SPOKANE, Wash. – Lifted by the left foot of freshman Lucas Diaz, Whitworth wrapped up homecoming weekend with a 1-1 draw against visiting Pacific Lutheran in a Northwest Conference men's soccer match on Sunday afternoon.
The Pirates (4-2-3 overall, 4-1-3 NWC) ended a nine-game losing to the Lutes (6-3-3, 5-0-3), who stayed unbeaten in conference play.
Pacific Lutheran came out with high offensive intensity, resulting in several set pieces in the Lutes attacking third. PLU eventually capitalized in the 22nd minute with a well-placed corner kick from Caden Davis that Landon Sexton headed in to take a 1-0 lead. Jaxsen Teeter had a quality chance later in the half to even the score, but Gio Aguilar-Gutierrez made the save.
Whitworth flipped the script and outshot the Lutes 11-8 in the second frame. The Pirate pressure earned them a free kick just outside the box in the 79th minute that provided an opportunity to find the equalizer. Diaz did just that as he took the free kick and hooked a line drive into the left side of the net for his second goal of the season. Diaz and Dominic Gusman each had a shot on target in the final ten minutes, but both were stopped.
PLU edged the Bucs 20-19 in the final shot total. Whitworth finished with a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal and each team had six corner kicks.
Diaz finished with seven total shots and put four on net to lead the Pirate attack. Johny Cortez fired four shots while Teeter and Dom Schauman each had a pair. Aiden Chase made three saves in net.
Ty Brunner led all players with eight shots in the match to lead the Lutes. Aguilar-Gutierrez made five saves, four in the second half.
Whitworth will make its final trip to Oregon next weekend to visit Pacific (Ore.) and Willamette.
