mule teams in rankings, stats

Four of Muhlenberg’s seven fall teams appear in regional or national rankings and/or show up among the NCAA Division III stat leaders.

Football

The 5-0 Muhlenberg football team is ranked 25th in Division III by the American Football Coaches Association. Click here for the entire poll. The Mules are just outside the top

Musselman (97) and the rest of the Mules’ nationally ranked defense take on McDaniel at home tomorrow at 1:00.

25 in the D3football.com poll.

Muhlenberg ranks among the leaders in many statistical categories, including six involving team defense. The Mules are second in pass efficiency defense (75.40 rating points), third in scoring defense (7.4 points per game) and total defense (177.0 yards per game), eighth in rushing defense (58.6 yards per game), 19th in sacks (3.6 per game) and 23rd in turnover margin (plus-1.4 per game). The team also is eighth in fewest fumbles lost (2), 12th in fewest turnovers lost (5) and 44th in pass efficiency (140.66).

Individually, junior John DeLuca is 25th in rushing yards per game (117.0), senior Chris Musselman is 27th in sacks per game (1.0), and junior Eric Santagato is 50th in pass efficiency (137.29).

Men’s Soccer

For the second week in a row, Muhlenberg (7-3) is tied for eighth in the Middle Atlantic Region rankings. The Mules’ three losses are to the teams ranked second (Franklin & Marshall), third (Johns Hopkins) and fourth (Elizabethtown), all by one goal, and they have a win

Sophomore Samuel Hayden has started every game at center back for the Mules, who host McDaniel tomorrow at 2:00.

against Dickinson, the fifth-ranked team in the region.

Senior goalkeeper Peter Bennett also ranks in both categories; 34th in goals-against average and 37th in save percentage (.857).

Men’s Cross Country

Muhlenberg is seventh in the Mideast Region rankings for the second week in a row. The Mules were ninth in the preseason rankings, then dropped out for a week before reappearing after a strong showing at the Paul Short Run. Muhlenberg is scheduled to run against the team ranked sixth, Salisbury, at tomorrow’s DeSales Invitational, and will square off against Haverford (first), Dickinson (fourth) and Johns Hopkins (fifth) in two weeks at the Centennial Conference Championships.

Field Hockey

Muhlenberg will get its unbeaten Centennial Conference record and nationally ranked defense put to the test in the upcoming weeks. The Mules (10-3) are 11th in Division III in goals-against average (0.95), and junior Michelle Consiglio is 11th in the same category (0.99). The team also is 22nd in scoring margin (plus-1.9 per game).

Of Muhlenberg’s four remaining CC games, three are against nationally ranked teams – No. 7 Johns Hopkins (away tomorrow night), No. 18 Franklin & Marshall (away next Saturday) and No. 6 Ursinus (home on Oct. 23). Ursinus is the top-scoring team in Division III, averaging 4.60 goals per game), and Johns Hopkins (13th, 3.60) and Gettysburg (16, 3.46) also are in the top 20.