As the final horn sounded, Pacific men's soccer players celebrated on the field.
 
This wasn't any normal tie.
 
For 90 minutes, the Boxers had gone toe-to-toe with one of the top men's soccer programs in the Northwest Conference.
 
"The boys earned the result today," Pacific head coach Brandon Porter said after the Boxers tied Pacific Lutheran 1-1 Sunday afternoon at Hanson Stadium. "It was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just them all collectively doing exactly what they're capable of doing."
 
Respecting the opponent, Pacific made sure to keep the Lutes scoring chances to a minimum.
 
"Against a team like Pacific Lutheran, you have to be smart about how you attack them," Porter said. "You pickand choose your moments to attack them and you recognize that they have a lot of weapons and have to make sure that those are all accounted for. And I think today our guys were up for that challenge. The boys were very intelligent, played within themselves and played collectively and that helps you be successful."
 
Tied 0-0 at halftime, Aidan Heflin scored his fourth goal of the season to give the Boxers a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute.
 
"Brodie Buchert played a nice ball and recognized that they were out of position," Porter said. "Aidan calmly just put it away. "
 
Pacific Lutheran, who entered the match 4-0-1 in the Northwest Conference and 5-1-3 overall, tied the game in the 71st minute on a penalty kick by Craig Johnson after a Pacific foul in the box.
 
The Lutes had outscored their first five conference opponents 24-1, including a 9-0 victory at George Fox and 5-0 win at Lewis & Clark. 
 
"I think everybody was just focused on winning the proper balls that they could win," Porter said. "And I think that everybody collectively was in the right spots to go win the ball. They were very smart today about where they could win balls and where they could not win balls. 
 
"The tactics of this game are very different from how we play most teams. I think it shows them that they can be gritty and tough. I think it shows them if they just play within what they're capable of doing, that they can do some pretty positive things."
 
Pacific goalkeeper Zach Aderinto recorded seven saves to keep the match tied.
 
"Zach played fantastic. I thought he came up big time in goal for us today," Porter said. "I thought that Aidan Pierias and Camden Wyatt played tremendous, passionate soccer today and they've grown right before our eyes as sophomores and I'm excited to watch them continue to build."
 
Next, the Boxers play at Willamette on Friday in another tough NWC contest. 
 
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 Instagram and Twitter.
 
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