TACOMA, Wash. - The Pacific Lutheran University men's soccer team will look to win its last game of the regular season against University of Puget Sound on Saturday in hopes of securing its third straight Northwest Conference title. 
 
Last weekend the Lutes (13-4-2, 10-1-2 NWC) travelled to Oregon to battle Pacific University (3-12-3) and George Fox University (5-12-2) in must-win games to keep pace with Whitman College in the NWC title race. The Lutes came away with six points on the weekend to overtake the Blues in the standings after 3-0 and 3-1 victories over the Boxers and Bruins respectively. It took a combined effort against the Boxers with Jackson Moore, Keeton Heggerness, and Derek Stone all finding the scoresheet in the 3-0 win, whereas a Zak Gregg hat-trick was the difference in the 3-1 match against the Boxers.
 
"We knew going into the weekend that we had to win both games in order to put pressure on Whitman and have a chance to claim back 1st place," said senior fullback Matt Koczan. "We worked on a few things specific to each team in practice which helped us produce 2 dominant performances against teams that are difficult to beat."
 
With the wins against Pacific and George Fox, the Lutes are now in full control of their NWC destiny with a win against Puget Sound sealing the NWC title for the team.
 
"It feels great to be in control of our own destiny. This is the position everyone in our conference wants to be in, going into the last game of the season. It's good to know that as long as we do our jobs this weekend the conference title is ours without having to rely on results from other teams."
 
Koczan is currently a senior and working hard to balance both soccer and academics in his final year at PLU.
 
"My major is economics and I am currently doing my capstone which is looking at migration post Brexit. My post-graduation plans are somewhat complicated. Being an international student, I get one year on my visa to work in the United States so I would like to use that if the right opportunity presents itself. Otherwise, I will head back to UK to pursue my post graduate career."
 
"I have been interested in economics ever since I started studying the subject at 16 as one of my three A-Levels."
 
Being an international student, Koczan transferred to PLU last year and has thoroughly enjoyed his transition to life at PLU.
 
"Transferring to PLU was an easy transition. The guys made me feel very welcome, with a lot of them reaching out to me before I arrived. Being a part of a team definitely made the transition easier because we all have the similar hobbies and interests."
 
As a senior, Koczan has many different memories with the team that he thinks about fondly.
 
"My favourite collegiate soccer memory so far has to be going to the national tournament last year. While we didn't get the result we wanted, it is a memory that will stay with me for a lifetime."
 
Outside of athletics and academics Koczan enjoys hanging out with friends, being outside doing activities such as skiing and hiking, or just relaxing and watching Netflix. 
 
With a huge weekend coming up Koczan and the team are looking forward to the match to make a statement about the team and its abilities, but it starts with a solid week of preparation.
 
"Not a lot will change in our preparations. As a team we strongly believe in our ability and what we are doing on the field. At the end of the day, it's just another game of football much like the 19 previous games we have played. Yes, it is against our rivals to win a conference but what we have done so far seems to be working so why change things now?"
 
Koczan and the Lutes will matchup against University of Puget Sound on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the highly anticipated Battle of the South Sound to finish the regular season.
 
Nov. 9: PLU vs. Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington (1:30 p.m.)
 
Series History: The Loggers own a 36-26-7 edge in the all-time series that first began during the 1980 season. The two Tacoma rivals battled to a 1-1 double overtime stalemate in their last encounter on Oct. 12. In that game, Keeton Heggerness scored in the ninth minute while UPS's Luke Murdock scored the equalizer on a free kick with seven seconds left in regulation.
 
About the Loggers: Puget Sound (9-6-1, 6-6-1 NWC) hosts the Lutes after having dropped four of its last five games. The Loggers' lone victory during that stretch was a 1-0 triumph over George Fox in overtime last Friday.
 
Murdock is the Loggers' deadliest offensive threat with eight goals and two assists on the season. Cale Spence and Ange Herrera-Flores both have six goals while Sean Hamel has a team-high seven assists.