Oct. 30, 2007

MEN’S SOCCER: Lutes Still Need Two Wins and Help From Whitman

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran (11-6-1, 9-2-1) at Linfield (8-7-1, 4-7-1), Friday, 1:30 p.m.; PLU at Willamette (2-13-2, 0-11-1), Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

LUTES GIVE THEMSELVES A CHANCE: After Pacific Lutheran lost a 1-0 decision to visiting Puget Sound back on Oct. 17, PLU still was mathematically in the hunt for a Northwest Conference title. The reality, however, was that those hopes were basically on life support. Not only would the Lutes likely have to close the season with five straight wins, they would also need help from other conference teams against first place Whitworth and second place Puget Sound. Well, the good news is that life support hasn’t been disconnected; the bad news is that the Lutes’ title hopes are still on life support. Whitman gave the Lutes a huge boost on Sunday with its win over Puget Sound, an outcome that eliminated the Loggers from title contention one day after they lost an overtime decision to Whitworth. PLU’s sweep of Whitman and Whitworth, on the other hand, keeps hope alive.

Derek Karamatic

Michael Ferguson

Brian Lubeck

GO MISSIONARIES: The NWC title scenarios are as follows: If Whitworth can win next Sunday at Whitman College, the Pirates will clinch its third NWC title in the last four years. If the Lutes win at Linfield and Willamette and the Pirates lose, PLU will win the title. If the Lutes lose or tie either of their final two matches, Whitworth wins the title. Finally, if Whitworth ties at Whitman and PLU wins twice, the teams will be tied in the final standings. At that point, the Pirates hold the tiebreaker for the automatic bid based on comparable results against Puget Sound, the third place team. Whitworth had a 1-1 record against UPS while the Lutes were 0-1-1 against the Loggers.

THE FIRST TIME: The Lutes have already defeated both Linfield and Willamette this season. The 2-0 win over Linfield on Oct. 7 ended nearly a decade of frustration against Wildcats. Pacific Lutheran had not defeated Linfield in men’s soccer since September of 1998, a drought of 17 winless decisions – 16 losses and one tie. The first tally came at 60:58 when Michael Ferguson’s cross was touched on by Trevor Jacka to Jason Bjorgo, who finished past Linfield goalkeeper Mike Belzberg. Ferguson had an assist on the second goal as well when his corner kick rolled out to the top of the box where Ryan Hanna slammed it into the net at 73:37. Daniel Mangum recorded the shutout in goal. On Oct. 6, the Lutes walloped Willamette, 5-0, as Ferguson scored two goals. Other PLU goal scorers in that game were Trevor Jacka, Derek MacLean and Derek Karamatic. Mangum and Brian Kostol shared the shutout in goal, both keepers making two saves. PLU finished the match with 18 shots compared to seven for the Bearcats, and the Lutes enjoyed an 8-2 corner kick advantage. The large lead allowed PLU head coach John Yorke to use 15 substitutes in the match.

FERGUSON LIFTS LUTES: Senior forward Michael Ferguson rifled home a 25-yard free kick midway through the second half to lift the Lutes to a 1-0 Northwest Conference men's soccer victory over Whitman College at the Whitman Athletic Fields. The first half ended in controversy when Whitman senior Andy Huntington hit a shot from about 20 yards out in the waning seconds. The ball bounced off the crossbar and into the net. But the referee, after consulting with one of the linesmen, said the ball entered the goal after the buzzer sounded. Whitman took 14 shots, putting four on goal. Pacific Lutheran finished with 13 shots, three on goal. Keeper Daniel Mangum made four saves for the Lutes while Brett Axelrod picked off two for Whitman.

DOUBLE OT WIN KEEPS TITLE HOPES ALIVE: Derek Karamatic scored perhaps the biggest goal of his Pacific Lutheran career on Sunday as the Lutes defeated Northwest Conference men's soccer leader Whitworth, 1-0, in double overtime. Karamatic came up with the match-winning goal for the Lutes at 108:25 when he took a pass from Brennan Brown and fired a shot past Whitworth keeper Scott Barnum and into the upper-left corner of the goal. Barnum had saved the match for Whitworth in the first overtime when he made a diving save on a shot by Ferguson, who is tied for the lead in the NWC with 12 goals. After a scoreless first half when neither side put a shot on goal, Whitworth started to get chances against PLU keeper Daniel Mangum. But the freshman saved all eight shots that came his way in the second half and overtime. That included a flurry over the last six minutes of regulation when the Pirates had four corner kicks and four shots. Mangum was saved on two occasions by senior center defender Brian Lubeck, who cleared one ball off the line and saved another goal with a sliding tackle on a Whitworth breakaway. The win for the Lutes is the first in Spokane since 1998 and it is only the second time this season that the Pirates did not score a goal (Whitworth tied Southwestern 0-0 in the second match of the year).

LUBECK EARNS CONFERENCE HONOR: Senior defender Brian Lubeck earned Northwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors after helping the Lutes to a pair of road shutouts on the eastern side of the state. Lubeck played a particularly big role against Whitworth, clearing one ball on a corner kick and sliding in to knock the ball away from a Whitworth player who had broken in on goal.

FERGUSON WATCH: Michael Ferguson has 12 goals this season and needs three in the remaining two regular season matches to break Brian Gardner’s nearly 20-year old career record of 49 goals. Gardner played his soccer at PLU from 1986-89. With 47 career goals, Ferguson ranks No. 2 on the PLU career goal-scoring list.

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