men’s soccer playoff schedule set

The Muhlenberg men’s soccer team will travel to Swarthmore this weekend in search of its sixth Centennial Conference championship.

The Mules (10-1-6) are the third seed in the

Playoff Schedule Wednesday, November 3   (5) Gettysburg at (4) Johns Hopkins, 7:00 Saturday, November 6 (at Swarthmore)   (3) Muhlenberg vs. (2) Franklin & Marshall, 3:00   (1) Swarthmore vs. Johns Hopkins or Gettysburg, 6:00 Sunday, November 7 (at Swarthmore)   championship, 3:00

five-team tournament and will face second-seeded Franklin & Marshall (9-3-3) at 3:00 on Saturday in one semifinal. Top seed and host Swarthmore (14-1-2) awaits the winner of Wednesday’s first-round game between Johns Hopkins (12-3-3) and Gettysburg (5-9-2) for the other semi.

Saturday’s winners square off Sunday at Swarthmore for the CC championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

In an extremely competitive CC season, Muhlenberg tied for second place with a 5-1-3 record. The Mules were one of the last two

Mike Williams chases down a ball in the regular-season meeting with Franklin & Marshall. The senior midfielder has scored a career-high 10 points this season.

undefeated teams in Division III, setting a school record with a 15-game unbeaten streak before losing to Swarthmore last Wednesday. They finished the regular season with only one loss for the first time since 1995.

Another school record Muhlenberg set was for most ties in a season, and one of them came against Franklin & Marshall when the two teams met in their conference openers on Sept. 19. The Mules owned the first half, with an 8-1 advantage in shots, but the second half belonged to the Diplomats, who enjoyed an 11-2 edge in shots. Each team scored once.

In the NCAA regional rankings released last Wednesday, Muhlenberg was fourth in the Mid-Atlantic, and F&M was seventh. The Mules have been ranked in the national top 20 for most of the season. As of last week, they were ranked 19th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and 20th by D3soccer.com.

Muhlenberg has qualified for the CC playoffs every year since the league began conducting a postseason tournament in 2001. The Mules have been eliminated in their first playoff game every year since they last won the title in 2005, falling on penalty kicks in 2006 and by one goal in each of the last three years. In their lone postseason meeting against F&M, the Mules pulled out a 1-0 overtime win in a 2004 first-round game.

Check back later in the week for a complete preview.