Top Lute Moments of 2025

January 11, 2025 — Olson Gymnasium in Tacoma, Wash.

Lockdown defense in the second quarter was the winning formula for the Lute women’s basketball team, earning a hard fought 53-44 home victory of George Fox University.

Brooke Samura came off the bench and led the team with 15 points but it was the Lutes’ efforts at the other end of the court that turned heads. PLU held the visiting Bruins to just two points in the second quarter as GFU misfired on 12 of its 13 shots in the 10-minute period. It was the fewest points PLU has allowed in a quarter against an NCAA opponent since the game moved from halves to quarters prior to the 2015-2016 season. 

The Lutes had arguably one of the best defenses in the NWC all season, finishing the year as the top rebounding team in the conference with 39.8 rebounds per game. 

February 16, 2025 — East Field in Tacoma, Wash.

It was a day of firsts for the PLU women’s lacrosse squad. Playing its first ever game as a varsity program, first-year Taylee Alldredge etched her name in the record books, scoring the program’s first ever goal just over four minutes into the game.

When the dust settled, Alldredge had six total goals as the Lutes earned their first ever victory, a 12-6 triumph over Eastern Oregon University. Goalkeeper Kassie Diller made nine saves and had an impressive .600 save percentage in the win over the Mountaineers, earning NWC Defensive Player of the Week.

Alldredge would be a scoring machine all season, finishing with 26 goals during the 2025 campaign en route to Honorable Mention All-Conference honors while Diller was twice named the league’s defensive player of the week. 

February 16, 2025 — King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash.

The Lutes capped off the four-day NWC Championships on a high note, placing sixth overall while Emma Gassman tallied a pair of top four finishes. The Lutes racked up 281 points at the event, owning a 52-point margin over seventh-place George Fox. 

Gassman was runner-up in the 200-yard backstroke, touching the wall in 2:07.59 while placing fourth in the 200-yard butterfly in 2:12.95. The sophomore finished the four-day meet as a three-time All-Conference selection while Riley Maher, Scout Hawkins, and Melissa Zuniga also earned All-Conference recognition. That included Maher landing First Team All-NWC accolades in two events.

March 3, 2025 — Hospital in Houston, Texas

Lutes save lives. Carson Burke had a series of his lifetime the previous two days before hopping on a flight to Houston to donate lifesaving stem cells to an anonymous blood cancer patient in need.

Burke had three home runs in PLU’s series victory over Lewis & Clark College, including going three-for-five with four RBIs in the series clinching win on March 2. PLU trailed 7-0 in the game but a Burke home run put the Lutes in front in the bottom of the seventh inning in a 10-7 victory.

But Burke proved to be a hero beyond the diamond, undergoing a peripheral blood stem cell extraction procedure the next day, becoming the fourth Lute to donate stem cells to a patient in need after signing up on the National Marrow Donor Program.

Patients with blood cancers have only a 30 percent chance of being a match with a family member which means most rely on an anonymous donor to get the needed lifesaving transplant. 

March 8, 2025 — DiamondPlex Field in Winter Haven, Fla.

The Lute pitching staff was unhittable at the Spring Games with Rachel Treves and Paige Wilson both throwing a no-hitter on the same day.

Treves and Wilson combined for 14 strikeouts on a day PLU outhit its two opponents 10-0, making history as the first time in program history that two no-hitters were thrown on the same day.

Treves struck out five and walked just one to open the day with an 8-0 victory over Widener University while Wilson had nine strikeouts and a pair of walks in an 8-0 drubbing of Gordon College. Bri Sarae was the common denominator in both games, catching both no-hitters. 

Wilson would go on to toss two more no-no’s during the season— blanking Willamette University 11-0 on April 5 and Whitworth University 10-0 on April 27.

March 18, 2025 — Husky Ballpark in Seattle

In one of the biggest David versus Goliath battles of the year, the PLU baseball team upset the mighty Washington Huskies 3-1 in a midweek non-conference tilt. 

Ethan Keintz belted a solo home run early in the game while lights out pitching from Chris Moreno, Kamryn Swartz, and Matthew Sherwood paved the way for the win, believed to be the first D3 victory over a Power 4 program since 2022. 

The Lutes finished the season with victories against teams from all three NCAA divisions, while owning transitive wins over all eight teams participating at the Division I Men’s College World Series. 

April 7 — Hospital in Seattle, Wash.

The Lutes struck gold twice in one year. Being the odds— football student-athlete Cameron Amoroso became the second Lute this year and the fifth Lute since the NMDP Drive began to match and successfully donate to a cancer patient in need.

A wide receiver, Amoroso is the third football player to get the call, a remarkable feat considering donors only have a one-in-200 chance of being a match. 

PLU’s outsized success stems from the donor drive that was started in the spring of 2022 as a joint venture between Head Football Coach Brant McAdams and Head Baseball Coach Nolan Soete. The event has been held ever since with over 700 PLU students registering as donors over the past four years. 

April 13, 2025 — Tumwater Valley Golf Course in Tumwater, Wash.

The Lute women’s golf squad tallied a third place finish at the South Puget Sound Community College Invitational thanks to a strong showing from both Emily Alicea and Abby Matelski. 

Alicea finished third overall, shooting an 82 during the opening round and an 81 the following day to finish with a 163. Matelski was one spot back and one stroke back with a 164 (82-82). Alicea was the top finishing Division III student-athlete at the tournament and a few days later was tabbed the NWC Golfer of the Week.

As a team, the Lutes finished third overall, enjoying a 15-stroke advantage on crosstown rival Puget Sound.

April 26, 2025 — Griswold Stadium in Portland, Ore.

Three All-Conference honors. Two conference titles. One school record and NWC Outstanding Track Athlete honors. That’s the resume for Ryan Stracke after a banner performance at the two-day NWC Men’s Track & Field Championships hosted by Lewis & Clark College. 

Stracke dominated the field, winning the 10,000-meters in a school record of 30:11.56, earning the title for the second time in three seasons with teammate Owen Ladinig placing second in 30:32.88. The senior would wrap up a win in the 5,000-meters in 14:36.36 the following day, and was fourth in the 1,500-meters to win the Outstanding Track Athlete honor.

Stracke’s teammate Kai Sorensen won the 800-meters during the two-day meet while Darius Chaffin punched a ticket to the NCAA Championships and finished the season with an 18th place finish at the national meet in the javelin. 

April 27, 2025 — Griswold Stadium in Portland, Ore.

Kyleigh Archer and Madison Downey were electric in the triple jump, securing the top two spots for the second consecutive season at the 2025 NWC Track & Field Championships.

The duo helped the PLU women’s track & field team to a sixth place finish as a team, finishing just 2.5 points shy of fourth place.

Archer won the NWC title after unleashing a jump of 38 feet, ¼ inch with 2024 NWC Champion Downey runner-up with a mark of 36’ 10 ½”. The sophomores combined to score 18 points in the event with Downey also logging a third place finish in the long jump the previous day.

Archer and Downey were among the five Lutes to secure All-Conference honors, joining Addisen Hering, Ki Neir, and Eva Wirth. 

May 31, 2025 — Mercer Lake in West Windsor, N.J.

The Lutes returned to the NCAA Division III Championships for the first time since the 2022 season, logging an eighth place team finish against the nation's best.

The Lutes' second varsity eight logged its fastest time of the championships in the petite final, collecting a runner-up finish in 8:34.284. PLU's varsity eight boat placed runner-up in the petite finals as well with a time of 7:27.221.

The Lutes capped off the season by being ranked 15th in the final CRCA Poll with six student-athletes earning CRCA academic honors while first-year Head Coach Matt Oclander and his staff were named Pacific Region Coach of the Year and Pacific Region Coaching Staff of the Year Awards. 

September 24, 2025 — East Field in Tacoma, Wash.

Owen Bliskis scored twice as the Lutes thumped crosstown rival University of Puget Sound 4-0, extending PLU's win streak to four games.

The win streak saw the Lutes outscore three league opponents by a combined 10-0 margin. PLU would sweep the Loggers later in the season, netting a 5-2 victory on the road on Oct. 22, outscoring the intracity rivals 9-2 over the two games.

The high-octane Lutes finished the season with a 13-4-3 overall record and a 12-1-3 mark in conference play. PLU led the league in scoring with 48 goals across the 16-game league slate, averaging three goals per game.

September 30, 2025 — The Home Course in DuPont, Wash.

Soren Bostrom had a big day on the course, shooting a career low round of 66 to steal the show and win medalist honors at the PLU Invitational. Bostrom finished the tournament shooting a five-under 139 for the two-day event at The Home Course.
 
Teammate Koen Solis was runner-up, shooting at 140 while Tanner Frinnell was sixth with a 144.
 
As a team, the Lutes finished second overall, finishing two strokes short of 25th-ranked Willamette University. PLU shot a 578 as a team, shooting a 294 in round one and a 284 during round two.

October 11, 2025 — Baker Stadium in Tacoma, Wash.

The Lutes kept The Trophy for the fifth consecutive year, staying atop the NWC standings with a 41-27 thumping of crosstown nemesis University of Puget Sound.

Jacob Schuh stole the show, scampering for a school single game record 327 yards. Schuh found the end zone three times in the win and was named the NWC Player of the Week and earned D3football.com Team of the Week honors.

Schuh would cap off the season with a league-best 1,105 rushing yards, earning NWC Offensive Player of the Year honors and First Team All-Region 6 from D3football.com. Schuh became the first Lute to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season since 2014 and his 2025 rushing tally ranks third all time on the PLU single season rushing list. 

October 18, 2025 —Oak Knoll Golf Course in Salem, Ore.

The PLU women's cross country team was firing on all cylinders at the George Oja Invitational with eight student-athletes clocking personal best times.

Jessalyn Robles led the way for the Lutes, finishing the 6,000-meter course in a personal best time of 24:12.57. 

Also setting PR times in the distance was Mariel Robles, Piper Gannon, Natalie Moran-Padilla, Lili Andres, Sophia Czar, Damaris Ibrahim, and Erika Andres. 

The Lutes would top on to place seventh at the 2025 NWC Championships. 

November 1, 2025 —PLU Meadows in Tacoma, Wash.

A waterlogged course couldn't stop Kai Sorensen at the 2025 NWC Championships, out kicking his opponents to secure All-Conference honors as the Lutes hosted the annual championship meet.

Sorensen navigated the four loops around the south end of campus in 26:17.44, finishing 14th overall. It was the senior's first All-League honor in cross country after winning the NWC title in the 800-meters earlier in the spring.

PLU's next four runners all finished within 22 seconds of each other with Daniel Zimmer spearheading the pack and finishing in 28:39.57.

As a team, the Lutes placed eighth while Sorensen finished the season two weeks later with a 45th place showing at the NCAA West Region Championships.

November 9, 2025 —East Field in Tacoma, Wash.

Title defended. A pair of goals from Ally Tattar along with another from Olivia Boehm pushed the Lutes past Whitman College 3-0 to secure a share of the program's ninth straight NWC title.

The Lutes (12-2-6, 12-0-4 NWC) finished conference play without a loss for the second consecutive season and outscored its conference rivals 22-3 during the season, including posting 12 shutouts. 

Goalkeeper Abby Winkler was a big part of that success and was named the Program's first ever CSC First Team Academic All-American at the conclusion of the season. 

November 15, 2025 —WU Fieldhouse in Spokane, Wash.

The Lutes got 14 kills and 11 digs from first-year Je T'aime Paio, knocking off NWC Co-Champion Whitworth 3-1 to secure the program's second NWC Tournament title in three seasons.

The victory came after bouncing NWC Co-Champion University of Puget Sound in a five set thriller the day prior and capped off a wild run that saw the Lutes win nine of the last 10 matches.

PLU went on to the NCAA Tournament for the 14th time under Head Coach Kevin Aoki, falling 3-0 to host and ninth-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

November 23, 2025 —Chehalem Parks/Recreation Aquatics Center in Newberg, Ore.

The Lutes made a big splash at the two-day Bruin Invitational, finishing with one event champion and five runner-up finishes to place second in the team standings.

Vyron Domingo seized the spotlight after winning the 200-yard backstroke in a school record time of 1:52.37. His swim shattered the old record that stood since 2015.

PLU finished the meet with 787.5 points, enjoying a 220 point lead over third place and host George Fox. 

December 15, 2025 —Olson Gymnasium in Tacoma, Wash.

The Lutes nearly caused an international incident after steamrolling Canada's Douglas College 97-54 to open winter break.

Ben Tellez canned four threes and finished with 27 points while Cam Rice had 15 off the bench for a PLU team that built a 60-28 halftime edge.

The win was PLU's six straight as the program looks to secure its seventh straight winning season under the direction of 2025 NWC Coach of the Year Chad Murray.