Thursday, November 7, 2002

MORAVIAN MEN’S SOCCER SQUAD TO PLAY MESSIAH IN COMMONWEALTH CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

BETHLEHEM, PA --- The Moravian College men’s soccer team will make its first appearance in the Commonwealth Conference championship match since 1991 as the fourth-seeded Greyhounds travel to second-seeded Messiah College for the finals on Saturday, November 9th at 7:30 p.m. The winner of the match will receive the Commonwealth Conference’s automatic berth into the upcoming NCAA Division III National Championships.

The Greyhounds earned a 2-0 victory over top seeded Elizabethtown College in one of the two semifinal matches on Wednesday while the Falcons, the defending Commonwealth Conference champions, knocked off third seeded Lebanon Valley College, 9-1, in the other semifinal.

Moravian has posted an 11-7-2 overall record this season under fourth-year head coach Eric Lambinus. The Greyhounds have won five consecutive matches and earned their playoff berth with a 3-2 come-from-behind overtime victory at Widener University last Saturday.

On the field, the Greyhounds are being led in scoring by sophomore midfielder Daniel Samuelsson (Lebanon, NJ/North Hunterdon HS), who has seven goals and five assists for 19 points. Samuelsson has three game-winning goals this season including the overtime winner at Widener.

Sophomore midfielder Jim Feimster (Stroudsburg, PA/Pocono Mountain HS) has scored five goals and four assists for 14 points while junior midfielder Tim Shannon (Leesport, PA/Schuylkill Valley HS) has tallied five goals and three assists for 13 points. Feimster has three game-winning tallies this fall while Shannon has one.

Sophomore forward Ryan Fick (Hamburg, PA/Fleetwood HS) has found the back of the net five times, including the game-winner over Elizabethtown in the semifinals, and Fick has added four assists for 14 points while sophomore midfielder Nick Tarquinio (Point Pleasant, NJ/Point Pleasant Boro HS) has contributed two goals and four assists for eight points. Junior forward Anthony Merz (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan HS) and junior midfielder Mike Grillo (Dennington, NJ/The Pennington School) both have five points this season with Merz scoring two goals and an assist and Grillo adding a goal and three assists.

Junior defender Matt Sprague (Souderton, PA/Souderton HS) has a goal and three assists for five points while sophomore midfielder Jonathan Thomas (Port Carbon, PA/Nativity BVM HS) has scored a goal and two assists this fall. Senior forward Wilson Gonzalez (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS) has found the back of the net twice this season while junior defender Ken Macaulay (Perkasie, PA/Pennridge HS) and freshman midfielder Casey Hoffman (Kempton, PA/Northwestern Lehigh HS) all have scored one goal. Freshman midfielder Javier Maldonaldo (New Providence, NJ/New Providence HS) has added one assist.

Other Greyhounds contributing on the field are senior defender Brian Mack (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty HS), sophomore defender Ryan Wilkins (Hatboro, PA/Hatboro-Horsham HS) and freshman defender George Gray (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen HS).

Moravian has used a trio of goalies this season with senior Ryan Sculley (Bethlehem, PA/Northampton HS) seeing 1,174 minutes of playing time. Sculley has made 72 saves and posted a 1.15 goals-against average with two shutouts, including one over Elizabethtown in the semifinals, and a 7-4 record. Sculley has combined with junior keeper Vinny Nasuta (Mount Holly, NJ/Rancocas Valley Regional HS) on another shutout. Nasuta has a 2.09 goals-against average and 43 saves in 645 minutes. He has added two solo shutouts and a 3-3-2 record. Freshman keeper Ryan Walker (Metuchen, NJ/Metuchen HS) has played 45 minutes with six saves and one goal allowed.

Messiah enters the contest with an overall record of 16-2-1 and the Falcons were ranked as high as first in the nation during the regular season. Messiah has allowed just seven goals all season.

The Falcons have three players that have scored over 20 points this fall and a total of 24 Messiah players have at least one point this season. Junior midfielder Matt Bills leads the squad with 50 points on 22 goals and six assists after a hat trick in Messiah’s semifinal win over Lebanon Valley College. Junior midfielder Sam Casey has contributed 22 points on ten goals and two assists while freshman midfielder Chris Claassen has 20 points on nine goals and two assists.

Sophomore goalie Dave Casper has seen the majority of time in net for the Falcons, posting a 0.37 goals-against average, 12 shutouts and 20 saves in 1,441 minutes of action.