Shiomi Scores for Bearcats on Assist from Ballenger in 1-1 Tie against Lutes

By Robert McKinney, Assistant Athletics Director, Communications

TACOMA, Wash. -- Yushiro Shiomi (So., D, Kyoto, Japan/TIUA) scored a goal in the first half for Willamette University, as the Bearcats gave Pacific Lutheran University its first non-win of the Northwest Conference schedule with a 1-1 tie in two overtimes, on Sunday, Oct. 6 at PLU. Willamette advanced its record to 6-2-3 on the season, including 3-2-1 in the NWC. The Lutes ended the day at 8-3-1 overall, 5-0-1 in the NWC.

Shiomi scored his goal at 29:20 on a shot inside the 18-yard box. Nicholas Ballenger (Sr., F, Salem, OR/West Salem HS/Oregon State Univ.) received an assist on the play. Willamette remained in front 1-0 at halftime.

Pacific Lutheran tied the game when Gregg Zak scored his 11th goal of the season on a penalty kick at 73:03. He improved to 2 for 2 on penalty kicks this season. The Lutes are 5 for 5 as a team at the penalty spot.

Willamette outshot the Lutes 25-11 overall and held a 9-3 advantage in shots on goal. The Bearcats took 22 shots during the first 90 minutes, with 10 shots in the first half and 12 shots in the second half.

"I'm really proud of the performance we had today. I think we were a bit unlucky to not come away with three points with how many chances we were able to create, but that is soccer."
— Willamette Head Coach Jared Rust

After Pacific Lutheran tied the score, the Bearcats took five shots before the end of regulation, including three shots that had to be saved. Edwin Ortiz (Fy., M, Salem, OR/North Salem HS) earned a shot at 75:08 that PLU goalie Cole Weaver saved. At 78:34, Ryan Sato (So., MF, Sunnyvale, CA/Homestead HS) blasted a shot that went high. A shot by Josh Schneider (So., F, Washoughal, WA/Camas HS) was saved by Weaver at 82:53, and a shot from Mack van der Velde (Jr., D, Voorhout, Neth./Summit HS, Bend, OR) was cleared off the line by a PLU defender at 86:16, following a corner kick by Ortiz. Shortly after van der Velde's shot, Shiomi took a shot that was blocked at 86:29.

Robby Guyer of PLU had the final shot of regulation at 88:46, but it was blocked by the Bearcats. Willamette achieved a 3-0 margin in shots during the two 10-minute overtime periods. Sato shot high at 95:17 for the only attempt in the first overtime. In the second overtime, Sato's shot at 105:46 was blocked and a shot by Schneider went high at 108:49. Sato took a corner kick with 24 seconds remaining in the second overtime, but Willamette did not create shot following the corner.

Weaver made seven saves in goal for the Lutes. WU goalkeeper Mason Kelliher (Sr., GK, Wellington, N.Z./Wellington College) recorded two saves. Both goalies played all 110 minutes, as did six other Bearcats and five other Lutes. Both teams achieved six corner kicks. Sato and Ballenger each provided six shots for Willamette, while Gregg took six shots for PLU.

The Bearcats will complete the first round-robin of the NWC's double round-robin schedule on Saturday, Oct. 12, when they host Linfield College as part of Homecoming and Family Weekend. Game time is set for 12 p.m. (PDT) at Sparks Field.