MEN’S SOCCER: D3kicks.com Ranks PLU No. 2 in the Nation

2006 Season Statistics

THIS WEEK: PLU at Whitworth, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.; PLU at Whitman, Sunday, 2:30 p.m.

JUST FOR KICKS: D3kicks.com, a national web site geared toward Division III soccer, currently ranks Pacific Lutheran No. 2 in its computer-generated national poll. The computer factors in results from matches against Division III opponents only, and the Lutes come out well in that category. Their only two losses have come against NCAA Division II Western Washington and NAIA power Concordia (Ore.). The Lutes’ fives wins to date – all shutouts – have come against Division III opponents. PLU head coach John Yorke and his players know not to put any stock into what a computer has to say after three weeks of the season, but – just for kicks – it is fun to see the name Pacific Lutheran in the No. 2 spot.

WHITWORTH A MAJOR TEST FOR PLU: Okay, now back to the task at hand. That’s what Pacific Lutheran (5-2-0 overall, 2-0-0 in conference) has to be thinking as it heads east of the mountains for Northwest Conference battles against Whitworth and Whitman, which is always tough on its home field in Walla Walla. Whitworth, the defending Northwest Conference champion and current conference leader at 2-1-1, should provide an especially difficult challenge for the Lutes. Ali Seyedali might be the most talented player in the Northwest Conference and he lead the Pirates in scoring with three goals and two assists for eight points. Niko Varlamos has three goals and Chris Johnson has added two goals and two assists for Whitworth. The Pirates have allowed an uncharacteristically high (for them) 11 goals in eight matches, however, and the Lutes hope to add to that total. Goalkeeper Kevin Bostock has a 1.36 goals against average this season. The Whitman match poses problems of its own, especially if the Lutes put too much focus on Saturday’s match against Whitworth. Stephen Phillips has scored three of the Missionaries’ seven goals, and goalkeeper Brett Axelrod has a 1.12 goals against average while making 23 saves in just four matches.

SHUTOUT STRING ENDS: Playing three matches in three days proved to be a bit too much for the Pacific Lutheran men's soccer team, which saw its five-match shutout streak end with a 5-1 loss to Western Washington on Monday night in Bellingham. The streak started with shutouts of Colorado College, Buena Vista (Iowa) and Pacific and continued against George Fox (4-0) on Saturday and Simon Fraser (2-0) on Sunday. The Vikings and Monday proved to be one team and one day too many for the Lutes, who came within a game of tying the school record for consecutive shutouts. The 1987 PLU team set the school record with six consecutive “clean sheets.” In addition to losing the shutout string, the five-match winning string ended. The school record in that category is eight, again held by the 1987 team.

MOVING UP: Pacific Lutheran moved up from 10th into a tie for 7th in this week’s NSCAA West Region rankings.

HONORABLE MENTION RECOGNITION: Junior defender Brian Lubeck (Glendale, Ariz. / Mountain Ridge HS) and junior forward Mike Ferguson (Sumner, Wash. / Auburn Riverside HS) received honorable mention recognition as defensive and offensive player of the week in the conference for their efforts in PLU’s two wins over George Fox and Simon Fraser last week.

ASKER, FERGUSON TOP NWC SCORERS: A pair of PLU forwards are tied with Linfield’s Mike Grabast atop the goal-scoring chart when taking into account all games. Baard Asker (Oslo, Norway / Wang) and Mike Ferguson are both off to a great start, each scoring six goals this season. If you count only conference matches, Asker leads all goal scorers with an average of 1.5 goals per match – he has scored three times in two conference matches. Prior to Monday’s loss to Western Washington, sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Croft (Kenmore, Wash. / Inglemoor HS) led all keeper with a 0.35 goals against average.

HEAD COACH: John Yorke is in his fifth season at PLU (his alma mater) and has a 42-41-4 overall record.

- PLU -