TACOMA, Wash. – The Pacific Lutheran University men's soccer team continued its stellar play on a gorgeous Wednesday evening at East Field. The Lute defense pitched its fourth straight shutout and they won their fifth straight match with 1-0 victory over crosstown rival University of Puget Sound.
After a tough start to the season that saw the three-time defending Northwest Conference Champions lose two of their first three matches, the Lutes are finally gelling and have certainly returned to championship form. PLU sits atop the NWC standings at 6-2, five full points ahead of Whitman College who is 4-3-1 on the year.
"I really think it's guys getting used to each other more and developing chemistry," said PLU Head Coach
John Yorke. "We've really had the chance to work through some of those early season problems. We're very young in our defensive group and they've really grown together."
That defensive group has now logged 403 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal. With starting freshman keeper
Nicholas Gaston sidelined on Wednesday, classmate
Lucas Hempen stepped in and the defense didn't miss a beat. In his first career action, Hempen turned away five shots to earn his first career shutout.
PLU (6-2, 6-2 NWC) fired 13 shots on the night, nine of which were on goal, but it took
Elijah Thompson's first career goal to get the Lutes on the scoreboard in the 77
th minute.
Archie Caldwell right a shot that was deflected by the Logger keeper and appeared to be headed past the goal line, but Thompson was at the right place at the right time to chip it in.
With the victory, the Lutes seized control of the four-game season series with UPS, leading 2-1 after three matches. The fourth and final game will be played next Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. at East Field.
That match will culminate a grueling stretch for the Lutes, in which they will have played five matches in 11 days.
"We're really deep," said Yorke. "We've got a lot of good players. The opportunity is there for the guys to step and fill roles."
PLU will continue its busy stretch this Saturday when they host Whitman College for an 11:00 a.m. kickoff.
