Elan Yogi and the rest of the Boxer squad hung tough at Northwest Saturday, but they couldn't find an equalizer as they fell 1-0 in their first road match of 2014.
KIRKLAND, Wash.—The Pacific University men's soccer squad suffered its first defeat of the season Saturday, falling in a close 1-0 match to Northwest University in Kirkland, Wash.
"Northwest capitalized on one of our mistakes and finished that opportunity they created," said Pacific head coach
Eric Mild. "Overall, I was pleased with the effort from our team. We played well and certainly well enough to win the match. It just wasn't quite enough today."
Making just his second career start, freshman keeper
Leyton Thommasen (Fr., Des Moines, Wash.) had a standout day to keep the Boxers in the match. He made seven saves, including two within 32 seconds of each other in the first half. The youngster made numerous big plays, including in the match's 64
th minute. Thommasen found himself one-on-one with Eagle midfielder Kyle Zimmerman. He dove forward feet-first to clear the ball back towards midfield and deny Zimmerman of a goal.
"Leyton was outstanding," Mild said of his young netminder. "He was huge for us today. He had a few huge saves to keep us in the game. What a great start to his collegiate career."
The one shot that did get past the Boxer keeper happened 13 minutes into the match. Northwest's Taylor Young found himself with space in the middle of the box. He blasted a shot to the right side of the goal and past Thommasen for the only goal of the game.
Pacific tallied its first shot on goal halfway through the first period.
Kellan McNamara (Jr., Missoula, Mont.) took a chance on net, but Eagles goalkeeper Daniel Christenson saved the attempt.
Cameron Laird (Fr., Monroe, Wash.) offered a shot on target in the final minute of the first half, but Christenson again denied the visitors, preserving the Northwest advantage heading into the break.
Outshot in the first half 8-3, the Boxers evened up the count in the second. Four of the five Pacific attempts were turned away by various Northwest players, however. Christenson stopped two of them from entering the net himself while Eagles teammates blocked the other two.
Overall, the hosts registered six more shots than Pacific, taking 14 attempts compared to the Boxers' eight. Pacific attempted more corner kicks in the match, however, and Thommaasen made seven saves compared to Christenson's four.
Individually, both Zimmerman and Young attempted three shots, all on frame.
Ian Farley (Sr., Spokane, Wash.) was the only Boxer to take multiple shots on the day.
The Boxers (1-1-0) now return home for a three-match home stand that completes the non-conference schedule. They kick off the weeklong stretch Thurs., Sept. 4, by hosting Oregon Tech at 6:00 p.m. in Hanson Stadium.
