By John Tveter, Sports Writer
The Lutes hosted the Pacific University Boxers on a blustery fall day this past Saturday, winning 3-0. After senior Derek Johnson scored a goal in the first half, the match seemed to be at a turning point. The Lutes were looking for an insurance goal, while the Boxers were searching for the equalizer.
Looking to seal the win, the Lutes pushed players forward, attempting to create a scoring chance and looking for someone to put that chance in the back of the net.
In the 50th minute, midfielder Giancarlo Santoro, a senior, made a clever run down the right wing after which he sent a winding cross into the box. Forward Rigoberto Loreto, a first-year, got to the end of the cross, but still had work to do.
He took a nifty touch to his right to sidestep a sliding defender, and then he hammered a shot at the goal from the right side of the penalty area. The shot took a slight deflection from a defender and then slid into the far side of the goal past the helpless Boxer goalkeeper.
The Lutes’ goalkeeper Joe Rayburn, a senior, kept a clean sheet on the day.
“We knew that Pacific would try to be direct in the first half and that they would play with two target forwards,” Rayburn said. “Our game plan was to absorb the pressure early, and then attack when we had the wind to our advantage. We put in a good effort both offensively and defensively today, and we got the win.”
Forward Jordan Downing, a sophomore, added a goal of his own to finalize the scoring for the Lutes. PLU dominated the match statistically, taking 20 shots with 10 of them on target.
That statistic was significantly more than the six total shots taken by Pacific. Johnson led the attack with a total of five shots on goal, and senior Joe Oleginski contributed with an assist on Johnson’s goal in the first half.
The Lutes hosted George Fox Sunday and won 1-0. Oleginski scored the game’s lone goal in the 82nd minute.
Freshman Diego Aceves was credited with the assist.
The Lutes men’s soccer team has now won three games in a row heading into the conference matchup against Puget Sound this Saturday.
