NEWBERG, Ore. – After battling nationally-ranked Pacific Lutheran University on virtually-even terms for over 89 minutes, the George Fox University Bruins were stunned when the Lutes scored with 34 seconds left for a 1-0 victory in the Northwest Conference men's soccer opener for both teams Saturday afternoon here at the Austin Sports Complex.

The last-minute score came off a corner kick from the left by the Lutes' Diego Aceves, who sent the ball into the middle where George Fox keeper Luke Ridder leaped and partially deflected the ball toward the right side of the box.  However, Taylor Jackson was in the right place to collect the deflection and send it back over the prone Ridder and into the net for his first goal of the year.

Until that point, the Bruins had gone toe-to-toe with the Lutes, who are ranked seventh in the latest NCAA Division III national poll by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.  The stats reflected the closeness of the contest as PLU took 22 shots to 14 for George Fox, held a 6-4 edge in shots on goal, and owned only a 4-3 advantage in corner kicks. 

PLU's Derek Johnson had two outstanding chances to put the Lutes ahead, once nine minutes into the game and again 10 minutes in to the second half, when he passed the Bruin defense and tracked down balls in the box with only the keeper to beat.  Ridder made terrific stops both times, sliding in front of Johnson's shots just as the ball came off the attacker's foot.

The Bruins had their best opportunity to dent the scoreboard in the 80th minute when Myles Sorokovsky weaved his way into the box and got off a shot from a dozen yards out that was stopped by PLU goalie Joe Rayburn, who had come out to challenge the charge.  The rebound went to the Bruins' Luke Hammer, whose follow-up shot with Rayburn out of position just missed the far right post.

Ridder finished with five saves in a complete-game hard-luck effort, while Rayburn got the shutout by making four fine saves.

NEXT: George Fox (1-6, NWC 0-1) welcomes in the University of Puget Sound Sunday while Pacific Lutheran (6-0-1, NWC 1-0) goes to Pacific University Sunday.  Both are conference games beginning at 2:30 p.m.