Sept. 7, 2006

Lutes Bound for Colorado and Two Matches

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran travels to Colorado Spring, Colo., for a pair of matches. The Lutes play host Colorado College at 3 p.m. Friday, then take on Buena Vista (Iowa) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

A LITTLE ABOUT ONE OF THE OPPONENTS: Not all comparative scores are accurate, and some are downright not helpful, but PLU men’s soccer fans might be able to draw some conclusions from last Monday when Colorado College defeated Linfield, 2-1. Linfield has been among the top tier of the Northwest Conference—a place to which PLU aspires—in recent years.

LAST WEEK: The Lutes officially opened their 2006 season last Sunday, Sept. 3, by dropping a 2-1 decision to Concordia University of Portland. After struggling throughout the first 45 minutes, the Lutes pressured the visiting Cavaliers and finally tied the score at the 80:55 mark on a left-footed strike by Mike Ferguson (Sumner, Wash. / Auburn Riverside HS). The junior forward took a pass from freshman forward Mattis Ostvold (Kirkenaer, Norway / Høgskolen i Hedmark) and volleyed it out of the air with his first touch, the ball curving over the Concordia goalkeeper and dipping under the crossbar. Unfortunately for the Lutes, the Cavaliers earned the victory with a goal 3:47 from the end of regulation. After being out-shot 9-1 in the first half, the Lutes played on even terms with Concordia through the final 45 minutes. The shot differential ended up 17-10 in Concordia’s favor.

EXHIBITION OPENER: Last Friday, the Lutes topped the St. Martin’s University club team, 4-0, in an exhibition match at the PLU field. The Lutes took a 1-0 lead on a right-footed strike by freshman forward Baard Asker (Oslo, Norway / Wang). The Lutes added second half goals by Ferguson, sophomore forward Derek Karamatic (Gig Harbor, Wash / Peninsula HS) and junior defender Adam Ladage (Washougal, Wash. / Washougal). Ladage’s goal came on a penalty kick. Croft played all 90 minutes in goal. Because the match was an exhibition, neither the victory nor the statistics are counted toward season totals.

BRILLIANT SAVE: Sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Croft (Kenmore, Wash. / Inglemoor HS), who saw limited action a year ago as the No. 3 keeper, showed several flashes of brilliance in Sunday’s loss to Concordia. One came late in the first half on a quick reaction save of what certainly would have been a Concordia goal, Croft batting the ball over the crossbar.

NEXT HOME MATCH: PLU’s next home match comes in Northwest Conference play when the Pacific Boxers visit on Saturday, Sept. 16. Kickoff is slated for 2:30 p.m. In their preseason poll, conference coaches predicted PLU to place fourth and Pacific to finish sixth in the nine-team league.

HEAD COACH: John Yorke is in his fifth season at PLU (his alma mater) and has a 37-39-4 overall record.

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