Monday, November 11, 2002

MORAVIAN SOCCER EARNS 2ND STRAIGHT ECAC BERTH;
HOSTS WIDENER ON WEDNESDAY IN QUARTERFINALS

CENTERVILLE, MA --- The Moravian College men’s soccer team will make its second straight appearance and its 11th overall appearance in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Mid-Atlantic Champions as the third-seeded Greyhounds will host sixth-seeded Widener University in a quarterfinal match on Wednesday, November 13th at 1:00 p.m. The winner of the match will advance to the semifinals at a site to be determined.

Wednesday’s other semifinal matches will have top-seeded College Misericordia (12-5-2) traveling to eighth-seeded FDU-Florham (10-7-1), second-seeded Penn State-Altoona (12-4-2) entertaining seventh-seeded DeSales University (10-9) and fourth-seeded Lebanon Valley College (11-5-2) going to fifth seeded Dickinson College (7-8-2). All of Wednesday's first round matches begin at 1:00 p.m. The highest remaining seed will host the semifinals and finals on Saturday, November 16th and 17th with the semifinal contests starting at 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. The championship match will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Moravian has posted an 11-8-2 overall record this season under fourth-year head coach Eric Lambinus, who has a record of 40-36-5 at Moravian. The Greyhounds had won five consecutive matches before falling to nationally ranked Messiah College, 6-0, in the Commonwealth Conference Championship match last Saturday. Moravian defeated Widener, 3-2 in overtime, in the regular season finale to qualify for the Commonwealth Conference Playoffs. The Greyhounds match with Messiah was Moravian first appearance in a conference championship match since 1991.

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 1,264 minutes of playing time. Sculley has made 80 saves and posted a 1.50 goals-against average with two shutouts, including one over Elizabethtown in the Commonwealth Conference Semifinals, and a 7-5 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.

Widener enters the contest with an overall record of 11-7-1 and the Pioneers are making their first appearance in the ECAC Tournament since 1999 when the squad reached the semifinals before falling to Muhlenberg College.

The Pioneers are led on the field sophomore forward Eric Wyzykowski, who has scored 27 points on 11 goals and five assists, all three are tops on the team. Junior forward Anthony Davis has added seven goals and four assists for 18 points this season. Freshman forward John Musser and freshman midfielder Anthony Gambone have each found the back of the net six times this season with Musser adding five assists for 17 points and Gambone contributing two helpers for 14 points. Junior midfielder Ralph Santelli has scored four goals and an assist for nine points. Widener has had a total of 17 players score at least one point this season.

In goal for the Pioneers, freshman keeper Mike Huminski has played all but 48 minutes of the team’s 1,781 minutes this season. Huminski has made 188 saves and posted a 1.66 goals-against average with two shutouts.