Setting the Scene: The Lutes' honor their senior class today, wrapping up their home slate by welcoming NWC rival Linfield to East Field.
Series History: Pacific Lutheran and Linfield are renewing the rivalry for the 68th time since the series first began in 1980. The Lutes enjoy a 44-20-3 edge in the series, winning the last 10 meetings, and are unbeaten (15-0-2) in the last 17 encounters. PLU got a hat-trick from Cris Lozano the first time the teams met back on Sept. 17 in McMinnville with the visiting Lutes running away with the 6-0 win.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (14-3, 8-3 NWC) are back home for the final time this season. The Lutes earn a split on the road last weekend in eastern Washington. The Lutes came up short 2-1 against Whitman last Saturday before downing Whitworth 3-1 the following day.
Trevor Thompson was the Lute goalscorer against the Blues, tying the game at 1-1 in the 21st minute but Whitman got the last laugh with a goal in the 72nd minute to collect the win.
Against Whitworth, the Lutes scored two goals in the opening 28 minutes and never looked back in the 3-1 win. Craig Johnson opened the scoring in the 19th minute before getting goals from Trevor Thompson in the 28th minute off a pass from Johnson. Johnson logged his second goal of the game just 15 seconds before halftime, his 10th of the year.
Nicholas Gaston had a career day in goal, making a career-high 10 saves.
Thompson leads the NWC in points with 10 goals and eight assists on the season. Johnson is tied with Thompson for the team lead in goals with 10. Robby Guyer has five goals this fall along with a team-high nine assists while Cris Lozano has notched eight goals in 2022.
Gaston leads the team in goal with 54 saves and a 1.02 goals against average, having logged 1,230 minutes in net.
About the Wildcats: Linfield (5-10-1, 4-6-1 NWC) heads into the weekend having dropped five of its last six games. The Wildcats lone win during that stretch was a 2-1 victory over Pacific last Friday.
In that game, Linfield tallied goals from Ronan Carroll in the 38th minute and Sid Kosaris in the 60th to net the win. The Wildcats conceded a penalty kick goal in the 88th minute but it was too little, too late for the Boxers.
The Wildcats have experienced success on the road with four of their five wins coming away from McMinnville. Linfield is just 1-6-1 at home while boasting a 4-4 mark in away contests.
Kosaris leads the team in both goals (six) and points (13) and is one of just four players on the team with multiple goals on the season. Cameron Gaines leads Linfield in assists with two helpers this fall.
Three keepers have seen game action this fall with Henry Boudreaux eating up a majority of the minutes in goal. Boudreaux has a 1.92 goals against average, having made 50 saves on the season.
Thank You Seniors!
2022 Senior Class by the numbers:
52-18-2 Overall Record
38-10-2 in NWC Play
24-7-3 at East Field
2 NWC Titles. 1 NWC Washington State Title
2 NCAA Tournament Appearances
Home Cooking: East Field has been a daunting place for opponents to play since the 2015 season with the Lutes holding a 48-15-7 advantage in games played on campus. That includes a 23-7-3 mark over the past three seasons.
Attaways: The Lutes' high octane offense has averaged three goals a game this season and it's no surprise the result is PLU dominating the NWC Offensive Player of the Week Award. This year six Lutes have been honored by the league, with Archie Caldwell most recently earning the honor on Oct. 17. Craig Johnson won the award on Oct. 10, Trevor Thompson won the award on Sept. 26 and Oct. 3 with Cris Lozano landing the honor on Sept. 12.
Fit to be Tied: Things will look a little different this fall with the NCAA doing away with overtime in the regular season. All competitions ending tied after 90 minutes will be declared a tie. Previously two sudden death periods of 10 minutes in length were played before the contest was declared a tie. These changes will align the NCAA more closely with international rules.
Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace on Wednesday through the department's partnership with Opendorse. Learn more about the deal here: LINK. 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.
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, gameday details and more, the new PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
To download the app to your smartphone or tablet, visit the Apple App Store (DOWNLOAD LINK) or Google Play (DOWNLOAD LINK) and search for "PLU Athletics."
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
Next Game:
Saturday, Nov. 5 vs. Puget Sound at 1:30 p.m.