WALLA WALLA, Wash. - Looking to give the Lutes their first loss, the Blues were every bit their equal except on the scoreboard as the Whitman College men's soccer team fell to Pacific Lutheran 3-1 in Northwest Conference action on Sunday at Hayner Field.
Both keepers had their hands full. Bernie Jones notched a pair of saves while dealing with 13 Lutes shots. Nicholas Gaston made four saves for PLU on seven Whitman shots.
The Blues had the lionshare of the possession early leading to several unsuccessful scoring chances. The Lute offense then began to click and repeatedly penetrate the Whitman defense. The effort paid off early as Dane Helle found a streaking Craig Johnson who finished low and inside the far post past Jones.
The game flow evened out and the Blues were able to notch the equalizer midway through the first half. Christian Gomez dribbled down the left flank and found Edwin Romero in the center of the field. Gomez continued his run as Romero played him on a vertical run inside the box. His shot went wide of the far post, but Jacob Burrill slid and got his foot on the ball and knocked it into the back of the net.
Johnson played the role of facilitator for the Lutes just over 10 minutes later. He played a through ball between the Whitman backline to a streaking Trevor Thompson. Thompson slotted the ball past Jones into the right side netting to regain the lead for PLU.
The Lutes continued to lead in the second half and put the Blues behind the eight ball with a goal in the 63rd minute. Robby Guyer beat a couple defenders at the top of the box and curled a shot with his left foot just under the bar and inside the far post to put PLU up 3-1.
The Blues will only have two days to prepare their lone conference midweek home contest. Whitman will host rival Whitworth on Wednesday, Oct. 18 at 7:00 p.m.
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