Sept. 25, 2007

MEN’S SOCCER: Lutes on a Roll, But Tough Opponents Ahead

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran hosts Whitworth, Saturday, 2:30 p.m.; PLU hosts Whitman, Sunday, 2:30 p.m.

KEEP ‘EM ROLLIN’: After opening the season with four straight losses, two against nationally ranked opponents, the Lutes find themselves on a nice little roll of four consecutive victories. PLU has notched shutout wins over Simpson (Iowa), George Fox, Pacific and Saint Martin’s over the past two weeks, but things get much more difficult for the Lutes this weekend. Whitworth, atop the Northwest Conference with a 4-0 record, is the Lutes’ opponent on Saturday afternoon. One day later, Whitman, 3-1 in the conference, will be in Parkland to face the Lutes. Pacific Lutheran enters the weekend fray with a 2-0 conference record, those wins coming at home against George Fox and on the road against Pacific.

ABOUT WHITWORTH: Sean Bushey, who in his 12th year at Whitworth is one of the longest-tenured men’s soccer coaches in the NWC, has had his share of success against PLU head coach John Yorke, his friend and former college teammate. In 10 previous meetings between these coaches and their teams, Bushey’s Pirates have won seven of the matches. PLU’s three wins have all come on its home turf, including a 1-0 win last year on Brennan Brown’s goal. Whitworth comes into Saturday’s clash with a five-match winning streak, all of the victories coming by shutout. The Pirates started the streak with a 1-0 non-conference win against Cal Lutheran on Sept. 9, that match played at the PLU field. Whitworth has outscored its NWC foes 10-0 and it has scored 14 goals while allowing only three during the season. Matt Friesen runs the show in midfield and is the main gunner with five goals and two assists. Ryan Powers and Keith Kirsch both have three goals and Brent Zahn has chipped in four assists. Scott Barnum has played every minute in goal and has an impressive 0.36 goals against average.

ABOUT WHITMAN: The Missionaries are 3-1 in the conference and 6-3 overall. Whitman, which comes into the weekend on the momentum of consecutive conference road shutouts against George Fox and Willamette, has outscored its nine opponents 26-13 this season. Stephen Phillips and Andy Huntington both have seven goals this season and Brett Axelrod is a veteran goalkeeper with a 0.95 goals against average. John Yorke has coached PLU in 10 matches against the Missionaries and his Lutes have won nine and tied one. The one tie came by a 2-2 score in 2002. Last year, the Lutes swept a pair of 1-0 decisions from Whitman. So either the Lutes have the Missionaries number, or the Missionaries are overdue for a win. All of that will be sorted out on Sunday.

FOUR IN A ROW: Pacific Lutheran has four straight shutouts to its credit, and freshman goalkeeper Daniel Mangum has been the starter in all four matches. The first three shutouts were all Mangum’s but he did share the most recent shutout – a 5-0 win over Saint Martin’s – with fellow frosh Brian Kostol, who saw his first action of the season.

WHO’S HANNA?: That would be Ryan Hanna, a sophomore midfielder for the Lutes who has been on fire with three goals in the last two matches. Hanna scored the match winner – his first as a collegiate player – in overtime last Saturday against Pacific in Forest Grove. He added two more goals against Saint Martin’s on Monday.

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, we can now officially refer to Ferguson’s record chase as the “Ferguson Watch.” Ferguson, who had two goals against Saint Martin’s, needs nine goals in the final 12 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 this season to break Gardner’s record.

- PLU -