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Men's Soccer Hangs on to Beat F&M; Now Tied for Second

Saturday, October 15, 2011
 

Football Cross country, field hockey, women’s soccer, volleyball

It was an appropriately wild ending to a crazy day in Centennial Conference men’s soccer.

Muhlenberg got a pair of early goals from senior Josh Luginbuhl and

Colin Maehler
Maehler and the rest of the Muhlenberg defense kept the leading scorer in the CC off the board.
junior Danny Way and held on to defeat Franklin & Marshall, 2-1, in a matchup of teams that came in ranked third and fourth in the region. The Diplomats (7-4-2, 3-3) appeared to have tied the game with about two minutes left, but the goal was negated by a foul call.

With the top three teams in the CC standings all losing – Johns Hopkins to Dickinson, Swarthmore to Ursinus and Gettysburg to Haverford – the Mules (8-3-1, 4-2), who entered the game in a three-way tie for fourth in the CC, suddenly found themselves in a three-way tie for second with Swarthmore and Dickinson.

“Everyone’s good in our conference,” said Luginbuhl. “You have to come to play every day.”

Both teams came to play against in a rematch of last year’s CC semifinal, won 4-0 by the Mules. F&M had more chances in the early

Conor Choi
Senior Conor Choi played the last 14 minutes of the game, helping the Mules preserve their lead.
going, but it was Muhlenberg that struck first when Luginbuhl scored at the 13:33 mark with a shot from the corner of the box to the far post.

“I saw the goalie come off his line, so I made a run,” said Luginbuhl of his fourth goal of the season. “Jacob Joseph gave me a pass, and I just dinked it with my left foot. I think that really sparked our team, especially in a game like this. It was good to get off to a good start.”

The start got even better seven minutes later when the Mules scored again off a pass from Joseph with the goalie off the line. With two defenders around him and the goalie coming out, Way got to Joseph’s chipped pass first and touch it over the keeper and into the net.

The Diplomats cut the gap in half six minutes later, and the teams went into halftime with the score 2-1. Scoring chances were few for most of the second half, until the final few frantic minutes. Sophomore Jonathan Schauer covered the open net to knock a Diplomat shot over the end line with 2:30 to play. F&M got three shots off the ensuing corner kick, with the first two blocked and the third struck into the back of the net before the referee’s whistle blew, prompting howls of protest from the F&M bench and fans.

The 2-1 win kept the Mules undefeated (5-0-1) at home this season and came with two players – sophomore Chris Royer and freshman Colin Maehler making their first career start.

“Late in the season, guys get banged up, and depth is key,” said Luginbuhl. “ Colin was a stud back there; he looked like a senior who’s been playing there the whole time. Royer did good too. It just shows that everyone on our team can play.”
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