Willamette Closes Out Weekend With Loss to Pacific Lutheran, 3-0

By Mark Colachico, Interim Assistant Athletics Communications Director

PARKLAND, WASH. -- Willamette University, who wrapped up the first half of Northwest Conference play, fell to Pacific Lutheran University, 3-0, behind a pair of first half goals by the Lutes within a 12-minute span Sunday at East Field.

With the win, Pacific Lutheran remains atop the NWC standings improving to 9-2-1 overall and 7-1-0 in Northwest Conference games. Meanwhile, Willamette falls to 2-9-1 overall and 1-6-1 in NWC matches.

Over the opening 22 minutes, Pacific Lutheran showed both its offensive and defensive presence with the Lutes registering the game's opening five shots that included Kelsey Hathaway's eventual game-winning goal at 22:16 on an assist by Hannah Bush.

PLU's goal came via an 18-yard shot by Hathaway that went into the opposite corner of the goal for her first score of the season.

Willamette would register its first shot at 23:18 when Sarah Desautels (Sr., MF/F, Snohomish, WA/Glacier Peak HS) sent a corner kick onto Emma Manzano (So., MF, San Jose, CA/Presentation HS), who sent the Bearcats' first of 12 shots wide of the goal.

Fifteen minutes after PLU's first goal, the Lutes added their second goal via a penalty kick by Kelly White at 38:16. The Bearcats were whistled for a foul inside the penalty box resulting in White netting her third goal of the season that capped the scoring in the first half.

Over the opening 45 minutes of play, Pacific Lutheran registered eight shots compared to Willamette's five. The Bearcats were awarded the only corner kick in the first half via Desautel's aforementioned try from the corner.

The second half would begin with Willamette registering five of the first eight shots before Pacific Lutheran added its third goal at 79:21 via Machaela Graddy's third goal of the year on an assist by Hathaway.

Graddy's goal came via a 10-yard shot from the middle of the field that eluded Willamette's goalkeeper Emily Sewall (So., GK, Petaluma, CA/Casa Grande HS) for the contest's final score.

Over the game's final 10 minutes, both teams registered two shots without any finding the back of the net.

Sewall ended the contest with a game-high three saves, while PLU's Takara Mitsui tallied a pair of saves en route to earning her ninth win of the year and seventh shutout of the season.

Overall, Pacific Lutheran ended the game with a two-shot advantage (14-to-12) despite Willamette holding a 7-to-6 edge in the second half. Six of PLU's shots were on-target, while the Bearcats were only able to put two shots on frame. Willamette would be awarded two corner kicks compared to Pacific Lutheran's one, while the Bearcats were whistled for 10 fouls versus PLU's nine.

Willamette returns home on Wednesday, October 15, against Lewis & Clark College beginning at 7:00 p.m. (PDT) on Sparks Field in Salem.