Bearcats Step Onto Friendly Pitch Against Loggers and Lutes

By Mark Colachico, Interim Assistant Athletics Communications Director

SALEM, ORE. -- The Willamette University mens soccer team will play its first Northwest Conference home games this weekend - Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 27 & 28 - against University of Puget Sound (Wash.) and Pacific Lutheran University (Wash.). Both games will kick off at 2:30 p.m. (PST) on Sparks Field.

Coming into this weekend, the Bearcats have only played two games on their home turf suffering a heart-breaking 3-2 loss at the hands of University of California-Santa Cruz on September 12 before tying a 32-year-old record for most goals in a game via an 11-0 victory over Multnomah University (Ore.) on September 13.

Last weekend, Willamette opened Northwest Conference play on the east side of Washington against Whitman College and then-No. 12 Whitworth University.

The Bearcats opened the weekend with a hard-fought 1-0 victory in double overtime over Whitman thanks to a goal by Yazan Hishmeh (Jr., F, Ventura, CA/Saint Bonaventure HS) at 117:06 off an assist by Stefan Wutte (So., D, Perrydale, OR/West Salem HS). Hishmeh's goal was his fifth in the Bearcats' last three games, while Wutte dished out his first assists so far this year. Despite being outshot 13-to-9 during regulation, Willamette registering the only two shots in overtime with the final one resulting in the game-winner.

Twenty-four hours later, Willamette returned to the field against nationally-ranked and preseason favorite Whitworth. The host Pirates outshot the Bearcats 17-to-1 in the first half and 24-to-8 in the game, but could only put one shot into the back of the net in their 1-0 victory. The goalkeeping duo of Braydon Calder (Jr., GK, Philomath, OR/Philomath HS) and Julian Juarez (Jr., GK, Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) combined to register five saves, as Calder stood between the pipes for the first 73-plus minutes before giving way to Juarez for the final 16-plus minutes.

So far this season, Hishmeh leads the team with five goals to go along with one assist resulting in a team-leading 11 points. Alan Hernandez (Fr., F, Tigard, OR/Tigard HS) and Jesse Thompson (Jr., F, Santa Ynez, CA/Santa Ynez Valley Union HS) have each scored a pair of goals for the Bearcats, while Tyler Yates (Jr., F, Kailua-Kona, HI/Kealakehe HS) leads the team with three assists. All four goalkeepers have seen at least 17 minutes in net this year, as Calder has logged the most with 514-plus to go along with 27 saves and a goals against average (GAA) of 1.23.

Puget Sound comes into Saturday's game riding a five-game winning streak, as the Loggers are 5-2-1 overall and a perfect 2-0-0 in NWC games. UPS has not allowed a goal so far this season in Northwest Conference play, as the Loggers have outscored their opponents 23-to-7 this year.

Oliver Field leads Puget Sound in goals with six, while Sean Ryan paces the Loggers in assists with six and total points with 16. The goalkeeping trio of Nathan King, Jacob Palmer, and Josh Sonico have all seen time between the pipes this season with King handling the majority of the duties logging 515 minutes to go along with a team-high 21 saves. Palmer has the lowest GAA for UPS at 0.62, while King is allowing a miniscule 0.70 goals per contest.

Pacific Lutheran enters this weekend's games on a four-game winning streak, as the Lutes have compiled win-loss records of 5-3 overall and 2-0 in NWC matches. Jordan Downing leads PLU in goals with five and points with 10, while Bennett Bugbee has handed out a team-high five assists for the Lutes.

Mike Arguello has spent the majority of the season in goal for Pacific Lutheran, as he has manned the net for 707-plus minutes, registering 32 saves. His GAA of 1.02 that ranks third in the Northwest Conference.

Following this weekend's games, Willamette remains at home on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 4-5, against Pacific University and George Fox University. Both games begin at 2:30 p.m. (PDT) on Sparks Field.