Box Score
MCMINNVILLE – The Linfield-Pacific men's soccer rivalry might just represent the 2011 Northwest Conference race in microcosm—contentious, highly competitive soccer.
Midway through the second overtime period,
Patrick Murray (Sr., Hillsboro, Ore.) scored the game-winning goal--his second of the match--as the Boxers defeated the Wildcats 2-1 Sunday. With the victory, Pacific improves to 2-0 on the road and evens its conference record at 2-2-0, 2-6-0 overall.
For the second week in a row, the Boxers were just minutes away from securing a victory in regulation, only to have it snatched away when Linfield's Chris Snelgrow scored on a header off a free kick by Zach Harrington to tie the game at 1-1 in the 84th minute.
A week prior, almost to the minute, the Boxers watched Whitman score an equalizer and eventually win in overtime. This time, Boxer goalkeeper
Michael Summers (So., Beaverton, Ore.), playing for an injured
Chris Reimer (So., Ferndale, Wash.) for the second straight day, saved Linfield's only shot in the first overtime period.
In the second overtime,
Grady Bryson (Fr., Montana City, Mont.) played a ball over the top to
Devin Shull (So., Seattle, Wash.), who flicked on to a waiting Murray, who cashed in with the winning goal in the 104th minute of play, putting the Boxers right back in the thick of the NWC race after a six-game season-opening losing streak that included an 0-2 start in conference play.
What could have been a discouraging start to the season has stayed in perspective, with Pacific tackling a highly challenging non-conference schedule with a team that is loaded with newcomers. Despite the dire start, the Boxers find themselves in a three-way tie for fourth place in the NWCt just one game back in the loss column.
“Pacific Lutheran was the only other team to win both games this weekend,” said head coach Jim Brazeau. “Everyone has a loss already. It's a wide open race and a lot of teams are vieing for the title.”
The Shull-to-Murray connection was truly golden for Pacific, as the 6-foot-7 forward found the 2nd-team all-conference midfielder in the 60th minute for the first goal of the game.
“
Patrick Murray had a great weekend,” said Brazeau. “He has stepped up and is leading this team in a way that we've expected him to.”
Murray had three of Pacific's five shots on goal for the match. Linfield (0-3-1, 1-5-1) outshot Pacific 13-10 with a 7-5 edge in shots on goal. Summers finished with six saves to run his record in goal to 2-1.
The Boxers play the hump game of their five game road trip at Puget Sound on Saturday, October 1 before facing Pacific Lutheran the following day. Both games are scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m.
