Oct 28, 2008

MEN'S SOCCER: Lutes Look to End the Season Strong

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran at Willamette, Saturday, 1:30 p.m.; PLU at George Fox, Sunday, 1:30pm.

LUTES HOPEFUL: Despite being out of the running for the Northwest Conference title, the Lutes are looking forward to finishing the season strong and ending with three victories. They square off against the Willamette Bearcats and the George Fox Bruins this week before ending the season on Friday, Nov. 7, at home against Linfield.

FIRST TIME AGAINST WILLAMETTE: In the first meeting between PLU and Willamette on Oct. 5, PLU's Derek Karamatic scored the lone goal, on a 20-yard free kick in the 30th minute. Karamatic lined up his shot from just above the penalty box following a Willamette foul. The senior forward curled the ball around the wall and into the upper right corner of the goal, leaving Bearcats goalkeeper Mark Bennett without a chance at the save. Pacific Lutheran ended up with a 17-12 shot advantage, including a match-high six efforts by Karamatic, and both goalkeepers came up with four saves. The Lutes had a 10-4 advantage in corner kicks.

FIRST TIME AGAINST GEORGE FOX: In the first meeting between PLU and George Fox on Oct. 4, Ricky Morales scored his third goal of the season about 14 minutes into the match and Surafel Worku and Chad Kearns added second half tallies for the Lutes. Goalkeeper Daniel Mangum did not need to make a save as the defense, anchored by junior center back Derek MacLean, limited the Bruins to just four shots. George Fox goalkeeper Jake Maguire had little chance on any of the three PLU goals, and he was able to keep his team in the game with three saves as the Lutes peppered a total of 18 shots at goal. The Lutes owned an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks, all eight coming in the opening half. PLU head coach John Yorke was able to bring 14 different players in off the bench.

TOUGH WEEK: This past weekend was another tough week for the Lutes. On Saturday, the Lutes ended their match with the Whitworth Pirates in a stalemate at 1-1. The two goals were scored within 20 seconds of each other in the first half. The visiting Pirates got on the board first at 11:58 when Eddy Prugh scored his sixth goal of the season on a rocket that beat PLU keeper Daniel Mangum. The Whitworth coaches, players and fans were still celebrating when Pacific Lutheran's Jason Bjorgo knotted the score with his own long blast. Bjorgo took the ball near the center stripe and dribbled through the defense, finally shooting and beating Pirates keeper Jeff Srock low and to the left. On Sunday, The Lutes lost a closely contested match against Whitman, 1-0. The lone goal was made early in the first period and the Lutes were unable to come back. Despite trumping their opponents with shots attempted, the Lutes are coming up just short in the final games of the season. With a tie and a loss, the Lutes saw their slim hopes of a conference title come to an end.

SENIORS HONORED: The Lutes honored five seniors - Nolan Adams, Derek Karamatic, Andy Stolz, Brennan Brown and Trevor McDonald - at Sunday's match against Whitman. PLU has one more home match, but because it falls on an early Friday afternoon, head coach John Yorke decided to honor the seniors prior to final weekend match.

- PLU -

By James Odan, student assistant