Men’s soccer splits over Halloween weekend, chances for a playoff birth now all but gone

Over the weekend the University of Puget Sound men’s soccer team headed down to Oregon to face the George Fox Bruins and the Pacific Boxers on Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 29 and 30.  The result was typical of the season thus far as the Loggers recorded a 2-0 win over the Bruins but fell 1-0 to the Boxers.

On Saturday, the Logger defense stood strong as the team recorded its ninth shutout of the season behind four saves from sophomore goalie Chris McDonald (Newton, Mass.).

The Bruins outshot the Loggers 17 to 14 in the game; however, only four of those shots were on goal, compared to the eight produced by the Loggers. After the Bruins helped out the Loggers with an own goal in the 41st minute, freshman Andrew White (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) added his fourth goal of the season to put the Loggers up 2-0 in the 78th minute. For the remaining minutes, the team exhibited its solid defense that has proved to be a continued strength throughout the season.

Junior captain Marcus Rudd (Seattle, Wash.) believes that on Saturday, the win came down to the team’s intensity.

“We worked hard and took care of business,” Rudd said.

Although succinct in this explanation, it is obvious that the Logger men’s soccer team will not be credited with a loss this year due to lack of effort.

The following day the team traveled over to Forest Grove, Oregon, home of the conference- leading Pacific Boxers. The Boxers took control early and never surrendered their lead.

In the 16th minute, the Boxers were able to score the first goal of the match off of a rebound to go up 1-0. That lone goal proved to be just enough, as the Loggers were shut out for the remaining portion of the game. The Loggers simply could not generate the shots on goal needed to compete for the win. Pacific had 8 of 14 shots on goal while the Loggers were just 4 of 8.

With that being said, the Loggers did outshoot the Boxers in the second half, but as Rudd explained, it wasn’t quite enough. “On Sunday we fought and battled all game. We played them close and just came up a little short.”

The Loggers’ current record of 6-4-3 in conference places them 6th, only one win behind Whitworth.

On Nov. 6, the Loggers will return home to play their season finale against dreaded rival Pacific Lutheran University.

The Lutes  currently find themselves sitting in  second place in the Northwest  Conference.  It goes without saying that the Loggers are looking forward to playing spoiler and sending the Lutes back to Parkland disappointed.