Lutes Host Loggers in Regular Season Finale

THIS WEEKEND: A Northwest Conference championship, and possibly a berth in the NCAA Division III postseason tournament, could be on the line this Saturday when Pacific Lutheran hosts cross-town rival Puget Sound in a Northwest Conference men's soccer match. The Lutes and Loggers will kick off their match starting at 1:30 p.m. at the PLU field.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: As mentioned in the previous note, much is at stake for the Lutes, 13-5-0 overall and 10-3-0 in the conference. With 30 points in the conference standings, PLU sits in second place, two points behind defending champion Whitworth. In addition to PLU hosting Puget Sound, Whitworth hosts Whitman on Saturday afternoon. Because Whitworth owns the tiebreaker over the Lutes, a tie against Whitman is good enough for the Pirates to earn the NWC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. A Whitman victory, on the other hand, would give the Lutes an opportunity to jump over the Pirates, win the championship and earn the postseason bid. That is dependent, of course, on the Lutes beating Puget Sound on Saturday. Puget Sound, it should be noted, currently occupies fourth place in the standings with 20 points on a 6-5-2 record. Should the Lutes either tie or lose, there is a possibility that they would fall behind Pacific, currently in third place with 29 points. Pacific concludes its regular season on Saturday with a match at last place George Fox. So, bottom line, much is at stake when the Lutes lace up their boots and square off against the Loggers on Saturday.

THE FIRST TIME: 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 on Oct. 11. With four different players contributing goals, the Lutes defeated the host Loggers, 4-1, at Baker Stadium. Spencer Augustin and Chad Kearns scored goals go put the Lutes on top, 2-0, before the Loggers pulled within one on a goal by Sean Rice. 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.

ABOUT PUGET SOUND: The Loggers, 9-8-2 overall, are assured of a fourth-place finish in this year's standings. They have scored 22 goals and allowed 21 this season, and the four that PLU scored in the teams' first meet was the most that they allowed in a match. Freshman Chris McDonald has been strong in goal this year, getting the majority of the minutes and allowing just six goals for a 0.52 goals against average. He didn't play against the Lutes last time, however, with veteran Greg Saetrum getting the nod. Saetrum has allowed 13 goals and has a 1.73 goals against average. The Loggers have balance on offense, led by five goals from Sean Rice. Derek Woodworth, Chris Shaw and Cole Peterson all have four goals for the Loggers.

LUTES HOPE TO TIE RECORD: A subplot to PLU's need for a victory on Saturday is the fact that a win would be the 14th this season, which would tie the school record for victories in a season. Both the 1987 and the 1997 teams won 14 matches.

LUTE LEADERS: Forwards Spencer Augustin and Chad Kearns share the team lead with nine goals, and midfielders Andy Hyres and Surafel Wodajo both have eight assists to pace the team in that category. Daniele Zaccagnini has scored seven goals this season.

NWC HONORS BJORGO, MacLEAN: PLU seniors Jason Bjorgo and Derek MacLean have earned Northwest Conference Student-Athlete of the Week honors for their performances last week in a pair of PLU victories. Bjorgo, a midfielder, scored both PLU goals in an important 2-1 win over Pacific and added another in a 3-1 victory over George Fox. MacLean, a defender, had two assists against George Fox and spearheaded a Lutes defense that limited two opponents to a total of six shots on goal.

PLU 3, GEORGE FOX 1: Pacific Lutheran scored all three of its goals in the second half on the way to an important 3-1 conference win over the visiting George Fox Bruins last Sunday afternoon at the Washington Premier soccer field. PLU controlled most of the play in the first half and built up a 10-2 advantage in shots, but it managed just one shot on goal against George Fox goalkeeper Jack Maguire during that time. After shooting often with little accuracy in the opening half, the Lutes drilled home their first three efforts of the second period. The scoring started in the 49th minute when Jason Bjorgo hammered in a drive from near the top of the box after Andy Hyres' free kick was fisted down by Hartmann. The goal was the fifth of the season and the third in two matches for Bjorgo. The next two Pacific Lutheran goals were nearly carbon copies of one another. The first came in the 52nd minute when Derek MacLean hit a long free kick into the box where it was headed on by Chad Kearns. Shane Gutierrez, making a run through the box, put a one-touch shot past Maguire to make it 2-0, giving the freshman midfielder his first collegiate goal. After a Bruins goal made it 2-1, the Lutes capped the scoring in the 63rd minute. MacLean's long free kick found the head of Lance Davis, who flicked it to the left for Spencer Augustin to one-time into the net. The score was Augustin's ninth of the season, tying him with Kearns for team-high honors. Kit Deming, getting his first start in goal in place of the injured Brian Kostol, finished the match with two saves. The Lutes ended the game with a 15-9 advantage in shots, while the Bruins came out ahead in the corner kick department, 3-2.

PLU 2, PACIFIC 1: PLU moved ahead of Pacific and into second place in the conference standings with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the visiting Boxers last Saturday afternoon. After a scoreless first half, PLU senior midfielder Jason Bjorgo scored a pair of goals within a nine-minute time frame to put his team on top, 2-0. The first goal came at 53:54 when Bjorgo took a cross from Surafel Wodajo, took a dribble near the top of the 18-yard box, and beat Pacific goalkeeper Andrew Stevermer with a shot to the lower left corner. Bjorgo scored his second goal of the game and his fourth of the season at 62:35 with Wodajo again getting the assist. Bjorgo beat a defender to Wodajo's cross from the right wing and glanced a header that slipped through Stevermer's fingers and into the goal. The visiting Boxers, who up until that point had managed just three shots in the match, started to mount some pressure on the Lutes. Pacific's goal came at 68:42 but was not one that they scored themselves. Travis Birrell beat a PLU defender to the end line and then sent a cross past PLU keeper Brian Kostol, who charged out along the end line to challenge Birrell. PLU defender Brennen Hall tried to clear the ball, but instead knocked it into his own goal. PLU took 14 total shots to seven for the Boxers, and the Lutes also enjoyed a 9-6 advantage in corner kicks. Pacific keeper Andrew Stevermer, who had allowed only five goals all season, was credited with five saves in the match compared to two for Kostol.

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