FOREST GROVE, Ore.-  The Pacific University men's soccer team turned in a complete performance on Sunday afternoon, earning all three points after their 3-0 thrashing of Whitworth.
 
Pacific (6-7-1, 3-5-1 NWC) played one of their best games of the season despite their low shot total in the contest. The Boxers tallied just six shots in the game with four on target but were extremely clinical in front of goal. The Pirates fired 14 shots with five on frame but struggled to create any clear-cut opportunities from inside the penalty area.
 
Jericho Lara (Junior/Makawao, HI) put in a great shift in the midfield, buzzing around the middle of the pitch and pressing the Pirates' defenders and midfielders to upset any sort of rhythm in their passing and possession. His game-changing presence would prove to be vital for the Boxers in both attack and defense.
 
Aidan Heflin (Freshman/Taos, NM) earned his first start of the season and made the most of the opportunity as he gave the Boxers the perfect start in the 5^th minute. Lara started the attacking move by lofting a beautiful pass to the freshman midfielder making a run down the right side. Heflin found some space in the box and showed great composure to work an angle for a shot. Heflin finally found an opportunity to shoot and he fired a left-footed strike into the back of the net to give his team the early 1-0 lead.
 
Pacific nearly conceded the equalizer just a few minutes later when a mistake by their goalkeeper led to a foul in the box, awarding Whitworth a penalty kick. Zachary Aderinto (Freshman/Kailua-Kona, HI) would atone for his mistake, however, as he stepped up to make the clutch save on the spot kick to preserve the one-goal advantage.
 
The Boxers doubled their lead just before the break when Lucas Muller (Senior/Independence, OR) delivered a moment of absolute brilliance in the 44^th minute. The midfielder gathered the ball on the left wing and showed some strength to shrug off a Whitworth defender before curling his right-footed shot inside the post to make it 2-0.
 
The dominance from the hosts would continue in the second half when Cooper Sheakley (Freshman/Happy Valley, OR) gave his team the third goal of the match. Noah Edwards (Freshman/Honolulu, HI) saw Sheakley making a run in behind the defense and threaded a wonderful ball to the striker who calmly slotted his chance home to clinch the 3-0 victory.
 
In the 75^th minute, lightning detected in the Forest Grove area would cause a 30-minute weather delay, but little would change after the break and Pacific would walk away with the points.
 
Peyton Terry (Freshman/Medford, OR), Connor Barres (Junior/Eureka, CA), and Alex Pasmann (Senior/Salt Lake City, UT) were fantastic in the defensive third of the pitch all afternoon to preserve the clean sheet.
 
 
By The Numbers
 

• Edwards earned his sixth assist of the season as he leads the team in that category.
• Scoring his sixth goal of the season was the Boxers' leading scorer, Sheakley.
• This was Pacific's first win against Whitworth since 2017.

 
Up Next
 
Pacific looks to make it back-to-back wins on Oct. 23 when they travel to McMinnville, Ore. to face Linfield.
 
For the latest information on Pacific Athletics, make sure to check out GoBoxers.com. You can also find the Boxers on social media at @GoBoxers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
 
#GoBoxers