Tuesday, October 31, 2000
HOUNDS
TRAVEL TO ELIZABETHTOWN FOR PLAYOFF MATCH
BETHLEHEM, PA --- With a third place finish in the Commonwealth Conference, the Moravian
College men's soccer team clinched its first postseason berth since 1991 and will travel
to second seeded Elizabethtown College for a Commonwealth Semifinal on Wednesday, November
1st at 1:00 p.m.
The Greyhounds, coming off a 1-0 win over rival Muhlenberg College on Monday, are
9-10 this season and finished 4-3 in the Commonwealth Conference regular season. Wednesday's
other semifinal has fourth seeded Lebanon Valley College at top seed Messiah College
in a 7:00 p.m. match. Moravian lost to Elizabethtown, 1-0, last week in the regular
season.
This fall, Moravian is being led in scoring by senior forward Van Pham (Reading/Reading
HS), who has eight goals and three assists for 19 points. Freshman midfielder/forward Anthony
Merz (Philadelphia/Archbishop Ryan HS) is second in scoring with 15 points on
five goals and five assists. Junior midfielder Evan Weller (Sinking Spring/Wilson
West Lawn HS) has also scored five goals and added on assist for 11 points.
Freshman midfielder Tim Shannon (Leesport/Schuylkill Valley HS) and junior
midfielders Scott Heydt (Boyertown/Boyertown HS) and Paul Melniczek (Philadelphia/Roman
Catholic HS) have each scored four goals this season while senior defender Andrew
Grezlak (Doylestown/Central Bucks East HS), freshman midfielder Brian Donofrio
(Havertown/Archbishop Carroll HS) and sophomore forward Wilson Gonzalez (Bethlehem/Liberty
HS) have each tallied two goals.
The Greyhound defense has been led by senior defenders Kevin Byrne (Spring Lake,
NJ/ Manasquan HS) and Matt Kling (Chatham, NJ/Oratory Prep) and freshman
defender Dan Shane (Allentown/Parkland HS). Also contributing on defense
have been senior midfielder Rich Tate (Warrington/LaSalle College HS) and
freshman midfielder Mike Grillo (Pennington, NJ/Pennington School). Grillo
has three assists on the season while Byrne has two helpers. Kling, Tate and
Shane have each found the back of the net once this fall.
In goal, the Greyhounds have used sophomore Ryan Sculley (Bethlehem/ Northampton
HS) and freshman Greg Bechtel (Reading/Exeter HS). The duo combined
for the shutout of Muhlenberg on Monday and has four shutouts and a 1.79 goals against
average for the year. Sculley has played 892 minutes with 70 saves, two shutouts
and a 1.51 goals against average while Bechtel has played 798 minutes and added 58
saves, one shutout and a 2.14 goals against average.
The winner of the Commonwealth Conference Playoffs receives an automatic berth in
the 2000 NCAA Division III Tournament.
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