PORTLAND, Ore. — A goal in the opening minutes wasn't enough to guarantee victory for the nine-time Northwest Conference Pacific Lutheran University women's soccer team on Saturday, settling for a 1-1 draw with host Lewis & Clark College at Griswold Stadium.
"Overall, a disappointing day. It started off well, scored right away in the first minute and we worked hard today but we weren't super sharp in the final third. We gave up a goal on a set piece, I don't know exactly what happened but someone was unmarked with tracking and we just couldn't get a second goal," said Head Coach
Seth Spidahl.
The visiting Lutes outshot the host River Otters 14-6 over the 90 minute contest while taking seven of the game's nine corner kicks.
PLU tallied the opening goal just 47 seconds into the game with a free kick deflecting off a Lewis & Clark defender and into the goal. PLU's lead would stand until the 50th minute with Ava Lazzara scoring in what proved to be the final goal of the afternoon.Â
"It was warm out and they made it hard to play and we just couldn't really solve it. Certainly, we had more shots and more corners and where the better offensive team, but we just didn't have a lot of quality in the final third to really punctuate all that with good chances and quality looks and so we ended up trying. It's disappointing. It's kind of similar to the George Fox game where we did a lot to score but just didn't score and we couldn't hold them to zeros. It's frustrating cause we had a breakout game last weekend and then now we didn't, so it's kind of a step forward and a step back, and so we're hoping to gain some consistent momentum. We'll brush ourselves off and get ready for tomorrow."
PLU owned a 6-5 edge in shots on target with eight total Lutes ripping off a shot over the 90-minute contest.
Liv Olson led the way with five shots, including two on frame.
Mia Speir was back in goal, playing all 90 minutes and making four saves. Her counterpart, Mallory Symons, recorded six saves to secure the tie.
The Lutes close out the road swing tomorrow afternoon, facing Linfield University at 2:45 p.m.Â
