By Mark Colachico, Interim Assistant Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, ORE. -- In a battle for second place in the Northwest Conference standings, Willamette University's men's soccer team defeat Pacific Lutheran University (Wash.), 3-1, behind goals from three different Bearcats Sunday at Sparks Field.

With the win, Willamette improves to 6-4-0 overall and 3-1-0 in Northwest Conference games. Meanwhile, Pacific Lutheran falls to 6-4 overall and 3-1-0 in NWC contests. Both teams are tied for second place along with University of Puget Sound (Wash.), as each squad has registered nine points in the opening four games of the conference schedule.

"We are liking this win," said Willamette's fourth-year Head Coach Lloyd Fobi. "We played well today, as we established what we wanted to do. We are getting better and I think that we know that we went 3-1 against the top four teams from the conference last season. We are happy about today and will get back to work tomorrow."

After a scoreless opening 22-plus minutes, Willamette got on the board when Julian Hanlon-Austin (So., F, Portland, OR/Grant HS) netted his first goal of the season on a header at 22:07 that came straight off a corner kick by Tyler Yates (Jr., F, Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS). Following an effective offensive challenge by the Bearcats that forced the Lutes to play the ball over the end line, Yates lofted a perfectly-placed corner kick onto the awaiting head of Hanlon-Austin, who calmly redirected it into the left side of the goal for the game's opening score.

Just over eight minutes later, Pacific Lutheran equalized on an unassisted goal by Isak Sommer at 30:31. The Lutes' scoring play would begin with Bryce Archambeault playing a ball into the box that Sommer collected and directed it off a pair of Bearcat defenders before recollecting the ball and rifling a shot into the upper left corner of the goal to knot that game at 1-1.

Both teams would enter halftime with the score even at 1-all, as Willamette tallied seven shots compared to Pacific Lutheran's five. Both teams would earn three corner kicks, as PLU's net-minder was forced to make three saves over the opening 45 minutes of play versus Willamette's two.

Almost 34 minutes into the second half, Willamette was awarded a penalty kick when PLU's Kevin Wien was whistled for a handball in the box. Yazan Hishmeh (Jr., F, Ventura, CA/Saint Bonaventure HS) stepped up to the penalty circle and calmly netted his team-leading seventh goal of the season into the left side of the net past a diving PLU keeper at 68:51. Hishmeh's goal turned out to be his third game-winner of the season, as the junior forward has netted three straight game-winners in the Bearcats' last four games.

Pacific Lutheran nearly tied the game in the 72nd minute when Chris Nesselquist sent a shot toward a wide-open net that was cleared away by Willamette's Eric Spresser (Jr., MF, Eugene, OR/Pleasant Valley HS) before the ball could cross the goal line to keep the Bearcats ahead by a goal.

Less than three minutes later, Willamette added an insurance goal when Jesse Thompson (Jr., F, Santa Ynez, CA/Santa Ynez Valley Union HS) headed home his third goal of the season off a combo assist by Adam Lewis (Jr., D, Corvallis, OR/Crescent Valley HS/Pomona-Pitzer) and Noah Walin (So., MF, Paia, HI/Seabury Hall). Walin began the scoring play with a corner kick along the near sideline that he sent into the box where Lewis one-timed a pass back to Thompson, who sent a shot into the back of the net via a diving header at 75:09.

Neither team could muster much offense over the final 15 minutes, as Willamette played keep away from Pacific Lutheran and used a solid defense that stopped PLU's few challenges en route to preserving the Bearcats' second victory of the weekend.

Willamette'sgoalkeeper Braydon Calder (Jr., GK, Philomath, OR/Philomath HS) registered his sixth win of the season behind three saves, while Pacific Lutheran's Mike Arguello suffered the loss despite making a game-high seven saves for the Lutes.

When asked about his performance this weekend with back-to-back wins, Calder said, "Feels good. We came out on the weekend and got two (wins). It's always good to get points at home since that is what you are supposed to do. We played well, passed the ball on the ground, and stuck to our game plan."

Overall, Willamette collected five more shots (15-to-10) than Pacific Lutheran with the Bearcats also earning three more corner kicks (8-to-5) that included a 5-to-2 advantage in the second half. The Bearcats were whistled for 11 fouls versus PLU's 10, while Willamette was called offsides three times compared to Pacific Lutheran's one.

Willamette will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 4, against Pacific University or Oregon. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. (PDT) on Sparks Field in Salem.

When asked to look forward to next weekend, Fobi said, "The true mark of a champion is that you raise yourself up for games regardless of who you are playing. Pacific has a new coach that is instituting a new playing system and you always do not want to be the team that they get the first win against."