Nov. 8, 2007

Ferguson and Lubeck Earn NWC’s Top Soccer Honors

Michael Ferguson

Brian Lubeck

Coming off one of the best seasons in recent memory the Pacific Lutheran men’s soccer team placed seven players on the 2007 All-Northwest Conference Men’s Soccer Teams as voted on by the league’s eight coaches. Seniors Brian Lubeck and Michael Ferguson earned top honors as they were named Defensive and Offensive Players of the Year.

The Lutes finished the season with a 13-6-1 overall record, the best by a PLU team since the 1997 squad went 14-6-2. In NWC play PLU was 11-2-1, giving the team the highest winning percentage since the 1992 team went undefeated in conference play.

Michael Ferguson, a Lake Tapps native, was the top offensive weapon in the NWC. Ferguson lead the conference in goals with 14 on the season, with brought his career total to 49 goals tying the school record set by Brian Gardner, who played at PLU from 1986-89. Ferguson also led the NWC in points with 33 off 14 goals and 5 assists. This was the third season Ferguson has been named to the All-NWC First Team, making him only the fourth player in PLU history to make the first team three different times.

Brian Lubeck has been the corner stone to a strong Lute backfield for the past four seasons. A three-year starter, Lubeck helped the Lutes to a .90 goal average, 18 goals in 20 games, with only seven of those goals coming in conference play.

Freshman Daniel Mangum received second team honors for his outstanding work as goalkeeper. Mangum established a new school record in goals against average this season with a 0.54 average giving up only nine goals in 1493 minutes. The freshman also recorded nine shutouts and 55 saves on the year.

Joining Mangum on the second team was senior Erik Gracey and sophomores Jason Bjorgo and Derek MacLean. Gracey tied a school record for assists in a game when he tallied four in the 5-3 win over George Fox. By the end of the season Gracey earned a conference high seven assists while netting four goals. Bjorgo scored four goals while assisting on four others. MacLean, a defender, scored two goals and assisted one this season.

Midfielder Henrik Oiseth received honorable mention honors for his play this year. Oiseth finished the season with one goal and one assist.

A complete list of the All-Northwest Conference Men’s Soccer Teams can be found at http://www.nwcsports.com/sports/soccer_men/All-NWC.htm

- PLU -