WALLA WALLA, Wash.—Despite a season-high nine saves from senior keeper
Micaiah Garan, Lewis & Clark College men's soccer fell just short at defending Northwest Conference Champions Whitman College.
THE BASICS
Whitman 2, Lewis & Clark 0
(Lewis & Clark 1-6, NWC 1-3)
(Whitman 4-1-1, NWC 2-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Garan notched nine saves, including stopping a penalty late in the second half, but Whitman scored one goal in both halves to extend their conference unbeaten streak to 20 games (17-0-3).
The River Otters senior goalie made four saves in the first half and added five more in the second half. Garan's penalty kick save in the 76
th minute marked his second saved penalty in the past three games.
Sophomore
Ren Fukuoka notched a team-high three shots and two shots on target. Senior
Dylan Weinstein (two) and first year
Avi Rajbhandari (one) combined for the team's other three shots.
Whitman's Henry Pierce and Keegan Chapko each scored their team-leading second goals of the season to help Whitman earn their third-straight win.
The Blues opened the scoring at 18:13 when Pierce took a pass from Luiz Mendez Caballero and found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
After being held without a shot on target in the first half, Fukuoka and Rajbhandari posted a pair of shots in the first eight minutes of the second half.
Fukuoka recorded his second shot on goal in the 72
nd minute but Whitman's Tait Whittemore was able to make the save.
The Blues had a golden chance to extend their lead to 2-0 in the 76
th minute, but Garan dove to his left and pawed the penalty shot away and then jumped on top of the rebound.
Whitman put the game away in the 84
th minute when Chapko scored off a pass from Nathan Alvarado.
BY THE NUMBERS
- Garan has recorded five or more saves in three-straight games and is averaging 5.75 saves per game in the team's first four conference contests.
- Whitman held a 16-6 edge in shots and an 11-2 lead in shots on goal. The Blues also owned a 10-0 lead in corner kicks.
- Fukuoka set new career-highs with three shots and two shots on goal. He had four career shots and one shot on target before Sunday's game.
- First year Jet Finley made his collegiate conference debut and played a career-high 12 minutes on Sunday.
- First year Eliot Shepard made his third-straight start and led all Lewis & Clark field players with 88 minutes played. He is averaging 88 minutes per game over the team's last three contests.
WHO'S NEXT
After playing seven games in the last 15 days to open the season, men's soccer will play just one game this week. The River Otters will travel to take on Linfield University on Saturday at Noon.
