WALLA WALLA, Wash.  A ferocious flurry from Whitman's men's soccer team over the final minutes failed to produce the tying goal, allowing visiting Pacific Lutheran University to ride out a converted penalty-kick goal for a 3-2 Northwest Conference victory Sunday afternoon at the Whitman Athletics Complex fields.

Whitman (8-4-4, 4-2-4 NWC) and the Lutes (8-6-2, 5-4-1) were all square at the halftime break and the score remained that way until the 80th minute.

A Whitman foul in the box was called on a slide tackle, presenting PLU with an opportunity to regain a lead that at one time had been two goals.

Eddie Na stepped up to the hash for the PK chance and slotted a shot low to the left while Whitman goalkeeper Jack Filipponi read the other direction. The conversion provided the visitors with the advantage, but that wasn't a sure thing after Whitman had rallied from its earlier two-goal deficit.

The Lutes scored 20 seconds apart in the 21st minute, but two minutes later Collin Faunt went short side from the right to beat PLU goalie Jack Rose and halve the deficit.

Whitman had its chances to pull even over the next 20 minutes but it was a set piece in the 44th that finally did the trick.

A corner kick lofted the ball into the box where Jadon Bachtold won the battle in the air and flicked a header past Rose, erasing the PLU advantage just before the halftime break.

Much of the second half was evenly played with both teams earning scoring chances and both teams doing a little chasing on defense.

The late PK changed all that, forcing Whitman to ratchet up the pressure.

Over the final 10 minutes Whitman registered six shots toward the PLU frame but four were blocked and two were saved, just barely, by goalie Tyler Ohata who had taken over for Rose coming out of the intermission.

Ohata's leaping save that tipped a Gabe Jacobson shot just over the crossbar resulted in another corner chance for the Whits. The opportunity resulted in a blocked shot from Ben Freedman but the carom landed at Jacobson's feet and again he tested Ohata with a shot the netminder was able to tip away.

One final corner chance after that tip ended up with PLU, which sent a clear toward midfield as the final horn sounded.

The match-up was the final home game for Whitman's five seniors. Eric Conte, Drew Edmonds, Collin Faunt, Trayvon Foy and Paal Nilssen were honored in pregame with a brief ceremony that celebrated their contributions to the program and welcomed their parents to the Athletics Complex one last time.

The season concludes on the road for Whitman which heads to Willamette University on Saturday, and to Linfield College on Sunday. The schedule closes out on Saturday, Nov. 5 at Whitworth University.