lead into the halftime break, owning a 14-0 edge in shots after 45 minutes of action.

Things opened up for the Lutes in the second stanza with Ross doubling the lead with a score in the 52nd minute off a pass from Liz Griffith. Machaela Graddy made it 3-0 just four minutes later, scoring off a corner kick driven in from Lena Moreno. Kristi Kaneta netted the final tally, scoring off a Moreno corner in the 72nd minute.

"We had good flow, and were a hungry, motivated team that wanted to win. We were like that from minute one to minute 90." 

PLU finished the contest with a 15-3 edge in shots, outgunning the Wildcats (4-8-3, 4-4-3 NWC) by a 10-1 margin in shots on goal while also enjoying a 14-1 advantage in corner kicks.

Takara Mitsui made one save for her 12th clean sheet of the season while Linfield's Sarah Bailey made six saves in net.

"The key to the set pieces today was Lena's service. She was fantastic with her service. Certainly we had some good desire in our runs. Set pieces are quality of service and timing of runs. We had some good runs and were determined to connect with the ball."

The Lutes return to the pitch tomorrow, hosting Lewis & Clark College at 12 p.m. at East Field.