men’s soccer nets win vs. desales

Sometimes, scoring a goal in soccer can be as hard as hitting a Roy Halladay pitch. Even when you have an open net.

Despite missing several golden opportunities to put the game

For the second game in a row, sophomore Kyle Plifka (12) preserved a shutout by clearing a ball off the line. He had the tables turned on him in the 61st minute when this shot got past Franczak but was turned away by a back at the post.

away late, the Muhlenberg men's soccer team finished off a convincing 2-0 win against DeSales in a matchup of ranked local rivals.

The Mules, who extended their regular-season unbeaten streak to 17, came in ranked 19th in the country by D3soccer.com and 21st by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The Bulldogs (7-3-1) are ranked 10th in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

"They are a good team," said Mule senior Tom Reilly. "They played good teams like Messiah close [a 3-2 loss] and they gave us a tough game last year, so we knew not to underestimate them. They had some chances, but I think we did a good job controlling the match."

At halftime, around the same time Halladay was finishing off his

Matt Cecconi and the Muhlenberg defense recorded their sixth shutout of the season.

historic playoff no-hitter, Muhlenberg owned a 13-4 advantage in shots but did not have a goal to show for it, mainly due to DeSales goalie Adam Franczak, who made several outstanding saves.

Freshman Jacob Joseph, making his first career start, helped create many of the scoring chances with his play. He nearly put a corner kick in the net in the early stages of the game, but it was headed out at the back post by a Bulldog player.

Mule 'keeper Jason Daniels, like Franczak his conference's defensive player of the week, made a couple of diving saves himself in the first half.

Muhlenberg's breakthrough came midway through the second half, after junior Cody Antonini was held on a breakaway opportunity about 40 yards from the goal in the middle of the field. Senior Eric Williams took the free kick and served it into the box, where sophomore Danny Way finished inside the right post for his sixth goal of the season.

The score remained 1-0 for most of the remaining time, although the Mules

Volleyball Falls to DeSales Again For the second time this season, the Muhlenberg volleyball teams was swept at home by DeSales. Freshman Ellen Rich recorded a career-high 7 kills without an error, and junior Brooke McQueen had team highs of 8 kills and 12 digs. Click here for box score. Click here for complete stats.

repeatedly threatened to double their lead. Reilly had two of the best chances, hitting the left-side netting after beating Franczak 1-on-1 with about 14 minutes left and then having a shot trickle just past the right post less than three minutes later.

"They were trying to hit us deep, so we got behind them a few times," he explained. "It would have been nice at that point to get a second goal, but we won and ultimately that's what matters."

Antonini, who entered the game as one of only nine players in Division III with at least 11 goals on the season, shot high on an open net with about 10 minutes left, then had his penalty kick saved with less than four to play. Finally, though, the Mules got No. 2 and Antonini got No. 12, slipping through two defenders in the corner and firing the ball home with 2:20 to play.

The win was welcome for Muhlenberg, which played two ties last week and had three draws in its previous four games.

"We talked about that before the game," said Reilly. "We said that if we want to make a statement, we really have to start getting some wins. Even though they were against good teams, the ties aren't good enough. We needed to put some in the 'W' column."
Click here for box score.
Click here for complete stats.