Oct. 2, 2007

MEN’S SOCCER: More Key Conference Matches Ahead for Lutes

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran hosts Willamette, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.; PLU hosts Linfield at Curtis HS, Sunday, 1:30 p.m.

Michael Ferguson

SUNDAY MATCH LOCATION AND TIME CHANGES: Pacific Lutheran will host a pair of Northwest Conference opponents this Saturday and Sunday, though there has been a change in location and time for Sunday's match. The Lutes will host Willamette at noon on Saturday on the PLU field, which has taken a great deal of rain and will take more this week. The field is already in tough shape, but should be good enough for Saturday’s women’s and men’s matches. Because of the expected wear to the field, Sunday's match against Linfield has been moved to Curtis High School in University Place and will start at 1:30 p.m.

ABOUT WILLAMETTE: The Bearcats, PLU’s opponent on Saturday, enters the match with a 0-5 Northwest Conference record. They have allowed 18 goals while scoring just one in those conference contests. For the season, Willamette has a 2-6-1 record and has been out-scored, 29-8. The Lutes currently enjoy a four-match winning streak against the Bearcats, outscoring them 18-0 during that stretch. Willamette’s last wins in the series came in 2004 when the Bearcats swept the Lutes in a pair of 1-0 matches.

LINFIELD DOMINANCE: The Wildcats from McMinnville, Ore., are currently tied for sixth in the conference with a 1-3-1 record, and they have a 5-3-1 overall mark. Michael Camacho has three goals to lead the Wildcats, while Michael Belzberg has a stingy 1.06 goals against average while playing every minute in goal for the ‘Cats. It would be a major understatement to say that the Lutes have had their share of trouble with the Wildcats in recent years. PLU hopes to end a long string of frustration against Linfield, which has dominated the Lutes for nearly a decade. PLU’s last win in the series came all the way back on Sept. 26, 1998, when it garnered a 3-0 home victory. Since that time, Linfield has won 16 of 17 matches between the teams, with a 1-1 tie on Sept. 18, 2004, as the only blemish. Last season, the Wildcats took 2-1 and 1-0 decisions from the Lutes.

PIRATES SCUTTLE LUTES: Curtis Flourney came off the bench to score the game’s only goal in the 48th minute as Whitworth defeated PLU, 1-0, in a conference match played Saturday at the PLU field. Flourney’s goal, his first of the 2007 season, came in the 48th minute on an assist from Matt Friesen. Meanwhile, Whitworth limited the usually potent PLU attack to just four shots, two on goal, and both of those were stopped by goalkeeper Scott Barnum. The whitewash was the Pirates’ sixth straight of the year and led to their seventh win of the season against one loss and one tie. The match was tightly contested as Whitworth managed just seven shots against the Lutes. The Pirates had a 5-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Jason Bjorgo

FINALLY, A GOAL: After numerous attacks on Whitman goalkeeper Brett Axelrod had gone wanting for most of the match, Pacific Lutheran broke through on Jason Bjorgo’s goal in the 83rd minute as the Lutes garnered a 1-0 won on Sunday. Bjorgo’s goal came at the end of a nice sequence started by Michael Ferguson, whom Axelrod had frustrated throughout the rainy and cold afternoon. Ferguson knocked a ball into space on the right wing for Erik Gracey, who hit a low cross through the goal area. Bjorgo came in from the left wing and struck the shot back across the goal mouth and into the net. That was the only time that the Lutes had Axelrod’s number all day as the Whitman keeper was called upon to make eight saves. Pacific Lutheran took 14 total shots and put nine of them on goal, with Ferguson amassing eight shots with four on goal. Axelrod denied Ferguson with three excellent first half saves, but his best save came late in the game when he dove to his right to knock Derek Karamatic’s first-time volley just past the far post. PLU goalkeeper Daniel Mangum recorded three saves to notch his fourth solo shutout of the season.

WALKING – OR NOT – WOUNDED: Pacific Lutheran has taken its share of injuries this season, and of particular concern is the central midfield. The Lutes lost several players in a physical battle against Pacific. In that game, junior midfielder Andy Hyres suffered a broken leg when an opponent came in with a hard tackle – and drew a yellow card. Sophomore midfielder Henrik Oiseth has missed two straight matches after suffering a hip pointer against Pacific. Sophomore Peter Thomas, who was battling for a starting spot in the defense, has missed the entire season with a leg injury. Forwards Derek Karamatic and Trevor Jacka have missed several matches with leg injuries, and Joern Hella is has finally returned after missing a couple of contests with a concussion.

FERGUSON WATCH: Senior forward Michael Ferguson started the season 14 goals shy of tying Brian Gardner’s nearly 20-year old school career record of 49 goals. With six goals to his credit this season, Ferguson needs nine goals in the final 10 regular season matches to eclipse the record. His best single-season production came during the 2005 season when he knocked home 15 goals. That’s exactly the amount he needs to break Gardner’s record.

- PLU -