PARKLAND, Wash. - A rainy afternoon on the turf at East Field on the campus of host Pacific Lutheran University turned gloomy for Whitman College's men's soccer team as the visiting Missionaries dropped a 5-0 Northwest Conference decision to the Lutes.
Whitman (2-10-2, 2-7-2 NWC) played much of the afternoon with 10 men on the pitch following a red card in the 30th minute. Hanging onto a slim 1-0 advantage at that point the Lutes (13-5, 9-2) would double the lead less than five minutes later.
Despite the player deficit the Missionaries were still generating an attack, it just wasn't as pronounced as earlier in the game.
Bridger Sellegren notched the first shot of the game, putting one off the PLU crossbar just 2 minutes and 10 seconds into the contest. Two minutes later
Marcos Medina reeled off a shot on goal but Lutes goalkeeper Mike Arguello was able to make the stop to keep the game scoreless.
In transition action PLU was able to follow up Arguello's save with pressure in Whitman's defensive third. Eddie Na finished off the pressure with a shot from 12 yards out that beat Missionaries goalie
Milo Cantor and provided the home team with an early lead.
Gabe Jacobson nearly tallied the equalizer less than a minute after his team had been hit with the red card but Arguello once again came up with a save to allow the Lutes to cling to their slim edge over Whitman.
The two-goal deficit wasn't an insurmountable one to overcome for the Missionaries but PLU upped its lead to three with a marker just 35 seconds after the second-half-opening whistle. Even with 11 men, three goals would be hard to come by for any team, especially on the slippery turf at East Field.
Noah Cavanaugh registered Whitman's only shot on goal, of four shots total, over the second 45 minutes Sunday, but it too was scooped up just inside the right post for another save to keep the Missionaries from changing the scoreboard.
The game at PLU marks the end of travel for Whitman as its final four games of the 2015 schedule will be played at the Whitman Athletic Fields beginning with a Wednesday evening non-conference match against in-town rival Walla Walla University.
