football team moves up in polls

Men’s Soccer Seventh in Region The Muhlenberg men’s soccer team inched up to No. 7, its highest perch of the season, in the NSCAA Middle Atlantic poll. The rankings show the strength of the Centennial Conference, as the Mules are the lowest-ranked of the five CC schools ranked in the region. Muhlenberg handed Dickinson, which received votes in the national poll, its only setback and lost to Johns Hopkins, Franklin & Marshall and non-CC member Elizabethtown by a goal. The Mules travel to Swarthmore next Wednesday. As if that wasn’t enough of a challenging schedule, Muhlenberg hosts New Jersey, ranked first in the Metro Region and seventh in Division III, in its final non-conference game of the season tomorrow night. The regional rankings: 1. Messiah (12-2) 2. Johns Hopkins (13-1) 3. Franklin & Marshall (13-1) 4. Dickinson (11-1-2) 5. Elizabethtown (11-3) 6. Swarthmore (8-2-3) 7. MUHLENBERG (8-3) 8. Penn State Altoona (12-3) 9. Cabrini (14-2) 10. Carnegie Mellon (7-3-1)

Sophomore linebacker Ewan Wright (56) and the Mule defense have turned opponents every which way.

The Muhlenberg football team moved up in the national polls after an impressive 43-0 shutout of McDaniel on Saturday.

The Mules, 6-0 for the first time since 1946 and one of 20 undefeated teams in Division III, advanced from No. 25 to No. 21 in the American Football Coaches Association poll. In the D3football.com rankings, Muhlenberg entered the top 25 at No. 24 after receiving votes last week. And in the Lambert Poll, the Mules are ranked fifth in the East, behind Washington & Jefferson, Alfred, St. John Fisher and Salisbury, respectively.

Muhlenberg continues to appear numerous times among the Division III statistical leaders:

• second in pass efficiency defense (71.7 points)
• third in total defense (164.2 yards per game)
• third in scoring defense (6.2 points per game)
• seventh in fewest fumbles lost (2)
• ninth in rushing defense (59.8 yards per game)
• 21st in sacks (3.5 per game)
• 24th in turnover margin (plus-1.3 per game)

Individually, junior John DeLuca is 21st in rushing yards (120.0 per game).