Nov. 6, 2007

MEN’S SOCCER: Lutes Finish Strong, But Come Up Short of Playoffs

Michael Ferguson

Daniel Mangum

Erik Gracey

John Yorke

STRONG FINISH ENDS IN DISAPPOINTMENT: Pacific Lutheran did all that it needed to do during the final two weeks of the season, but the help it needed from Whitman during the final day of the regular season didn’t materialize. As a result, PLU’s season comes to an end with a 13-6-1 overall record and an 11-2-1 Northwest Conference slate (34 points), good for second place. Whitworth, which defeated Whitman by a 1-0 score on the final day of the season, won the Northwest Conference with a 12-2-0 record (36 points) and with it the league’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division III postseason tournament. Had Whitman defeated Whitworth, the Lutes would have won the league title by a point and advanced to postseason play. It is interesting to note that Pacific Lutheran finished right where the conference coaches had predicted in their preseason poll. That poll had predicted Puget Sound to defend its title and Whitworth to finish third; those two schools actually traded places in the final 2007 standings.

LUTES DUMP LINFIELD, WILLAMETTE: Pacific Lutheran, which set as one of its goals a Northwest Conference title, faced an uphill battle in that quest, especially after it lost a heart-breaking 1-0 home decision to Puget Sound on Oct. 17. The Lutes responded with five straight wins to close the season, including four consecutive shutouts. Last Friday, the Lutes notched their fourth consecutive clean sheet – and their school record-tying 11th of the season – in a 1-0 victory over Linfield. In a game that featured a total of only nine shots between the teams, Michael Ferguson tallied the only goal in the 52nd minute. PLU freshman goalkeeper Daniel Mangum had three saves while recording his ninth solo shutout of the season. The following day, the Lutes took care of business with a 3-1 victory over Willamette. Ferguson put the Lutes on the board just 4:38 in the first half and at the same time tied Brian Gardner (1986-89) for first on the Lutes men's soccer career goal scoring list with 49. Ferguson, a senior forward out of Auburn Riverside High School, sent a penalty kick into the right side of the net for his 14th goal of the season. Greg Beasley headed home a corner kick at 31:04 to pull Willamette into a 1-1 tie, but PLU broke the deadlock with a goal 2:04 before halftime, then added an insurance goal with 4:17 remaining in the game. The Lutes took a 2-1 halftime lead on Brennan Brown's first goal of the year, and Trevor Jacka added PLU's third goal at 85:43. PLU out-shot the Bearcats, 22-7, including an 8-2 edge in shots on goal. The Lutes also claimed a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks. Mangum collected one save for Pacific Lutheran.

FERGUSON TIES THE RECORD: Michael Ferguson set his sights this season on establishing a new PLU career goal scoring record. He needed 15 goals to start the season and ended up with 14. That still tied him with Brian Gardner (1986-89) for most goals in a career. Ferguson also moved to second on the career point scoring list with 110, finishing his career with 49 goals and 12 assists. Gardner is first on the career point scoring list with 112 on 49 goals and 14 assists.

MORE PLU RECORDS: One Pacific Lutheran single-season record was broken this year and two others were tied. Freshman goalkeeper Daniel Mangum established a new record for goals against average in a season, compiling a 0.54 goals against average. The former record was 0.71 set by Chris Steffy in 1987. Senior midfielder Erik Gracey tied a single-match record with four assists against George Fox on Oct. 14, 2007. In addition, the team recorded 11 shutouts this season, tying the 1987 team for most shutouts in a season. Incidentally, the 2006 team came close to that mark with 10 shutouts. Mangum came close to a record for shutouts as he notched nine shutouts by himself and shared two others. The school record shows Steffy with 11 shutouts in 1987.

LUTES BY THE NUMBERS: Michael Ferguson was clearly the goal scoring leader for the Lutes with 14, and no other player had more than four this season. There were, however, 14 different goal scorers for Pacific Lutheran in a season that saw the Lutes out-score their opponents, 40-18. In all, 16 different players contributed assists, led by Erik Gracey with seven (meaning more than half of his assists came during his record-tying performance against George Fox). Ferguson and junior forward Derek Karamatic both finished the season with five assists. The Lutes out-shot their opponents, 272-188, and they put 129 of those shots, or 47 percent, on goal.

THE COACH: Head coach John Yorke wrapped up his sixth year at the helm with a cumulative record of 62 wins, 50 losses and six ties. His teams have recorded three consecutive winning seasons and this year’s 13-6-1 record (.675 winning percentage) was his best at PLU.

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