Setting the Scene: The reigning seven-time Northwest Conference Champion Lutes begin their final homestand of the season, returning to East Field with a nine point lead in the NWC standings with five games to go. Today's opponent is Oregon rival Lewis & Clark College.
Series History: The Lutes and Pioneers have battled 59 times on the soccer pitch since the series began in 1981 with the scales tilted 49-4-6 in favor of PLU.
PLU is unbeaten in the last 21 meetings (19-0-2) dating back to the 2012 season. PLU has outscored the Pios 11-2 in the last three meetings, including a 5-2 victory in Portland back on Sept. 28.
About the Lutes: Pacific Lutheran (10-1-4, 9-0-2 NWC) continues to climb the national rankings, sitting 17th in this week's USC Division III Top 25 Poll.
That comes as the Lutes are unbeaten in its last 13 games, including a nine-game conference winning streak.
PLU sits firmly atop the league standings, enjoying a nine-point spread on second place rivals University of Puget Sound and Whitworth University with five games to play.
Last weekend was the squad's final trip to Oregon, netting a 3-1 win over Linfield University and a 3-0 win at Willamette University. Hannah Cecil scored three times over the weekend while Bella Hanna had two goals and an assist en route to winning NWC Defensive Player of the Week honors.
The Lutes saw their nine game winning streak come to a close on Wednesday afternoon with a scoreless draw against Puget Sound.
10 Lutes have scored a goal this season while 13 total PLU players have tallied a point through the opening 15 games of the year.
Hannah Cecil is the team's leading scorer with nine goals and 20 total points with Julia Causbie second on the team in points (18) and the team leader in assists (10). Bella Hanna adds six goals and 13 points while Kayden Hulquist, Olivia Boehm, and Ally Tattar have all found the back of the net more than once this fall.
Abby Winkler has been the steady presence in goal, playing all but nine minutes in goal this fall. Winkler has made 58 saves on the season with a 0.81 goals against average and seven clean sheets to her name.
About the Pioneers: Lewis & Clark (4-7-2, 2-6-1 NWC) heads into the weekend having dropped four of its last five games.
The Pios got two goals from Carli Driskill within a seven minute span, including the game winner in the 69th minute in a 2-1 win over Pacific University on Oct. 12. Since then, L&C fell 3-1 to George Fox University the following day before being edged 1-0 on Oct. 16 against Willamette University as the Bearcats scored the game's lone goal in the 82nd minute.
Nine of the Pioneers' 19 goals this fall have been from Celeste Schreifels who has a team-best 19 points on the year (nine goals and one assist). Grace Smith and Iris Stutzman are tied for the team lead in assists with three on the season.
Two players have split time in goal for the Pioneers, Delany Jones has seen the most action, playing in eight games with 49 saves in 675 minutes of action with a 1.60 goals against average. Anna Ingadottir has amassed 495 minutes of experience in net with 19 saves and a 2.18 goals against average.
Home Sweet Home: East Field has been a daunting venue for opposing teams since the 2014 season, winning 28 of the last 35 on the synthetic surface. The Lutes boast a 80-9-10 record on the artificial turf over the past 10 seasons. That includes a 10-0 record in 2021 and a 8-1-1 mark at home in 2022.
Weekend Highlights from Around Luteville
NWC Preseason Coaches' Poll
Trailblazing NIL the D3 Way: PLU Athletics continues to lead the way nationally in Name, Image, and Likeness, unveiling the Luteville Marketplace last fall through the department's partnership with Opendorse. But don't stay on the sidelines, get involved and connect with PLU student-athletes on the Luteville Marketplace: LINK
The Luteville Marketplace is the first dedicated NIL marketplace in Division III on the Opendorse platform that directly connects student-athletes with fans, supporters, and business partners in an easy to use website.
Last spring PLU became just the second Division III school in the nation and the first school in any division in the State of Washington to partner with Athlete's Thread. Athlete's Thread allows every Lute student-athlete to sell customizable gear and jerseys with their name and number and receive monetary compensation for a portion of each sale. Check out the link above to order your gear today!
Stay connected to your favorite teams by downloading the official mobile app of the Pacific Lutheran University athletic department powered by SIDEARM Sports, available in the Apple App Store and on Google Play.
Featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more, the new PLU Athletics app is free and compatible with both iOS and Android devices.
Next Home Match:
Oct. 2 vs. Pacific at 1:45 p.m.
PLU Non-Discrimination Policy: Pacific Lutheran University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability or age in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Title IX Coordinator Jennifer Childress-White; 253-535-7361; TitleIX@plu.edu