Oct. 4, 2006

WOMEN’S SOCCER: Lutes Jump Back Into NWC Frying Pan

THIS WEEK: PLU hosts Linfield, Saturday, noon; PLU hosts Willamette, Sunday, noon.

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN…: Pacific Lutheran (6-3-1 overall, 3-2-1 conference) will have its hands full for the second straight weekend as it hosts Linfield and Willamette in Northwest Conference matches this weekend. The Lutes dropped into fourth place in the NWC after a loss and tie last weekend, and this weekend will go a long way toward determining where the Lutes finish in the conference race. Both teams should give PLU a challenge. Linfield is currently in seventh in the nine-team league with five points (three points for win, one for a tie) on a 1-3-2 record, but the Wildcats have been pretty good on defense, allowing nine goals in those six matches. Their problem has been offense – they have just four goals in conference contests. Unquestionably the bigger of the two challenges comes from Willamette, which leads the conference with a perfect 18 points on a 6-0-0 record. In addition, the Bearcats have only a tie to blemish an otherwise spotless 9-0-1 season record. The Bearcats come into the weekend ranked No. 1 in the NSCAA West Region poll and are No. 5 in the NSCAA Top 25 national ranking. Willamette has scored 13 goals and allowed only one in its six conference contests, and has given up just two tallies in 10 matches this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Samantha Post earned Northwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors after recording shutouts against George Fox (2-0) and Linfield (1-0).

LUTES GO 0-1-1 EAST OF MOUNTAINS: The Lutes had hoped for better, but they didn’t have the kind of weekend they had hoped for, losing to Whitworth 2-1 and tying Whitman, 1-1. Sophomore midfielder Breann Vanden Bos (Issaquah, Wash. / Liberty HS) scored her first goal of the season four minutes into the second half to put the Lutes ahead of Whitworth, 1-0, but the Pirates came back on goals in the 82nd and 88th minutes to pull out the victory. Whitworth is ranked No. 21 in the NSCAA Top 25 national poll. PLU also led 1-0 on a second-half goal against Whitman, but the Missionaries came back to tie the game. After 110 minutes, neither team could break the deadlock, giving PLU its first tie of the 2006 campaign.

OEHMCKE HAS NICE WEEKEND: While senior forward Jackie Oehmcke (Gig Harbor, Wash. / Gig Harbor HS) would certainly have preferred a couple of PLU victories, she still produced some good results for the Lutes last weekend. She recorded an assist against Whitworth on Saturday and tallied PLU’s goal against Whitman on Sunday. For her efforts, she earned honorable mention conference offensive player of the week recognition.

STREAK ENDS: Freshman midfielder Jenny McKinsey (Greenacres, Wash. / West Valley HS) saw her streak of scoring in five consecutive matches come to an end as she was shut out by Whitworth last Saturday in Spokane. Still, McKinsey leads the Lutes with seven goals in 10 matches. She has half of PLU's 14 goals this season.

LUTES DROP OUT OF REGION RANKING: Pacific Lutheran dropped out of the NSCAA West Region Top 10 poll after a 0-1-1 weekend. PLU had been ranked No. 7 in last week’s poll. It might be of interest to note that George Fox, a team that PLU beat 2-0 and that it out-shot 28-10 in Newberg, Ore., only a week earlier, has moved into the No. 10 spot in the region rankings. Go figure.

THE COACH: Jerrod Fleury, now in his fifth season as women's soccer head coach at his alma mater, is 42-39-7 at PLU.

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