Box Score WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- Pacific Lutheran scored three first half goals and then pitched a shutout in the second half to defeat Whitman 3-0 this afternoon in a Northwest Conference women's soccer contest at the Whitman Athletic Fields.
 
The Lutes are, now, 4-1-4 in conference 6-3-4 overall. Whitman falls to 4-6 in the NWC and 8-6 on the season.
 
The Lutes got on the board early when Alex Murray took a shot from outside the box, straight-away; the ball took a short hop in front of Whitman goalkeeper Emily Davis and went through her for the goal, with just 43-seconds burned off the clock.
 
Pacific Lutheran found the back of the net, again, less than five minutes later on a penalty kick. Blake Warner was tripped from behind after receiving a through ball and dribbling into the box. On the penalty kick, her initial shot was blocked by Davis, but she followed up the rebound and placed the ball into the right side of the net.
 
The final goal of the first half and the contest came at the 34:38 mark. Kaylie Rozell placed a centering pass in the box; Samantha Benner and Davis met the ball at the same time. The ball spun away, Benner collected it, moved to her right and put the ball in the net.
 
Much of the first-half was dominated by the Lutes. The second half saw the Missionaries apply most of the pressure. Whitman had several scoring opportunities -- the best being a shot by Brianna Brown midway through the half, from beyond the box, that hit the cross bar and bounced back into play.
 
The Lutes held the edge in shots -- 12 to 8. PLU outshot the Missionaries 7-3 in the first half. The shots were even at 5-apiece in the second stanza. Six of PLU's shots were on-goal to Whitman's three.
 
Marisa Gonzalez and Takara Mitsui split halves for the shutout between the pipes for PLU, combining for three saves. Davis went the distance for Whitman, making three saves, also.
 
Next Up: the Missionaries host Puget Sound tomorrow at 12 pm. 

Box Score

Contact:
Andrew Holt
Whitman Sports Information Director
holtac@whitman.edu
509.527.5902