Written by Mark Colachico, Athletic Communications Writer
SALEM, Ore. -- Despite registering six more shots than the visiting Lutes of Pacific Lutheran University, Willamette University fell to Northwest Conference-leading PLU, 3-0, on Saturday, Oct. 17 at Sparks Field.
With the win, Pacific Lutheran improves to 11-1-1 overall and 7-1-1 in NWC place and now sits three points in front of the University of Puget Sound (5-0-4, 19 points) in the conference standings. Meanwhile, Willamette falls to 6-2-1 overall and 6-4-0 in NWC games (18 points). The Bearcats are in third place and still hold a two-point edge over conference rival Linfield College with six games remaining in the regular season.
In the game's opening four minutes, Willamette had a pair of chances to snap the Lutes' 530-plus minute shutout streak. Unfortunately, neither Meridith Greer (D, So., Beaverton, OR / Southridge HS) nor Emma Sanders (M, Jr., Kennewick, WA / Southridge HS) could find the back of the net for the Bearcats.
Pacific Lutheran broke the scoreless tie in the eighth minute when Jamie Hoffman netted her third goal of the season on an assist by Ashley Mindnich. The scoring play began with Mindnich sending a through ball from the sideline through the 18-yard box to Hoffman, who was crashing from the far side and slotted a shot from 10 yards out into the back of the net for the eventual game-winner.
Over the next 25-plus minutes, Pacific Lutheran registered four of the game's next six shots before PLU's Taylor Lunde stole an attempted clearance from the Bearcats and netted her sixth goal of the year at the 34:29 mark to put PLU in front by a score of 2-0.
Willamette's McKenzie Andringa (M/D, Sr., Yakima, WA/La Salle HS) got the final shot of the opening 45 minutes when she unleashed a rocket from 15 yards out that sailed wide in the 39th minute.
Both teams took seven shots in the first half, with PLU's goalkeeper Takara Mitsui making four saves and Willamette's net minder Emily Sewall (GK, Jr., Petaluma, CA/Casa Grande HS) recording a pair of saves over the first 45 minutes of play.
The second half saw Willamette challenge Pacific Lutheran early, as Andringa put a pair of shots on target in the opening five minutes, only to see Mitsui make both saves to keep the Bearcats off the scoreboard.
In the 61st minute, PLU's Hoffman scored her second goal of the afternoon when she received a pass from Lunde and slotted home her fourth goal of the year. Lunde began the play with a perfectly-placed through ball across the six-yard box. Hoffman pocketed the goal by placing the ball into the bottom right corner of the net to extended PLU's lead to 3-0.
After watching Pacific Lutheran increase its lead to three goals, Willamette turned up the offensive pressure and recorded eight shots over the final 29-plus minutes versus only three by the Lutes.
Andringa, Jill Phillips (D/GK, Sr., Fairbanks, AK/West Valley HS), and Kelsey Walker (M/GK, So., Westerville, OH/Westerville North HS) each recorded a pair of shots for the Bearcats with neither finding the back of the net.
Overall, Willamette recorded 18 shots, including 11 in the second half, to tie for the second highest single-game total of the year for the Bearcats. On the other end of the field, Pacific Lutheran tallied 12 shots with seven on-target.
Mitsui registered a game-high eight saves for PLU, while Sewell recorded four saves between the pipes for Willamette.
Willamette will be off for the next seven days as the Bearcats prepare for a two-game road trip to Eastern Washington. The trip will begin on Saturday, Oct. 24 against the Missionaries of Whitman beginning at 12:00 p.m, (PDT) in Walla Walla, Washington.
