McMINNVILLE, Ore. — Linfield's Brian DeGrandmont made his third goal of the season count in a big way, breaking a 0-0 tie in the 87th minute for a 1-0 win over Pacific in men's soccer action on Sunday afternoon in McMinnville.

DeGrandmont scored at the 86:08 mark, finally breaking through for the host Wildcats after the Boxer defense managed all afternoon to keep Linfield out of the net. DeGrandmont's team sent 21 shots towards Pacific goalkeeper Leyton Thommasen, including eight on goal that Thommasen saved before the fatal final shot.

"Leyton was outstanding again," head coach Eric Mild said. "He continues to prove why he is one of the best goalkeepers in the conferrence."

The win means Linfield improves to 6-4 on the season, 2-2 in the Northwest Conference. Pacific, who split a pair of weekend matches with a 1-0 win over Willamette on Saturday, is now 3-6 overall and 1-3 in league action.

"It was a very tough, physical contest," said Mild added. "I thought we defended well, we just made the one mistake that resulted in a goal. Weli Alamillo, Shawn Opfer, Peter Vizzoni and Jake Castanha were all outstanding in the back."

The Wildcats kept the Boxer defense busy all afternoon. Besides the 21 shots, they also had ten corner kicks. Pacific struggled to mount any offense against the stingy Linfield defense as Wildcat keeper Jorge Rodriguez recorded the shutout. Pacific's best opportunity came in the 40th minute when Matt Kimball had a penalty kick, but was denied by Rodriguez's diving save.

"I was proud with how we dealt with some adversity this weekend," Mild continued. "We played with a makeshift line-up in the back, missing four starters. But we played hard and competed well as a unit, giving ourselves a chance to compete."

The Boxers return home for a pair of games next weekend. On Friday, they will host No. 8 nationally ranked Whitworth under the lights at Hanson Stadium (7 p.m.), followed by a Sunday (2:30 p.m.) battle with Whitman.