WALLA WALLA, WASH. --- The Pacific Lutheran Women's Soccer team wrapped up their road games in eastern Washington on Sunday as they fell to the Whitman Blues in a 1-0 battle.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The game began with the Blues controlling offensive possession for the majority of the first ten minutes. In the 11^th minute, the Blues took the first shot attempt of the game, but was saved by sophomore goalkeeper Abby Winkler.
 
The Lutes gained some offensive momentum shortly after, as junior Julia Causbie fired two shots. One of Causbie's shots missed high, but the first was saved by the Blues keeper. Senior Alyssa Leong tried her best to score in the 24th minute with consecutive shots but both were stopped by the Blues goalkeeper as well. The Lutes continued to apply the pressure with more shots from Causbie, but could not beat the keeper. The score remained 0-0 at the end of the first half.
 
Coming out of the half, Causbie remained determined but once again had two more shots saved by Whitman. As the defenses remained strong, the Blues applied pressure of their own and finally got one shot past Winkler in the 77^th minute to take a 1-0 lead.
 
Trailing late in the game, the Lutes fired shots off of the feet of seniors Sawyer Anderson, Lily Dose, and freshman Liv Olson, all of which couldn't beat the goalkeeper.
 
The Blues went on to defeat the Lutes for the second time in as many meetings this season.
 
INSIDE THE STATS
 
The Lutes took the most shots in the game with 15 to the Blues eight. 10 of the Lutes shots were on goal but all 10 were saved by the Blues keeper.
 
Winkler made three saves on four shots on goal faced. Causbie took the most shots for the Lutes with six total, four of which were on goal. Nine different Lutes took shots in the game, with six forcing the Blues keeper to make the save.

FROM COACH SPIDAHL

"Whitman has had our number this year, credit to their coaches and they have a very tough team this year. They [Whitman] played really well, defended really well, and their goalkeeper played well. We had plenty of opportunities to score, but we didn't. I thought we played really well, but we couldn't find a way to score, sometimes that's how our sport goes. We still control our own destiny and we are excited to play at home. We will learn from this and get better. Success is not a straight line, you don't want to lose but sometimes a loss helps you take a step forward. Go Lutes!"
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
 
The Lutes will return home to face George Fox and Linfield next weekend on East Field, Saturday and Sunday, at 12 p.m.
 
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