TACOMA, Wash. – The Pacific Lutheran University men's soccer team took care of business over the opening weekend of Northwest Conference action.  The Lutes picked up six points on the road after blanking George Fox University yesterday, 5-0, and earned a dominant 3-0 win over Pacific University this afternoon.
 
"We had a tough preseason in terms of travel and large amount of games in a short period of time," said PLU Head Coach John Yorke.  "We were able to get ourselves a little fresher and healthier this week and the opening weekend of conference is always a lot more intense, so we were up for that.  We were very fresh this weekend and had a lot of rested legs from yesterday.  We have excellent depth and it allows us to get some guys rest without a huge change in the level of play."

Cris Lozano didn't waste much time making an impact on Sunday, scoring his first goal of the season in the 13^th minute on an assist from Ryan Griffith.  It was a tight first half that saw the Lutes narrowly outshoot the Boxers 4-3 and keeper Nicolas Gaston make two saves to keep the Boxers at bay. 
 
Things opened up in the second half for PLU.  Craig Johnson scored twice in the first 20 minutes, with the second coming on a ball that popped straight up in the air that the sophomore buried in the back of the net. 
 
"Craig is a good finisher," said Yorke.  "He didn't contribute a lot o goals in the spring, but played really well and you could ssee that he had the ability to score goals.  He's done well to be in good positions and put away his chances."

The PLU defense held the Boxers to just one shot in the second half and Lucas Hempen didn't need to do much in relief of Gaston as he did not face a shot.  The visitors managed 11 chances in the second 45 minutes and placed six on net. 
 
The Lutes return home next weekend when they welcome Whitman College on Saturday and Whitworth University on Sunday.  Both kickoffs are slated for 2:30 p.m.