TACOMA, Wash. - Scoring the first goal just 41 seconds into the
match, the Puget Sound Loggers pulled back to .500 on the season,
defeating the Willamette Bearcats, 3-2, in a Northwest Conference
men's soccer match on Saturday afternoon at Peyton Field in Tacoma,
Wash.
Sophomore Sean Rice (Boulder, Colo.) gave the Loggers the early
lead after driving down the field and scoring on Puget Sound's
first opportunity to take the 1-0 lead just 41 seconds into the
match. Rice struck again in the 16th minute as Zach Semago
(Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) fed in a ball from the left side of
the box and Rice was there to finish for his second goal of the
afternoon. Puget Sound made it 3-0 heading into halftime when
Cole Peterson (Great Falls, Mont./C.M. Russell) fell back on a
corner kick by Derek Woodworth (Tacoma, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) and
put a head on the ball along the far post for his third goal of the
season.
Willamette made it interesting in the closing minutes as Casey
Dineen collected a corner kick from Luke Lagattuta and fired point
blank past freshman keeper Kevin Halasz (Santa Cruz, Calif.), who
was playing his first minutes of 2009, in the 86th minute to cut
the gap to two goals. Dineen scored again in the 89th minute
when Willamette was awarded a penalty kick, which the Bearcats
converted but it was too little, too late as the Loggers collected
the 3-2 win.
Freshman Chris McDonald (Newton, Mass./Noble & Greenough)
collected the victory, making four saves and allowing no goals in
the first half. Halasz came in to play the second half,
allowing two goals and making one save to preserve the victory for
UPS. Eben Hellekson took the loss for Willamette, allowing
three goals and making five saves on 10 total shots.
The Logger offense was on target all game as they put eight of
their 10 shots on frame. Puget Sound also held an 11-3
advantage on corner kicks.
The Loggers will be back in action on Sunday when they play host
to Linfield in a match that is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. on Peyton
Field at Baker Stadium in Tacoma, Wash.
