Lutes Earn National Ranking, but Tough Road Ahead

THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran heads to Oregon this weekend for a pair of Northwest Conference matches. The Lutes will face the George Fox Bruins in Newberg at 2:30 p.m. Saturday before traveling to nearby Forest Grove on Sunday for a 1:30 p.m. tilt against the Pacific Boxers.

NATIONAL RANKING: A quick check of the national ranking shows that the Lutes earned a Top 25 national ranking for the first time since 1992. This week's NSCAA/adidas Division III national poll has the Lutes ranked No. 25, while the regional poll lists PLU in the No. 3 position. "Being ranked in the national poll is meaningless right now," said PLU head coach John Yorke, taking a long-term view toward the season, "but still it is pretty cool for the guys to be rewarded this way for their hard work."

ABOUT GEORGE FOX: Pacific Lutheran, 7-2-0 overall and 4-0-0 in the conference, will be after its fifth consecutive Northwest Conference victory to open the season on Saturday when it plays George Fox. The contest features the team at the top of the standings - Pacific Lutheran - against the cellar dweller - George Fox, but don't for a minute think that PLU can take the hosts lightly. The Bruins are 3-6-0 overall and 0-4-0 in the conference, and what has troubled them most this year is a defense that has allowed a total of 24 goals in nine matches. In four conference tilts, the Bruins have given up 13 goals, easily the most in the NWC at this stage of the season. George Fox can score even if you don't consider their 10-0 rout of Walla Walla University. Fidel Izquierdo leads the team with five goals, and Zach Sanders, Brennen Altringer and Sean Daughtry all have four scores this year. Kyle Story sets the table for George Fox as indicated by his six assists this season.

ABOUT PACIFIC: Pacific is off to an excellent start this season with a 6-2-1 overall record and a 2-1-1 mark in the conference, good for third place. By the way, the Boxers face Puget Sound on Saturday afternoon prior to their Sunday tilt against PLU. This offensive-minded team leads the conference in shots, points, goals (2.78 per match), assists (2.44 per match) and fewest goals allowed. Jasem Jaihouni leads the team with six goals and Travis Birrell had four goals and five assists. This is a balanced team, however, as 11 different players have scored goals and 12 different players have contributed assists. Andrew Stevermer is one of the NWC's best goalkeeper with a 0.72 goals against average. The Lutes will have to be on the top of their game to take care of business against a very good Boxers team.

PLU 2, WHITMAN 1: PLU rallied from a  1-0 halftime deficit with a pair of second half goals to defeat Whitman Missionaries, 2-1, on Saturday afternoon. The Missionaries took a 1-0 lead at 18:35 when Todd Wallenius scored a penalty kick following a hand ball in the penalty box by PLU central back Derek MacLean. PLU controlled the first half of the match with 15 shots, including 11 on frame to just one shot, the penalty kick, for the Missionaries. Whitman keeper Nic McDonald made 11 first half saves, including several of the acrobatic variety. The second half was much more evenly played as Whitman took the fire out of the PLU offense. Though the Lutes managed just four shots in the second half, they scored on two of them. Andy Hyres tallied the first at 59:02, running past a defender and left-footing a shot past McDonald and into the far netting. The goal was the second of the season for Hyres. Exactly nine minutes later, Daniele Zaccagnini notched his third goal in as many matches and his fourth of the season, turning on a loose ball and shooting to the lower left corner. PLU finished with 19 shots to just four for the Missionaries, and PLU also enjoyed a 4-1 advantage in corner kicks. McDonald finished the match with his 11 saves while Kostol was called on just one time.

PLU 2, WHITWORTH 1 IN OT: Chad Kearns scored two goals, including the match winner with five seconds remaining in the first overtime, as Pacific Lutheran scuttled Whitworth, 2-1, in a Sunday afternoon battle of unbeaten NWC teams. With time winding down in the first overtime, Kearns took a centering pass from Spencer Augustin and knocked the ball into the net for the winning goal. Augustin started the play with a dribbling run near the end touch line and he slotted the pass under Whitworth keeper Brian Sherpe to the waiting Kearns. After a tightly contested first half that showed the Pirates with a 6-4 shot advantage, the visitors from Spokane took the lead at the 57:26 mark on Matthew Fronk's first goal of the season. A mistake by Sherpe allowed the Lutes to tie the score at the 71:37 mark. Sherpe came off his line to kick the ball downfield but the ball glanced off his foot, allowing Kearns to race in and knock home a left-footed shot from a sharp angle. That set up the overtime session and Kearns' heroics. Whitworth, the two-time defending conference champions, ended up with a 20-14 advantage in shots and a 7-5 advantage in corner kicks. Kostol was particularly tough in goal for the Lutes with 10 saves, while Sherpe notched two saves for the Pirates.

LUTES BY THE NUMBERS: The Lutes are showing balance on offense with Spencer Augustin, Daniele Zaccagnini and Chad Kearns tied atop the goal-scoring list with four apiece. The Lutes' strong midfield play shows up in the statistical category - Zaccagnini has scored four goals, Andy Hyres has four assists and both Surafel Wodajo and Jason Bjorgo have three assists apiece. The Lutes average two goals per game through their first nine contests. The defense, led by senior backs Derek MacLean and Scott Parsons, has been solid, allowing only 12 goals this season. Goalkeeper Brian Kostol has a 1.20 goals against average this season.

LUTES IN OVERTIME: Pacific Lutheran has compiled a 4-1 record in overtime matches this season. After losing the season opener to UC Santa Cruz on an overtime goal, the Lutes have defeated St. Thomas (Minn.), 3-2 in overtime, Capital (Ohio), 3-2 in overtime, Linfield, 2-1 in double overtime, and Whitworth, 2-1 in overtime.

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