Setting the Scene: Six sports will be competing this weekend for the Lutes, including men's and women's soccer and volleyball hosting events on campus. Hitting the road and heading to Oregon will be the football squad along with the men's and women's golf programs that will be competing in the first Northwest Conference major tournament of the year – the NWC Fall Classic.
 
Big News in Luteville: The Pacific Lutheran University Athletic Department has partnered with Opendorse, the industry leader in Name, Image, Likeness, to provide Lute student-athletes with the education and tools to maximize their NIL value and marketability.PLU becomes just the second NCAA Division III institution and the first on the West Coast to partner with Opendorse and take advantage of the company's suite of services – empowering PLU student-athletes to understand, build, and protect their brands with industry-leading education and marketing resources. Learn More: LINK

Spectator Policy: If you plan on attending a Lute sporting event, home or away, make sure and check out the NWC Institutional Spectator Policies: LINK
 
FRIDAY:
MSOC hosts Puget Sound at East Field (7 p.m.)
VB hosts Linfield at Olson Gymnasium (7 p.m.)
SATURDAY:
M&W Golf at NWC Fall Classic in Banks, Ore. (Quail Valley GC)
WSOC hosts George Fox at East Field (12 p.m.)
FB at Lewis & Clark in Portland, Ore. (1 p.m.)
VB hosts Pacific at Olson Gymnasium (6 p.m.)
SUNDAY:
M&W Golf at NWC Fall Classic in Banks, Ore. (Quail Valley GC)
 
Men's Soccer: The Lutes (9-2, 6-0 NWC) extended its cushion atop the NWC standings, earning a pair of road wins, including a 1-0 win over second-place Willamette University. Archie Caldwell headlined PLU's efforts on Saturday, scoring two goals in a 3-0 win over Linfield while a Cole Dobson goal in the 58th minute was all the offense needed in Sunday's win over the Bearcats.
 
PLU has been simply dominant since opening NWC play, outscoring league foes 22-0 while posting six consecutive shutouts, tying a school record of consecutive clean sheets set during the 1987 season. The stout defensive work earned Alex White NWC Defensive Player of the Week accolades for the second time in three weeks.
 
Women's Soccer: 18th-ranked Pacific Lutheran (10-1, 6-1 NWC) saw its 10-game win streak come to a halt on Wednesday afternoon, falling victim to an overtime goal in the 100th minute in a 1-0 setback on the road against the University of Puget Sound. 
 
The UPS result came off the heels of a pair of road wins in Oregon over the weekend. The Lutes downed Pacific University 1-0 on Saturday behind an Alyssa Leong goal in the 50th minute before taking down Willamette 3-0. Kimber Thomas was named NWC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, helping the Lutes string together a shutout streak of 404 minutes. 
 
Men's Cross Country: The Lutes climbed to sixth in the West Region after a strong showing on Saturday at the Charles Bowles Invitational. Ryan Stracke and Hezekiah Goodwin set the tone for the Lutes, each finishing inside the top 25 to power PLU to an eighth place finish at the meet featuring teams from all three NCAA divisions.
 
Stracke was 15th overall, and third among Division III runners, covering the 8,000-meter course in 25 minutes, 17.1 seconds while Goodwin was 23rd in 25:40.9. 
 
The Lutes placed eighth overall and second among D3 schools, finishing ahead of four NWC institutions. 
 
Volleyball: PLU (8-7, 5-1 NWC) experienced mixed results over the weekend, earning a road split against the Whits. The Lutes were on fire on Friday night, rolling Whitman College 3-0. PLU boasted an attack percentage of .353 in the opening set, setting the stage for the three-set sweep that saw McKenzie Pfeiffer, Baylee Johnson, and Callie Simmonds all finish with double-digit kills. 
 
On Saturday, PLU ended on the opposite end of a 3-0 scoreline, falling to NWC-leading Whitworth University, snapping a six-match win streak.
 
Men's Golf: The Lutes competed in their second event of the fall last weekend, finishing fourth at the George Fox Fall Invitational at Astoria Golf & Country Club. Joshua Clogston was the top Lute, placing fourth overall with a 141 (70-71). Gunner Nielsen was 11th(147) while Josh Cross was 22nd (150). 
 
PLU shot a 587 (295-292) to finish fourth, beating conference rivals George Fox University, Pacific University, Puget Sound, and Lewis & Clark College. 

 

Women's Cross Country: Sulin Degollado was the first Lute across the finish line on Saturday, helping PLU turning in a ninth-place showing at the Charles Bowles Invitational. Degollado clocked a time of 19:48.2 for the 5,000-meter race, placing 54th overall as four Lutes all finished within 12 seconds of each other. 
 
PLU scored 282 points, finishing ahead of three NWC rivals.
 
Football: The PLU (1-2, 0-1 NWC) defense held George Fox to just 107 passing yards while picking off three passes but it was enough as the Lutes fell 27-14 to the Bruins on Homecoming at Sparks Stadium.
 
Noah Palitz scored his first two collegiate touchdowns, scoring on a 12-yard run in the second quarter and a three yard plunge late in the fourth. Defensively, Tristan Thomas ;led the Lutes with nine tackles with Jared Elwin, Kaysen Higa, and Colby Rhinelander all picking off passes.
 
Women's Golf: The Lutes placed seventh overall on Sunday at the Culturame Classic at Willamette Valley Country Club. Emily Fisher led PLU, turning in a 172 (88-84) to place 27th overall. Ava Edmonds was three places back, shooting a 181 (86-95). 
 
The Lutes shot a 724 (363-361) as a team, finishing 21-strokes ahead of Linfield University. 



Faculty Athletic Representative: Dr. Charlie Katica from the kinesiology department will serve as the FAR this academic year after being the Co-FAR last academic year. Learn more about Dr. Katica and how he serves both the professors and student-athletes on campus in the video below.



Give to What you Love: Join Lutes all over the world on PLU's Bjug Day of Giving on Oct. 19 and 20! Bjug Day is a fun, philanthropic tradition during which PLU alumni and friends come together to celebrate and support what they love about PLU. 

During the 2021 Bjug Day, thanks to a generous group of donors, you can make a gift to anything you love at PLU and have it matched with a gift to student scholarships.

With your gift of any size to any area of PLU, you can make the 2021 Bjug Day bigger and better than ever before, providing more support for more students and cross-campus causes! Donors can give prior to Oct. 19 and still have it count towards the overall Bjug Day totals.

Click HERE to donate now!