Setting the Scene: The Lutes are built for October. Over the last three Octobers, the Lutes boast an amazing 55-5-5 record during the month, including a 6-0-1 record through the opening eight days of October this fall. PLU looks to continue that trend this weekend with seven programs in action on the road.
FRIDAY:
VB at Whitworth in Spokane, Wash. (7 p.m.)
SATURDAY:
WSOC at Whitman in Walla Walla, Wash. (12 p.m.)
FB at Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash. (1 p.m.)
MSOC at Whitman in Walla Walla, Wash. (2:45 p.m.)
VB at Whitman in Walla Walla, Wash. (6 p.m.)
SUNDAY:
GOLF at NWC Fall Classic in Lake Oswego, Ore. (Oswego Lake CC)
ROW at American Lake Fall Classic in Lakewood, Wash. (American Lake)
WSOC at Whitworth in Spokane, Wash. (12 p.m.)
MSOC at Whitworth in Spokane, Wash. (2:45 p.m.)
MONDAY:
GOLF at NWC Fall Classic in Lake Oswego, Ore. (Oswego Lake CC)
THURSDAY:
SWIM hosts La Verne at PLU Pool (6 p.m.)
Get with the Flo: This summer the Northwest Conference signed an exclusive five-year deal with FloSports to be the live streaming platform of the Lutes and the rest of the conference.
Make sure to sign up for FloSports today so you don't miss any of the action at home or on the road. Sign up today:
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Bjug Day: Next week on Oct. 14 & 15 is the 12th annual Bjug Day of Giving! Join us in giving to what you love and support the general Lute Club fund or your favorite sport program. Clink on the link to donate
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Football: The Lutes generated four turnovers on the day, capitalizing to erase a 21-point deficit to secure a wild 31-28 homecoming win over Willamette University in the Northwest Conference opener.
Quarterback
Anthony Mahaffey tossed four touchdowns to four different receivers in his first collegiate start, including the go-ahead touchdown and two-point conversion to
AJ Stepina with 3:30 remaining in the game.
PLU's defense was clutch in the second half, recording a safety in the fourth quarter and limiting the Bearcats to just 13 yards in the fourth quarter.
Cole Becker was a big reason for that success, racking up eight tackles and three sacks, including a sack fumble and recovery. Becker was named the NWC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday and on Tuesday was one of 26 players from around the nation named to the D3football.com Team of the Week.
Battle for The Trophy: The Lutes and Loggers meet for the 101st time on the gridiron on Saturday, a storied crosstown rivalry that dates back to PLU's inaugural season in 1931. The rivalry has been one-sided as of late, with PLU outscoring Puget Sound 144-38 over the last four meetings since "The Trophy," a steel and wood replica of Mount Rainier, was introduced in the fall of 2021.
Women's Soccer: Pacific Lutheran (4-2-4, 4-0-2 NWC) heads across the Cascades this weekend riding a six-game unbeaten streak. Tied for first place in the NWC standings, the eight-time defending champs cracked the regional rankings this week, entering as the eighth ranked team in Region X.
The Lutes tallied a pair of clean sheets last weekend on East Field, battling to a scoreless draw with Pacific University before breezing past Linfield University 2-0. PLU outshot the Boxers 17-4 but was unable to find the back of the net on Saturday. On Sunday,
Liv Olson scored twice while
Abby Winkler collected her milestone 200th career save in the victory over the Wildcats.
Milestone Moment: Abby Winkler's second save on Sunday was her 200th of her career, becoming just the seventh Lute and first since Takara Mitsui (2013-2016).
Men's Soccer: The high-octane Lutes (6-3-1, 5-0-1 NWC) lead the league in scoring, having put up at least three goals in all six league games this fall.
Owen Bliskis scored twice on Saturday in a 4-1 thrashing of Pacific and tallied another goal on Sunday while
Yuta Shimazu struck twice in a 5-3 Sunday victory. PLU led 3-0 before conceding three goals within a five minute stretch but rebounded with goals from
Connor O'Brien and
Ty Brunner to preserve the win.
Mr. 600: Longtime Assistant Coach Jaime Bloomstine was honored before Saturday's game for his 600th game as a Lute. Bloomstine played for the Lutes from 1992 to 1995 before returning as a coach in 1997. Bloomstine stepped away from the program for a few years but has been on the sidelines every year since 2000. While on staff, the Lutes have won seven NWC titles, including winning titles the past two seasons and qualifying for the last six NCAA Division III Tournaments.
Volleyball: PLU (7-6, 5-1 NWC) extended its win streak to three over the weekend, downing Linfield 3-1 on Friday before blasting Pacific in straight sets on Saturday.
Alexis Eggert tallied 14 kills in the win over Linfield and added 11 more in the win over Pacific while
Shaela Allen-Greggs had 15 kills against the Boxers.
The Lutes boast a nine-match home winning streak and haven't lost to an Oregon NWC school at home since the 2019 campaign.
Men's Cross Country: The Lutes returned to action on Saturday, competing at the Whitman Open in Walla Walla.
Noah Friedrich led the way, placing 60th overall after touring the 8,000-meter course in 27 minutes, 49.9 seconds.
Daniel Zimmer,
Corder Janes, and
Isaiah Bradley all finished within seven seconds of each other, placing 74th, 77th, and 78th respectively.
The Lutes finished eighth in the team standings, scoring 244 points.
Women's Cross Country: Sal Mattivi finished 21st overall, headlining the day for the Lutes at the Whitman Open.
Mattivi traversed the 6,000-meter course in 24:12.93, trimming 45 seconds off from two weeks ago.
Maddie Mitchell was 29th in a personal record time of 24:47.65 while
Jessalyn Robles was the third Lute finisher in 25:24.13.
Men's Golf: PLU tallied a fifth place finish on Sunday at the Pacific Invitational.
Koen Solis led the team, shooting a 142 (71-71) to finish 11th overall.
Luke Pendergraft finished two strokes back in 15th, carding a 144 (68-76).
As a team, the Lutes finished with a team score of 580, finishing one stroke behind Lewis & Clark College and four strokes shy of third place finishing George Fox University.
Women's Golf: Kate Sabarillo and
Kathleen Pullin played in their second tournament of the fall over the weekend, competing at the Pacific Invitational at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club.
Sabarillo led the Lutes, shooting a 179 to finish 33rd overall while Pullin was 43rd with a two-round tally of 190. Sabarillo boasted the Lutes' best round of the tournament, shooting an 84 during Saturday's opening round.
Swimming: The Lute swim programs get an early jump on the season next week, hosting University of La Verne next Thursday in an exhibition dual meet. It's the first of six home dual meets for the Lutes this year, with four of the six coming in October and early November. Learn more about the 2025-2026 Lutes next week with our annual season preview.
Community Partners: The PLU swimming teams lived out a Lute core value of service in September, hosting a five-day Swim Safety Series for the local community in a partnership with No More Under.
Full Story:
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2026 Hall of Fame Class: The Lutes announced the Hall of Fame class for 2026 last week with six outstanding alumni being inducted.
Those include Stacey Hagensen and Kaaren Hatlen from softball, Spencer Augustin and Chad Kearns from soccer, and Sandy Metzger and Craig Stelling from track & field.
The 2026 induction ceremony for the 35th induction class will be on Saturday, April 18 inside Olson Gymnasium.
Learn more about the 2026 Class:
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Download the GoLutes App: Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University Athletic Department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gamely details and more, the PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Link to download on Google Play:
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Link to download on Apple App Store:
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