SALEM, Ore. — A five minute offensive outburst set the stage for another shutout victory for the Pacific Lutheran University men's soccer squad on Sunday, downing host Willamette University 2-0 to force a tie atop the Northwest Conference standings.
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The Lutes (5-1-2, 3-0-1 NWC) are now unbeaten in their last seven games (5-0-2) and have earned clean sheets in five of the last six games.
Sunday's showdown was scoreless until the 21st minute with
Connor O'Brien scoring his fifth goal of the 2026 campaign off an assist from
Mike Murega. PLU struck again just five minutes later with
Ty Brunner scoring an insurance goal in the 26th minute off a feed from
Eric Martinez. It was Brunner's fifth goal of the season with Brunner and O'Brien both tied for the NWC lead in both goals and points.
Brunner's goal proved to be the final score of the day with neither team scoring over the final 65 minutes of the game.
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"It was good to see our guys bounce back from what we thought was less than our best performance on Wednesday," said Head Coach
John Yorke.Â
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"A lot of the things that we addressed this week showed themselves on the field today. We had really good effort and execution by our team today."
PLU finished with a 21-9 edge in shots, including a 9-4 advantage in shots on target.
Landon Gordon and
Gio Aguilar-Gutierrez split time in goal, combining for the shutout. Gordon handled the opening 45 minutes with Aguilar-Gutierrez making four saves in the second half. Willamette's (1-4-1, 1-2-1 NWC) Mikkel Jensen was busy in goal, making seven saves and allowing two goals over 90 minutes.Â
Pacific Lutheran has outscored its opponents 12-2 over its seven-game unbeaten run, including outdueling league foes 7-1 over the past four games. The Lutes' win coupled with Whitman College's 2-2 draw with Pacific University on Sunday puts PLU and Whitman in a tie for first place in the conference standings.Â
PLU returns to Oregon on Saturday, facing Lewis & Clark College at 12 p.m. in Portland.Â
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