Lee Arakawa earned his first start of the season Thursday night, helping the Boxer defense shut down Oregon Tech for its second clean sheet of the season.
FOREST GROVE, Ore.—Thanks to a strong defense and two quality finishes, the Pacific University men's soccer squad tallied its second victory of the season with a 2-0 victory over Oregon Tech Thursday night at Hanson Stadium.
"I'm most proud of the shutout tonight," said Pacific head coach
Eric Mild. "We've been focusing a lot on defending as a group and the shutout is a reward for their hard work on that side of the ball."
The Boxer defenders were on their game Thursday night, shutting down numerous Owl attacks before they grew into shots or stronger threats. Pacific's back line held Oregon Tech to just eight shots total, and only four of them reached goalkeeper
Leyton Thommasen (Fr., Des Moines, Wash.).
Along the backline,
Elan Yogi (So., Mililani, Hawaii) and
Lee Arakawa (So., Aiea, Hawaii) both earned their first starts of the season, starting at left back and right back, respectively.
Garrick Knowles (Sr., Roseburg, Ore.) and
Cameron Laird (Fr., Monroe, Wash.) started at center back and solidified the defensive line when Yogi and Arakawa ventured up the pitch to support the attack.
"Both Yogi and Arakawa got their first starts of the season and they played outstanding while playing every minute," said Mild of his new faces along the back four. "Garrick and Cameron as the two center backs were outstanding as well. That's been a focus for us this season, and with some injuries in training we had to move some bodies around. It worked out for us today," Mild said.
While the defense was stellar Thursday night, the Boxers' offense also provided plenty of scoring chances, capitalizing on two. The hosts broke onto the scoresheet 21 minutes into the match when
Matt Kimball (Fr., Tigard, Ore.) finished a play for his second goal.
Diego Lopes (Fr., San Francisco, Calif.) played a ball across the box to
Mark Watson, Jr. (Jr., Clackamas, Ore.). Watson then found Kimball on overlapping run and the freshman planted the ball past Owl keeper James Goheen to put the Boxers ahead.
"Great effort," said Mild of Kimball's opener. "It was a great build up of play—maybe six or seven passes in sequence. Diego played a great ball across the face of the goal when we had numerous players in there. Watson redirected it towards Kimball and Kimball put it away."
Pacific tallied the next four shots of first half, controlling possession for most of the match. Oregon Tech managed two shots on target in three minutes beginning in the 33
rd minute, but Thommasen got his hands on both to keep the boxers ahead.
The hosts added to their lead barely two minutes into the second half. A minute into the period,
Kellan McNamara (Jr., Missoula, Mont.) fired a shot on target, but Goheen pushed it out for a corner kick. Watson stepped up to take the corner and whipped it just past the near post. The ball hit the ground and took a couple of bounces before trickling over the line. The goal was Watson's fourth on the year, extending his new career high for a season.
After the Boxers' second goal, both teams saw chances to score, but neither finished them off as the match ended 2-0 in favor of Pacific.
The victors dominated the offensive stats, taking 16 shots total to Oregon Tech's eight and attempting eight corners compared to the Owls' four. Goheen tallied one more save than Thommassen (5-4), but he also saw seven total shots on frame, allowing two of them to score.
Pacific (2-1-0) will be back on the pitch Sunday, Sept. 7, as the Boxers play host to the University of Dallas at 12:00 p.m., again at Hanson Stadium. Sunday's contest will be the first ever men's soccer matchup between the two schools.
