Box Score TACOMA, Wash.—The No. 25 University of Puget Sound women's soccer team once again played shutdown defense, limiting Pacific Lutheran to only two shots in a 1-0 victory at Peyton Field in Tacoma, Wash. on Wednesday.
The Loggers started off the match playing defense, as the Lutes possessed for much of the first five minutes and even earned a corner kick in the second minute. No attack developed, and the Loggers enjoyed control of the match after that, taking the first seven shots of the match. After the first two Puget Sound shots were blocked, Robin Vieira ran a give-and-go with Kylie Beeson, resulting in a shot by Vieira. Her strike went high, however, and out for a corner.
Puget Sound kept up the pressure after, seeing an attack called offside in the 14th minute. One minute later, Annie Jonsson sent her second shot of the match above the crossbar as well.
Vieira tallied the match's first shot on goal in the 27th minute, forcing Pacific Lutheran keeper Marisa Gonzalez to make a diving stop and send the ball out for a Logger corner. After the corner, the Loggers saw two more shots blocked.
Pacific Lutheran saw its first shot of the match in the 40th minute, a Kaylie Rozell attempt on frame which bounced in front of Logger keeper Casey Thayer. Thayer grabbed the loose ball, tallying her only save in the process.
The Loggers kept up the offensive pressure to begin the second half, taking the period's first three shots. In the 55th minute, the Loggers' Jill Shimabuku got her head on a cross from Amalia Acorda-Fey, but she nodded the ball wide to the left.
Pacific Lutheran's first shot of the half and only shot of the half came in the 62nd minute when Hannah Bush sent an attempt to the right of the Logger goal.
Twenty minutes into the second half, Acorda-Fey saw an opportunity to score, unmarked on the right post. Her shot went just a few feet high and out for a goal kick. A minute later, the Loggers found the net when midfielder Grayson Williams-Krebs finished off a cross from Liz Blonden for the first goal of the match. The goal is Williams-Krebs' second goal of the year and first since Aug. 30 in the very first match of the season.
After the goal, Puget Sound managed three more shots in the match, two of them getting blocked and one sailing high. The Lutes didn't do much offensively either until the final minutes of the match. As the clock was winding down, Pacific Lutheran pressured a bit more and even had a serious threat forming in the Logger box in the final seconds. The Puget Sound defense held, though, and knocked the ball away and downfield until time expired.
"This midweek game always has an event and tends to be a little bit surreal," said Puget Sound head coach Randy Hanson. The games will look just a little bit odd. Give PLU credit; on balance today we deserved the win but give them lots of credit to organize at the end to put a little scare in us and perhaps to get an equalizer."
The Loggers dominated the offensive categories, taking 16 shots as opposed to PLU's two and attempting seven corners over PLU's two. Both teams only tallied one save, but Gonzalez also saw a ball roll into her net while Puget Sound keepers Thayer and Lauren Thomas kept the Puget Sound net empty.
As the Lutes didn't score a goal, the Loggers tallied their 11th shutout of the season and sixth in the last seven games. They've also won 10 matches in a row, their longest win streak since 2009 when they won 12 straight matches to open the season.
Also, the Loggers are ranked number 25 in the nation in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, moving into the national ranking for the first time in over a month. They also moved into No. 4 in the NSCAA's West Regional poll.
The Loggers will finish off their home slate on Sunday, November 3rd with an 11:30 a.m. match versus Linfield. Prior to kickoff, the seven seniors on the women's soccer team will be honored as they will be playing their final match at Peyton Field.
