Men’s soccer loses to Lutes, 0-2, and Loggers, 1-4, at home

Chase+Whittaker%2C+6%2C+and+Luke+Marks%2C+18%2C+along+with+two+Pacific+Lutheran+players%2C+attempt+to+head+a+ball.

Josh Grodem

Chase Whittaker, 6, and Luke Marks, 18, along with two Pacific Lutheran players, attempt to head a ball.

Gabriel Nair, Staff Writer

After getting trounced by Corban University last weekend, the Linfield Soccer looked to bounce back this weekend at home, but ended up giving away both games at home.

On Saturday, the Wildcats lost 2-0 to the Pacific Lutheran Lutes.  On Sunday, the Wildcats lost again, this time to the Puget Sound Loggers 4-1.

On Saturday, the Wildcats faced the Pacific Lutheran Lutes. The Lutes led the game with 16 shots, six of which were on goal, opposed to Linfield’s nine shots, five of which were on goal.  Pacific was also awarded eight corners to Linfield’s three.

The first goal of the game came in the first half when, Lutes Eddie Na whipped the ball into the left side of the box where teammate Joe Sammartino, was waiting to head the ball into back of the net over Wildcat’s goalkeeper, Nick Van Kleek ‘20.

The second goal was courtesy of Lutes Na, who was able to get past Linfield’s Luke Marks, ‘21, and calmly slot the ball past Van Kleek and into the net.

The Linfield Wildcats thought Pacific Lutheran were offside, and stopping sprinting at full speed for half a second, and that allowed Pacific Luther to get into a one-on-one situation, which Na was able to capitalize on.

Throughout the game, Linfield had plenty of opportunities to even out the score.  In the first half, Josh Morales, ‘21, made a 25-yard attempt on goal, but it was just wide of the mark.

Later on in the half, Ryan Kister, ‘21, was given a one-on-one opportunity against the goalkeeper, but was unable to put the ball in the back of net.

In the second half, Kister had another chance to cut the lead in half, but the Lutes goalkeeper shut down the opportunity.

An anonymous source said that Ryan Kister’s attempt on goal was shot right at the goalie instead of into the corners, which would have had a better chance of finding the back of the net.

On Sunday, the Wildcats played the Puget Sound Loggers.

Unlike the game against Pacific, this game started off with optimism in the air when Kister found the back of the goal within the first minute off a long ball from Chris Palmer, ‘18. But the optimism did not last as the Loggers came back in the twenty-eighth minute with a tap in by Luke Murdock off a crossed pass from teammate Ezra Kraus.

Linfield took an even heavier beating in the second half when Loggers Vincent Von luehrte, headed the ball into the goal off the post, just outside of goalkeeper Eli Peckham’s, ‘18 reach just a minute after the restart.  Logger Dane Schatz, ‘20, then scored in the fiftieth minute off an assist by Chet Selis, ‘18.

“One guy got hurt, and once a new guy came on and we didn’t pressure; everyone didn’t realize they were playing. [They] crossed it over to the left side, and right footed volley [put it in the back of the net],” a source said about the third goal. Finally, in the 75th minute, Patrick Selner hit a long shot from 20 yards out into the bottom right corner.

Linfield men’s soccer is now has a 2-4 season record and 0-2 in conference.

Wildcats plays away against George Fox this Friday before coming back home to play against Pacific.