By: Ally Benko
The University of Puget Sound’s men’s and women’s soccer teams are enjoying success for the first part of their respective seasons. The women’s team has a record of 7-1 while the men’s team is 4-2-2.
Over the weekend the men’s team was at home, playing Whitworth University on Saturday and Whitman College on Sunday, while the women’s team traveled to George Fox University (Ore.) on Saturday and then to Pacific University (Ore.) on Sunday.
The men’s team had more offensive possessions than defensive in the game against the Whitworth Pirates, which led to them being up 2-0 in the first half. The Pirates battled back in the last 20 minutes of the second half to make the game 2-2, but neither team was able to score in the two overtime periods, resulting in a tie.
The game against Whitman also ended up in a tie as each team had one goal. The Loggers single goal was scored by number fourteen, junior Zac Lokay (Boulder, Colo.), with two minutes left in the second half. Unfortunately, the two overtime periods ended with no score changes, though there was a last-second shot by the Loggers that nearly went into the net.
The Women’s team won both of their weekend games, marking a now seven-game win streak.
In their first game of the weekend against George Fox they won 1-0. The goal came in the beginning of the second half and was off of a corner kick that first-year Tess Peppis (Eugene, Ore.) inbounded and sophomore Bailey Edwards (Tacoma, Wash.) headed into the goal.
On Sunday the Women’s team beat Pacific 1-0, the goal coming late in the second half and unassisted from senior Grayson Williams-Krebs (Lake Oswego, Ore.).
The Women’s Soccer coach, Joseph Vari, was very optimistic going into the games versus George Fox and Pacific and he believes that the team is learning and growing with each other. He stated that “the senior class has been our rock for when times get rough” and that they are doing a great job of leading the team.
With a now seven-game winning streak, Vari is looking forward to a good season. The University plays each team twice, though, and as he said, “it is difficult to be successful with that type of schedule, so we will have to continue to improve.”
The next games will come on October 1st and 2nd when the men’s team travels to Willamette University (Ore.) and then Linfield College (Ore.), respectively. The women’s team will be home that weekend, hosting Willamette and then Linfield. Both games will be at noon on Peyton Field.
The women’s team will also have a game on the 5th at 4 p.m. where they host Pacific Lutheran University. Coach Vari has highlighted this game as one that can be very important and asks students to come out and support their fellow Loggers.