TACOMA, Wash.— The Pacific Lutheran University men's soccer team blew up offensively scoring their most goals all season in a 5-3 win over Linfield University Saturday afternoon.

Lutes improve their overall record to 6-3-1 and 5-0-1 in Northwest Conference play. PLU currently sits in second place in NWC standings.

PLU immediately left their mark on the Wildcats throughout the first half dialing up pressure defensively and forcing the offense up field. Yuta Shimazu got things going in the first half scoring in the 17th minute off a through pass from Alex Coope. Owen Bliskis also got involved in the scoring tally in the 24th minute off a well-weighted pass from Connor O'Brien 2-0 PLU. O'Brien wasn't finished dealing out dimes finding Shimazu again off a corner kick where he cleaned up a shot after some chaos in the box to give the Lutes a 3-0 advantage before the half. Linfield wouldn't say die, quickly rallied scoring three goals in the second half in a span of 5 minutes to tie the game up at 3-3. O'Brien would be called upon again to take a penalty kick in the 61st minute and calmly putting it away to give PLU a 4-3 lead. The Lutes wanted more and found the net again in the 75th minute off a Ty Brunner run near post played in by Shimazu resulting in the dagger 5-3.

Gio Aguilar-Gutierrez played all 90 minutes in goal and logged five saves. The last time the Lutes played in a game with a combined eight goals was October 4, 2024 against University of Puget Sound.

The Lutes return to play on Saturday October 11th on the road against the Whitman College Blues at 2:45 PM.