Pacific Lutheran University Athletics

Pacific Lutheran vs. UC Santa Cruz at East Field

Setting the Scene: The two-time defending Northwest Conference Champion Lutes play their final non-conference game of the regular season today, welcoming University of California, Santa Cruz to East Field. 

Series History: The Lutes and Banana Slugs have met six times since the series began in 2007 with UCSC enjoying a 5-0-1 edge in the series. The two teams met last season in Santa Cruz with the hosts securing a 2-1 victory on a day that Chris Jamrock, a current Lute, made 11 saves in goal for UCSC.

About the Lutes: The Lutes (0-2) opened the season in Minnesota against a pair of Division III heavyweights in Saint Olaf College and 19th-ranked Gustavus Adolphus College. 

Conor O'Brien tied the game in the 16th minute against the reigning Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) Champion Oles but Jack Soares proved to be hard to contain, netting a hat-trick to take the game 4-1.
 
On Sunday, the 19th-ranked Gusties scored twice in a five minute span in what proved to be the only goals of the match. 

Chris Jamrock and Landon Gordon have split time in goal to start the season, both appearing in the two games in Minnesota. Jamrock has started both games and has played the bulk of the minutes, logging 116 minutes between the posts. Gordon boasts a 2.80 goals against average with a team-best five saves. 

About the Banana Slugs: UC Santa Cruz (2-0) heads to Tacoma unbeaten and unsecured upon after a pair of opening weekend shutout wins at the expense of two schools from the Northwest Conference.

The Slugs rolled past Willamette University 3-0 in the season opener, getting goals from three different players in a game the visiting Bearcats were outshot 14-3 during the game, including 10-1 in the opening half. It was more of the same on Monday with UCSC outshooting Pacific University 12-4 on the day in a 1-0 shutout win. Drew Krawiec provided the game's only goal in the 42nd minute off a pass from Soren Groessl.

Four different players have scored this fall for the Slugs with six total players collecting a point. Groessl leads the team in points with three on the young campaign. Tobias Jacobson-Bell has played every minute in goal, collecting two clean sheets after having made six saves. 

Home Sweet Home: The Lutes have been a tough squad to play at home since the 2017 season, owning a 53-10-8 record at East Field during that stretch. That includes a 15-0-2 record over the past two seasons and a 25-1-2 mark since the 2022 campaign. 

Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace in 2023 through the department's partnership with Opendorse. But don't stay on the sidelines, get involved and connect with PLU student-athletes on the Luteville Marketplace: LINK

The Luteville Marketplace is the first dedicated NIL marketplace in Division III on the Opendorse platform that directly connects student-athletes with fans, supporters, and business partners in an easy to use website.

In the spring of 2024 PLU became just the second Division III school in the nation and the first in any division in the State of Washington to partner with Athlete's Thread. Athlete's Thread allows every Lute student-athlete to sell customizable gear and jerseys with their name and number and receive monetary compensation for a portion of each sale. Check out the link above to order your gear today!

Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University Athletic Department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.

Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gamely details and more, the PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.

PLU Non-Discrimination Policy: Pacific Lutheran University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator Jennifer Childress-White; 253-535-7361; TitleIX@plu.edu