TITLE DEFENSE BEGINS
The nationally-ranked Loggers made a strong impression on the home fans over the weekend, posting a 3-1 win over Claremont-M-S before breezing past Pomona-Pitzer, 5-0, on Sunday afternoon. This week, the Loggers take on Simpson College at home on Friday before opening up Northwest Conference play on Sunday afternoon against Willamette.
The Loggers vs. Claremont-M-S
Sparked by an own goal on the part of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the 19th-ranked Puget Sound Logger men's soccer team powered past the visiting Stags, 3-1, in a non-conference men's soccer game on Friday evening on East Athletic Field in Tacoma, Wash.
It was the Stags who got on the scoreboard first when AnGee Baldini took a cross from Toby Stopper in the 23rd minute and scored a rare goal on All-American Logger keeper Pete Van Sant (Santa Cruz, Calif.). The lead didn't last very long as a CMS defender booted the ball into his own net in the 25th minute to knot things up at one goal apiece.
The Loggers took the lead near the end of the first half when Scott Blanchet (Gig Harbor, Wash./Bellarmine Prep) dribbled up the right side and beat the CMS keeper for an unassisted goal and a 2-1 Loggers lead heading into the break. In the 65th minute, Greg Swanson (University Place, Wash./Curtis) found Blanchet near the endline and then Blanchet found forward Alex Lehecka (Burlington, Wash./Burlington-Edison) as Lehecka put a shot into the net for a 3-1 Logger lead.
The game was a physical one with a combined 24 fouls and three cards being whistled. Claremont's Griffin Halpern and Patrick Morrison both earned yellow cards in the first half and Lehecka was shown a card in the second half.
The Loggers vs. Pomona-Pitzer
Led by a pair of goals from Scott Blanchet (Gig Harbor, Wash./Bellarmine Prep), the 19th-ranked Puget Sound Loggers breezed past the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens, 5-0, in a non-conference men's soccer game on East Athletic Field in Tacoma, Wash.
The Loggers (4-0) first got on the scoreboard in the 12th minute when Alex Lehecka (Burlington, Wash./Burlington-Edison) took a ball from Kyle Benson (Lynnwood, Wash./Kamiak) and dribbled past the defenders before powering a shot past Sagehen keeper Andrew Dialynas. Just a few minutes later, Blanchet took advantage of a free kick near the top of the box and placed a shot into the top of the goal to give the Loggers a 2-0 lead. The Loggers got their third goal of the half just a few minutes after that when Benson fed Mark Conrad (Seattle, Wash./Willamette) from the left side and Conrad headed the ball in on the right.
In the second half, senior midfielder Greg Swanson (University Place, Wash./Curtis) took advantage of a penalty kick at 71:17 to give the Loggers a 4-0 lead. Less than two minutes later, Blanchet scored his second goal of the afternoon, dribbling up the right side before booting the ball into the net for a 5-0 lead.
Logger keeper Pete Van Sant (Santa Cruz, Calif.) madas e a pair of saves to collect the shutout, his third of the season. Dialynas made seven saves for Pomona-Pitzer but allowed the five goals in the loss.
National Attention
The Loggers now sit in similar spots in both the national polls. In the D3Kicks.com Top 25, the Loggers moved up to 12th after spending a week at 19th. In the adidas/NSCAA National Rankings, the Loggers made their first appearance of the season, debuting at 13th. The Loggers are also high in the NSCAA regional rankings, holding the second spot in the West Region, trailing only Wartburg (Iowa).
Scouting Simpson
The Storm, from Indianola, Iowa, come to Tacoma this weekend, holding a record of 0-3-1 on the young season. Last week, Simpson lost a 2-0 game at Augsburg before falling 1-0 in overtime at Nebraska Wesleyan. Corey Miller has scored Simpson's only goal of the season. On defense, Josh Youngman has been fairly good for the Storm, allowing just 1.86 goals per game in 290 minutes and saving 77.8 percent of shots faced in 2007. Following the match on Friday with the Loggers, the Storm will travel across town on Saturday.
Scouting Willamette
After starting the year 0-1-1 following a draw with Cal State East Bay and UC Santa Cruz, the Bearcats of Willamette had a good weekend in Colorado. After picking up a 3-2 win over Whittier, Willamette was able to pull ahead of host Colorado College, 3-2, in two overtimes. Casey Dineen and Greg Beasley have posted two goals apiece and Michael Rodrigues has assisted on three goals to help pace the Bearcat offense. On defense, Scott Klein has seen most of the time in net, allowing an average of 2.29 goals per game and stopping 74.7 percent of the shots he has faced.
The Coach
In his 14th season at the helm of the Loggers, Reece Olney has compiled a career record through the weekend of 163-74-24. In Northwest Conference matches, Olney has a record of 92-28-12.
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