TACOMA, Wash. – Julia Causbie took a deep breath and made a decision on where to kick the ball.

The Pacific Lutheran junior was lined up for a free kick with less than four minutes remaining Saturday and her team trailing unbeaten George Fox by a goal.

Using her left foot, she hammered a low ball past the defensive wall and into the corner of the net to help the Lutes salvage a draw in Northwest Conference action at East Field.

It was the first time in her life that Causbie, the Lutes leading scorer this season, has scored on a free kick.

"I just really wanted it to go in and I think that was part of it," she said. "We worked really hard during the game and I wanted to put it in for the team because we deserved a goal."

It seemed like it was going to be one of those matches where a team has chance after chance only to come up empty.

The Lutes (8-1-2 overall, 5-1-1 NWC) poured 16 shots and seven corner kicks on the Bruins in the second half, hitting the crossbar once and having two shots cleared off the line.

But the Lutes stayed with it and eventually got the important goal in the 87th minute.

"I'm proud of them for not getting frustrated and keeping with it, because it's a 90-minute game," PLU coach Seth Spidahl said. "I'm really proud of the team and they got better and better as the game went along, but we have to be sharper on our marks on our corners. That was a very bad goal to give up."

George Fox (5-0-3, 4-0-3) jumped out to the early 1-0 lead on a goal by Willa Evans off a corner kick by Maggie Choate in the 9^th minute.

It remained that way until Causbie's heroics.

Lute Sports Network's Jordan Ross talks to @PLU_WSoc player Julia Causbie, who scored the game-tying goal in the final minutes Saturday to salvage a draw with George Fox. pic.twitter.com/xB6PZbEyk6

— PLU Athletics (@golutes) October 8, 2022

"It was a simple missed marking assignment," Spidahl said. "We have talked about tracking runs on corners and we just forgot."

Other than the early goal, the Lutes defense was stout throughout.

They held George Fox leading scorer Maggie Phillips, who entered as the No. 6 scorer in the country, to no shot attempts.

Shaylin Cesar made two saves in goal to earn the victory for the Lutes, while Joelle Buck, Ellie Reardon and Ella Merte played stellar defense on the back line.

"At the end of the day, we still have everything to play for," Spidahl said. "I'm proud of the team for getting the draw and we are still in and we have to have a short memory. We can't be frustrated."

The Lutes are back in action immediately, hosting Lewis & Clark at 12 p.m. Sunday at East Field.