TACOMA, Wash. – After a one-year hiatus, the Pacific Lutheran University women's soccer team is headed back to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons.  The Lutes are headed to Abilene, Texas and the campus of Hardin-Simons University to take on Trinity University (Texas) in the opening round. 
 


The Lutes clinched a spot in the tournament on November 2 when they beat George Fox University on an overtime goal by Meghan Michels to lock up their fourth straight Northwest Conference championship and the league's automatic qualification. 
 
PLU (16-2-2) will play Trinity (15-3-1) in the first round on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. PST.  If they win, they will take on the winner of Hardin-Simmons and Southwestern University on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.
 
A strong defense that has posted 15 shutouts on the year has led to PLU outscoring its opponents by a 37-6 margin.  The Lutes set a new school record this season with 15 straight victories, and posted a 16-match unbeaten streak. 
 
Offensively, Michels has had a dramatic impact on the 2019 season.  The freshman leads the team in goals (11), assists (5) and points (27).  Senior Leah Magee has also done some heavy lifting all over the field, but has added eight goals and four assists on a team-high 30 shots on goal. 
 
Trinity played a pair of NWC opponents in the non-conference slate, losing to the University of Puget Sound 1-0 and beating Willamette University 3-0 back in September.  The Tigers have outscored their opponents 60-8 on the year and have shut out 13 opponents.  Paige Wallace has played the majority of the minutes in goal and has a goals against average of 0.48. 
 
Sophomore Camryn Beall is Trinity's top scorer with nine on the season, while classmate Kaity Ward leads the team with 21 points. 
 
All-time, PLU is 1-2 in the NCAA Tournament with its victory coming against Whittier College in 2017.