Huh, never actually did look at Lute once I got her, but now that you mention it...looks like it. =/
Soren's level 12 while Lute's level 17 at start, Soren's skill is significantly higher than Lute's, but she has much higher luck. and his speed starts 1 point higher and resistance is 2 points higher, but Lute's HP and defense are all slightly higher than Soren's(by no more than 2 points), not to mention she has a C in tomes while Soren starts at D. And they share identical skills. So yeah, they're actually very identical units, not factoring in growth rates.
EDIT: And am I the only one disappointed with how they handled the logo for the FE9 SpotPass team under the SpotPass menu? All it is is Roy's GBA map sprite recolored to make him resemble Ike more. Granted, I had no idea how they were gonna actually represent the game, but this just seems lazy.