Oct. 18, 2006

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Lutes Play Key NWC Tilt Against Puget Sound

THIS WEEK: PLU (10-3-1 overall, 7-2-1 Northwest Conference) hosts Puget Sound at Mt. Tahoma High School, Wednesday, 5:30 p.m.; PLU hosts George Fox, Sunday, noon.

IMPORTANT MATCH: Wednesday’s match between the host PLU Lutes and the Puget Sound Loggers has great significance as both teams battle for the Northwest Conference championship and a berth in the national tournament. The Loggers are in second in the conference race with 23 points, with the Lutes on their heels with 22 points. Both teams have played 10 conference matches with six remaining. Willamette currently tops the table with 25 points from 10 matches.

MATCH SPONSOR: Gilchrist Chevrolet, a supporter of the PLU soccer programs, is sponsoring the PLU versus UPS match.

THE FIRST TIME AROUND: Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound played a closely contested match on September 20 with the Loggers prevailing, 2-1, at Baker Stadium. Adrienne Folsom scored both goals for the Loggers, including the game winner with about eight minutes remaining. The Lutes had tied the score two minutes before that when freshman forward Jenny McKinsey (Greenacres, Wash. / West Valley HS) tallied her sixth goal of the season. UPS had 14 shots to 12 for the Lutes.

LUTES WIN TWO IN OREGON: Jenny McKinsey scored her eighth goal of the season with 27 seconds remaining in the second overtime as Pacific Lutheran defeated the host Lewis & Clark Pioneers, 1-0, in a conference match played last Saturday in Portland. McKinsey scored on a header from a cross served up by another PLU freshman midfielder, Jill Trumbull (Snohomish, Wash. / Snohomish HS). The following day in Forest Grove, Ore., the Lutes won their fourth straight Northwest Conference contest, defeating the host Pacific Boxers, 2-0. Pacific Lutheran’s first goal came on a penalty kick by senior forward Nicole Veth (Bremerton, Wash. / Olympic HS) in the 42nd minute. Jenny McKinsey notched the second goal in the 77th minute. McKinsey leads the Lutes with nine goals this season.

NWC HONORS ROEDER: Senior defender Nicole Roeder (Renton, Wash. / Tahoma HS) earned Northwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for helping the Lutes to their shutout wins last weekend. Roeder and her defensive teammates limited Lewis & Clark and Pacific to just 13 shots in 199 minutes of action. The shutouts were the third and fourth in a row in conference play for the Lutes, who now have 10 for the season.

- PLU -