SAN ANTONIO, Texas— The 23rd-ranked Pacific Lutheran University women's soccer team lifted the lid on the 2025 season on Friday afternoon, settling for a 1-1 draw with the University of Saint Thomas on a hot day at Paul McGinlay Field.
The Lutes (0-0-1) and Celts (0-0-1) battled to a scoreless stalemate in the opening half with the two squads combining for 11 shots. UST held a slim 6-5 edge in that category, including all three shots on frame.
Things opened up in the second half with the Celts' Fernanda Alvarado scoring in the 54th minute off passes from Emma Cerda and Sydney Ferguson. UST's advantage proved fleeting with
Liv Olson netting the equalizer in the 62nd minute off a feed from
Zoe Markquart. That proved to be the final goal of the match with the two squads settling for the 1-1 stalemate.
"Proud of the team to comeback after going down a goal. Certainly hot conditions and Saint Thomas is a solid team," said Head Coach
Seth Spidahl.
"We were in control of the game so it was kind of against the run of play but proud of the character they showed. Little disappointed in the outcome but like I told the team, were running our own race this year, we have to block out the noise and hype, and we have to keep getting better. It's a new journey, we need to learn from this and we have a very tough opponent on Sunday in Trinity. We know we need to be better than we were tonight to be competitive in that game. The players know that and the good news is we've played tough competition to be ready for these types of games. Overall some positives and things to work on which is what you expect for game one."
Both squads finished with 13 total shots with Saint Thomas holding a 6-5 edge in shots on frame. Markquart led the Lutes with four shots over the 90 minute contest, including three on target while
Katelyn McDougal tallied two shots on goal. Pacific Lutheran held a 6-1 edge in corner kicks taken.
Abby Winkler played all 90 minutes between the posts, making six saves and yielding one goal. Her counterpart, Kylie Soich, racked up five saves.
The Lutes are back in action on Sunday with a showdown against 10th-ranked Trinity University. Kickoff is slated for 11:30 a.m.
