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Northwest Conference Championships 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1991 - 1992 |
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Oct. 16, 2007 MEN’S SOCCER: Conference Title Hopes at Stake for PLU, UPS THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran hosts Puget Sound, Wednesday, 3:30 p.m.; PLU hosts Pacific, Saturday, 2:30 p.m. RIVALS MEET AGAIN: For the second time in a matter of one week, Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound will renew their Northwest Conference men’s soccer rivalry. The teams will battle it out on the PLU field at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Nothing was ultimately decided last Wednesday when the Lutes and 11th-ranked Loggers battled to a 1-1 tie after 110 minutes of action at Baker Stadium. At stake for both teams are conference championship dreams. Currently, both the Lutes and Loggers are tied for second in the NWC with 6-1-1 records and 19 points (three points for a win, one point for a tie), and they trail Whitworth, which has 24 points on an 8-1-0 record. A win by either PLU or UPS will move that team within two points of the Pirates with five conference matches remaining. Both the Lutes and Loggers face road matches at Whitworth during the last weekend of October.
TEAMS TIE, RAIN WINS: With a combined 33 shots and 20 saves, the Lutes and the Loggers battled to a 1-1 draw in last Wednesday. The Lutes took the lead in the 19th minute when Brennan Brown threaded a pass through the Logger defense to Erik Gracey, who finished from just yards out, giving Pacific Lutheran a 1-0 halftime lead over the Loggers. In the second half, the Loggers evened things up in the 70th minute when, following a scrum of activity near the Pacific Lutheran net, a Lute defender accidentally tapped the ball across the goal line for an own goal. Neither team was able to put a ball into the goal during the remaining 20 minutes of regulation nor the 20 minutes of overtime, though both had several good chances. The Lutes forced Puget Sound all-conference goalkeeper Pete Van Sant to make several leaping saves, and the Loggers also had several good chances that were stopped by PLU freshman keeper Daniel Mangum. Van Sant made nine saves in the 110-minute contest while Magum finished with 11 saves. After getting off only two shots in the first half compared to five by the hosts, PLU hammered 11 shots in the second half. The Lutes ended up with a 17-16 advantage in that category, and both teams had seven corner kicks in the contest. The entire second half and overtime was played in rain, often heavy, and the field began to puddle, limiting both teams offensively.
BY THE NUMBERS: The conference’s offensive
and defensive statistics are replete with Lutes and Loggers. PLU
senior forward Michael Ferguson is tied for the lead in goals with
five in eight matches and he is tied for second in assists with
four. That combination of 14 points in eight matches gives him the
points per game scoring lead (1.75). PLU senior midfielder Erik
Gracey, third in points per game (1.25), leads the NWC with six
assists in eight matches, and junior forward Brennan Brown is tied
for fifth with three assists. Sophomore midfielder Jason Bjorgo
leads the conference with three game-winning goals and he is fourth
in points per game (1.0). Not to be outdone is PLU freshman goalkeeper
Daniel Mangum, second in goals against average (0.52). Puget Sound
goalkeeper Pete Van Sant is third in goals against average (0.59).
In team statistics, Puget Sound far-and-away leads the conference
with an average of 25.5 shots per game, while PLU is third with
an average of 13.6 shots per game. The Loggers are first in corner
kicks with 66 in eight matches followed by PLU with 58 in eight
matches. The Lutes lead in goals per game, however, at 2.38, followed
by UPS at 2.25. The Lutes also lead in assists with 2.75 per contest.
On the defensive end of things, UPS and PLU have both allowed five
goals in eight matches and rank second to Whitworth in that category.
The Lutes lead the conference with five shutouts, followed by Puget
Sound with four.
GRACEY TIES ASSIST RECORD: Erik Gracey tied a school record with four assists and Michael Ferguson scored twice as the Lutes garnered a 5-3 Northwest Conference victory over the George Fox Bruins last Sunday afternoon in Newberg. Gracey tied the record set by Kevin Murray against Willamette in 2005. The Lutes appeared to have things well in hand against George Fox after scoring three quick goals in the game’s first 19 minutes. Gracey assisted the league’s leading scorer, Michael Ferguson, on similar goals at the 2:45 and 17:33 marks. Both times Gracey passed on the run from the right side to Ferguson coming down the center, and he out-maneuvered goalkeeper Kyle Putnam for clear shots to the net. They were the ninth and 10th goals of the season for Ferguson. Gracey then got a goal of his own, his fourth, with an assist from Henrick Oiseth at 18:19, and the Lutes took a 3-0 lead into the break. The Bruins bounced back to make a game of it in the second half, starting with Carlos Pehr’s fourth goal of the season at 54:38. Fifteen minutes later, at 69:18, Pehr sent a corner kick from the left to the far side of the box, Story headed it back into the middle, and Erich Hangartner slid in to boot the ball into the net for his second goal of the year, cutting the deficit to 3-2. PLU picked up some breathing room with two quick strikes in the final 10 minutes. Gracey tried to head in a corner kick that was deflected by a Bruin defender, and the free ball was gathered in by Derek MacLean and punched into the net at 82:53 for his second score of the season. Just over two minutes later, at 85:09, Gracey picked up his fourth assist of the game with a pass from the center to Thomas Pedersen on the left side of the box, and he angled a shot into the far corner for his first goal of the year. Hangartner added the Bruins’ final goal at 86:22, for the final 5-3 score line. GRACEY EARNS NWC HONOR: Erik Gracey's week to
remember earned him Northwest Conference Offensive Player of the
Week honors. Gracey tallied two goals and four assists during the
Lutes' two matches last week. - PLU - |
