Box Score
FOREST GROVE – The streak is over.
Patrick Murray (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) had a goal and an assist and the Pacific men's soccer team picked up its fourth win in the last six games with a 2-0 Northwest Conference victory over Linfield at Lincoln Park Stadium Friday night.
More importantly, a young Pacific team returned home with renewed confidence after a long, successful road trip and put an end to a six-match home losing streak.
While the visitors from McMinnville definitely had their moments with some fast breaks up the field by their speedy forwards, the Boxers had the run of play for the match, outshooting the Wildcats 23-9. Unfortunately for the home team, most of those shots were around, over or off the goal frame.
After a scoreless first half that featured plenty of high-octane play, Pacific (4-4-0 NWC, 4-8-0 overall) finally broke through on a somewhat lucky bounce of the ball.
Nick Rudella (So., Sammamish, Wash.) centered a pass to Antonio Maddedu (Jr., Milwaukie, Ore.) at the top of the 18-yard box. The midfielder took a mighty swing but caught the ball with a glancing blow from his right boot. The resulting deflection left Murray with a clear look from 15 yards and he buried it in the right side of the netting to put Pacific up 1-0 in the 59th minute.
Linfield forwards Harper Taylor, Tyler Sedlacek and Xavier Reed made sure the Boxers would never rest easy in this match, with several lightning runs up the pitch. Boxer goalkeeper
Michael Summers (So., Beaverton, Ore.) got a workout, despite only recording three saves for the match. Summers patrolled just about every inch of the 18-yard box and several times left the safety zone to try to nullify Wildcat offensive surges.
The Wildcats (0-7-1, 1-9-1) appeared to have evened the score in the 77th minute, only to have a goal taken off the scoreboard by an offsides call.
The Boxers would put only four shots on frame for the match and
Nick Rudella had three of them. His final crack resulted in the final score as he put a head on Murray's free kick from the left side and buried the shot inside the right post to send the Boxers off the pitch jubilant, victorious in their first home match in nearly a month.
Rudella had six shots for the match and was credited with half of a double-assist along with Maddedu on Pacific's first goal. Freshman forward
Alex Arrington led all players with seven shots. Summers improved to 4-3-0 in goal with his second consecutive shutout.
Taylor, Reed and Danny Snelgrow had two shots each for the Wildcats, with Taylor and Reed targeting one shot each.
Pacific will go for its third straight win on Sunday when Willamette pays a visit to Lincoln Park Stadium for a 2:30 p.m. match.
