TACOMA, WASH. --- The Pacific Lutheran Women's Soccer team took on the Pirates of Whitworth University on Saturday at East Field, winning in 2-0 fashion.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The Lutes looked to start the Northwest Conference season strong, taking on the Pirates in the home opener. Both teams came out the gates shooting, with a pair of shots on target being saved by each goalkeeper. Sophomore keeper for the Lutes, Abby Winkler, looked to get back to her strong defense that earned her consecutive NWC Women's Defensive Player of the Week honors to open the season.
 
In the 17^th minute, the Lutes were able to draw a foul on the edge of the box, earning a penalty kick for senior Alyssa Leong. Leong's kick was saved by the Pirates keeper and was deflected back at the feet of the Pirates.
 
From there, the offense went silent for both sides, as the defenses woke up. Neither team took a shot in the final 28 minutes of the first half. Although, the Lutes earned two corner kicks to the Pirates one. The Lutes did manage to outshoot the Pirates in the first half, 4-3.
 
The second half started similar to the first, where the PLU offense came out strong with three shots in the first 10 minutes. The Lutes fouled the Pirates striker in the 59^th minute, earning Whitworth a penalty kick of their own. Winkler read the kick perfectly as she made the save in the lower right corner of the goal. Just six minutes later, the Lutes made a push into Pirate territory, with junior forward Hannah Cecil breaking down the field and putting the Lutes on top, 1-0.
 
The Pirates began threatening to score in the Lutes half of the field for the next 15 minutes, but all of Whitworth's shots were either saved by Winkler or off the mark. In the 86^th minute, senior Lily Dose found Cecil breaking down the field once again as Cecil scored her second goal of the afternoon, putting the Lutes up by two goals and securing the home victory.
 
INSIDE THE STATS
 
The Lutes outshot the Pirates in each half, giving the Lutes the 13-9 advantage in the opportunities category. Winkler had a stellar home opener in goal, making five saves on the Pirates nine total shots, and didn't let one in the net. The team dominated in the corner kicks once again, taking five compared to the Pirates one.
 
Senior Alyssa Leong took the most shots for the Lutes with four, but two just missed off the post. Cecil went two for three on her attempts, scoring the lone goals in the afternoon.

FROM COACH SPIDAHL

"I'm happy with our first step. Whitworth is a difficult opponent to play against, they are very good in possession. Sometimes it can be very hard to get the ball from them, always a tough match-up. I am very proud of the team, there was some ups and downs, we missed a penalty kick and they missed a penalty kick. It was great to see Hannah get off to a good start this year with two goals that ultimately decided the game. We are happy with it, but we have a lot to improve on. We are still very early in the season but the future is bright. We are excited to get to play again tomorrow. Go Lutes!"
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
 
The Lutes will take on the Whitman Blues tomorrow on East Field at 12 p.m., looking to add another to the win column.
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