November 13, 2002

MOUNT VERNON, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) announced today that Luther College goaltender Rick Isaacson (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale HS) has been named the 2002 Men’s Soccer Most Valuable Player and Central College Head Coach Garry Laidlaw has been selected 2002 Men’s Soccer Coach of the Year.

Isaacson, a three-time All-Conference performer, led Luther to its sixth Iowa Conference Championship in seven years and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Isaacson enters the NCAA Tournament with a 16-2-1 record, a 0.52 goals against average and 10 shutouts in 19 contests. In Iowa Conference play, he posted a 7-1-1 record with a 0.57 GAA, an .881 save percentage and five shutouts. He led the Conference in shutouts and finished second in GAA. During Luther’s 10-game winning streak (six against Conference opponents) from mid-September to mid-October, Isaacson surrendered just three goals and posted six straight shutouts. Only twice during the season did he surrender two goals in a game, both resulted in 2-1 Luther losses.

In the Conference Tournament, Isaacson posted back-to-back shutouts including an eight-save performance against Simpson in the semifinals, a game that was decided in a shootout. In the Championship match against fifth-seeded Wartburg, he made two saves as the second-seeded Norse won their second straight Conference title.

Laidlaw completed his fifth season at Central, leading the Dutch to their first winning season in the 10-year history of the program (16-2-1). Central began the season 16-0-1, with a starting line-up that featured as many as seven freshmen at a time and entered the Conference Tournament as the top seed before falling in the semifinals to Wartburg and in the third-place match to Simpson. Prior to this season, Central’s best season came in 1996 when it posted a 7-11 record. Under his guidance, Central has a 33-52-5 overall record.

The IIAC also announced today the Men’s Soccer All-Conference Team. The 26-member team includes 13 First Team players and 13 Second Team players. IIAC Champion Luther has a Conference-high six players on the All-Conference Team including four on the First Team. Central, Simpson and Wartburg each have four All-Conference players, two on the First Team and two on the Second Team.

The complete 2002 IIAC All-Conference Men’s Soccer Team is here.

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