WHEATON, Ill. — The Pacific Lutheran University men's soccer team heads into Northwest Conference play with a three-game unbeaten run after wrapping up non-league action on Saturday with a scoreless draw against North Park University at the Bob Baptista Invitational.
The Lutes (2-1-1) and Vikings (2-1-2) were meeting for the first time since the 2019 NCAA Division III Tournament. The two sides ripped off 30 total shots over the 90 minute affair but neither squad was able to find the back of the net.
"I'm really pleased with this trip for our program. We made some really strong headway on who we want to be as a team and program in the way we approached these games," said Head CoachÂ
John Yorke.Â
"We embraced the difficulty of travel, good opponents, heat, back-to-back games, and to get two shutouts in a row is just a tribute to the great performances by bothe the team and individuals."
PLU goalkeepers
Landon Gordon and
Gio Aguilar-Gutierrez combined for the shutout. Gordon, this week's NWC Defensive Player of the Week made four saves in the opening stanza while Aguilar-Gutierrez stopped three shots in the second half. North Park's Arvid Skoglund played all 90 minutes and turned away six shots on goal.
North Park held a slim 16-14 edge in shots, including a 7-6 advantage in shots on goal. Both teams ripped off six shots in the first half at Joe Bean Stadium while NPU held a 10-8 edge in the second half.
PLU's six shots on frame came from six different Lutes.
Connor O'Brien had the most chances, ripping off four shots, including two on frame while
Ty Brunner and
Misha Turchaninov both tallied a pair of shots.Â
"We're very happy with the results of this trip and we're looking forward to getting started with conference where we hopefully can continue to improve going forward."
Tonight's draw came just one day after downing host Wheaton College 2-0 after getting a pair of goals from
Ty Brunner.Â
The Lutes open NWC play next Saturday, hosting Pacific University at 12 p.m.Â
