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Oct 15, 2009

Third-Place Lutes Open Second Half of NWC Play


THIS WEEK: Pacific Lutheran goes east of the mountains for Northwest Conference matches against the Whitworth Pirates and the Whitman Missionaries. PLU (8-4 overall, 5-2 NWC) currently holds down third place in the conference, trailing Saturday afternoon opponent Whitworth (8-2-1 overall, 6-1 NWC) and Pacific (9-2-1 overall, 5-1-1 NWC). Whitman (3-6-2 overall, 2-4-1 NWC), PLU's Sunday afternoon foe, is in sixth in the conference standings.

SECOND HALF SCHEDULE: Other than this weekend's matches in Spokane and Walla Walla, the second half NWC schedule favors the Lutes. They play their final five conference matches at home. Teams scheduled to come to Parkland include Linfield, Willamette, Pacific, George Fox and Puget Sound. The Lutes will try to "hold serve" against Linfield, Willamette and Puget Sound, all team they beat the first time, and then get a measure of revenge against Pacific and George Fox.

PLU VERSUS WHITWORTH THE FIRST TIME: Whitworth only loss in the first round of conference play came at the hands of the Lutes. PLU sophomore forward Chad Kearns scored two goals, including the match winner with five seconds remaining in the first overtime, in the Lutes' 2-1 win on Sept. 27. At the time, PLU and Whitworth were the only unbeaten teams in the conference. Whitworth took the lead at the 57:26 mark on Matthew Fronk's first goal of the season. Fronk was on the spot to knock the ball past PLU keeper Brian Kostol, with the assist going to Devin Merrill. A goalkeeper mistake allowed the Lutes to tie the score at 71:37. Brian 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.

LUTES AND MISSIONARIES THE FIRST TIME: PLU rallied from a 1-0 halftime deficit with a pair of second half goals to defeat Whitman Missionaries, 2-1, on Sept. 26. 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.

LUTES 4, LOGGERS 1: You would have to go all the way back to 1991 to find the last time that a Pacific Lutheran men's soccer team defeated Puget Sound in a match at the Loggers' home field, but that string of 15 straight losses or ties came to an end last Sunday afternoon. With four different players contributing goals, the Lutes defeated the host Loggers, 4-1, in a conference match played Sunday afternoon on Peyton Field at Baker Stadium. Spencer Augustin scored in the 19th minute to put the Lutes on top, and they added to their lead in the 59th minute on Chad Kearns' sixth goal of the season. After a UPS goal, Daniele Zaccagnini made it 3-1 on a quick PLU counter initiated by Surafel Wodajo. Another PLU counter attack resulted in the fourth goal. With most of the Loggers defenders forward for a free kick, defender Scott Parsons won a header. The ball went quickly forward to Wodajo, who juked one defender before finding Andy Hyres alone about 15 yards in front of the net for his third goal of the season. Pacific Lutheran nearly doubled the Loggers in shots with a 15-8 advantage, and the Lutes also put seven shots on frame compared to just two for the hosts. The Loggers held a 7-3 advantage in corner kicks.

LUTES BY THE NUMBERS: Spencer Augustin and Chad Kearns have shown why head coach John Yorke has put so much faith in the pair of sophomore forwards. With five goals and three assists, Augustin leads the Lutes with 13 points. Kearns has six goals to lead the Lutes in that category. PLU's outstanding midfield foursome - Daniele Zaccagnini, Andy Hyres, Surafel Wodajo and Jason Bjorgo - are the next four in line in points scored. Zaccagnini (DZ to his teammates) has five goals and one assist for 11 points and Hyres has three goals and four assists for 10 points. Wodajo has nine points and Bjorgo has five.  

LUTES IN OVERTIME: If games move into an overtime session, the Lutes have to like their changes. They have 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.

- PLU -