THOUSAND OAKS, CALIF. --- The #20 ranked Pacific Lutheran Women's Soccer team completed play in California on Saturday as they defeated the La Verne Leopards 3-0, earning their first victory in the young 2023 season.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
The first half was an offensive battle as both teams continued to trade shots. The Leopards outshot the Lutes 5-4 in the half, but it was the Lutes who got one past the keeper. Senior Lily Dose put one in the back of the net in the 15^th minute. Dose was assisted by junior defender Kayden Hulquist who passed it to Dose from the left side in which Dose fired a deep shot from outside the box to the upper right corner. Shortly after the goal, junior Julia Causbie fired a shot that was blocked. Sophomore keeper Abby Winkler proved to be the key factor into the Lutes leading at halftime as she made two saves in the final six minutes of the half.
 
The final 45 minutes were controlled by the Lutes offense who outshot the Leopards 8-2, four of which on goal. Both of the Leopard shots were on target but were once again saved by Winkler. Early in the second half, the Lutes earned a corner kick, something they tend to focus on throughout each contest. During the corner kick, Causbie was fouled inside the box, thus giving her a penalty kick. The forward has a successful track record of penalty kick success, which she proved once again; beating the keeper in the lower right corner to give the Lutes a two goal advantage. Just 13 minutes after Causbie's kick, Dose found herself putting pressure on the Leopards keeper deep in Lutes territory, intercepting the pass through the middle and firing a strike to the middle of the net. With 25 minutes remaining, the Lutes held a 3-0 lead. Head Coach Seth Spidahl has mentioned how deep his roster is built this season, so with 20 minutes to go, numerous young players saw some precious game minutes. 10 total reserves saw double-digit minutes in the game. The defense continued to stand tall for the remainder of the game, allowing just one shot.
 
With the win, the Lutes move to 1-0-1 on the season and continue to show why they are ranked No.20 in the country.
 
INSIDE THE STATS
 
With 12 total shots in the game, junior forward Causbie lead with four of her own, two of which on net. Dose held a perfect shooting percentage of two shots, two shots on goal, leading to two goals. Hulquist held the lone assist of the evening on the first goal from Dose. Sophomore Olivia Boehm had three shots while coming off of the bench. Senior Alyssa Leong had two shots with one being on goal. Two Lutes gathered yellow cards in the game, one on Leong and the other on senior Riley Shaver. Winkler earned her second consecutive shutout in as many games on Saturday. While also earning four more saves to bring her season total to eight.

HEAR FROM COACH SPIDAHL

"It was great to get our first win of the season. We felt very comfortable throughout. Lily Dose had a great game, it was good to see her get her game to where she knows it can be. We have some things we need to work on with attacking. Julia Causbie had a great penalty kick, and everyone got to play, so that was awesome. Special thanks to Cal Lutheran and their head coach for hosting us this weekend. Always good to leave a road trip with a win, and we look forward to next week, we have a very tough road trip against two top-ten teams. Looking forward to getting home to recover, get a couple trainings in, and then get back on the road and compete!"
 
WHAT'S NEXT?
 
The Lutes Women's Soccer team will return home for the week before heading to Newport News, Va. to face two top-ten ranked opponents in Virginia Wesleyan and Christopher Newport University on Friday and Saturday.
 
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