Women’s soccer close to playoff berth

Men’s Soccer, Field Hockey Lose to Ranked Teams; Volleyball Wins Men’s Soccer Muhlenberg dropped its home finale to 17th-ranked Swarthmore, 1-0. The Garnet (13-2-1, 7-1), which clinched the top seed for the Centennial Conference playoffs with the win, scored the lone goal off a quick restart in the 18th minute. The best chance for the Mules to tie came with about 12 minutes left in the half, when a blast by junior Adison Weseloh hit the crossbar. The loss, combined with Gettysburg’s 3-1 upset of Johns Hopkins, dropped Muhlenberg (11-5-1, 4-3-1) into fifth place in the CC. The Mules can secure a playoff berth by winning at Ursinus in Saturday’s regular-season finale. Click here for box score. Volleyball The Mules kept their slim Centennial Conference playoff hopes alive with a 3-1 win at Ursinus. With one match to play in the regular season, Muhlenberg (17-9, 5-4) is tied with McDaniel and Dickinson for the fifth and final playoff spot. The Mules, who finish up at 8-1 Gettysburg, own the head-to-head tiebreaker with McDaniel but not with Dickinson, which plays last-place Washington on Saturday. McDaniel’s final match is at 8-1 Haverford. Juniors Phylicia Lee (18 kills, 20 digs) and Brittany Williams (18 kills, 17 digs) posted outstanding numbers in the victory. Click here for box score. Field Hockey Muhlenberg was eliminated from the Centennial Conference playoff chase with a 7-0 loss at No. 3 Ursinus. Click here for box score.

For most of her first career start in goal for the Muhlenberg women’s soccer team, freshman Michele Toher was very uncomfortable.

On a cold, windy, overcast day at Ursinus, Toher tried her best to keep warm. The problem

Miller entered the game tied for the CC lead with 20 points. Her 24 points are the most by a Muhlenberg freshman since 2001.

was that she wasn’t getting much action, as the ball was constantly at the other end of the field where her Mule teammates were pulling off a shocking 5-0 win.

Ursinus, which reached the Centennial Conference championship game last year, had given up only three goals in its previous six games and hadn’t conceded more than four goals in a game since 2002. The last five meetings between the two schools ended up 1-0 or 2-0.

The big win put Muhlenberg on the verge of the CC playoffs. With only a game at Gettysburg remaining in the regular season, the Mules (10-4-3, 5-2-2) are in fourth place in the CC with 17 points. Even if they lose on Saturday, the only way they can be overtaken is if Ursinus (6-9-1, 5-4) rebounds to win at No. 7 Johns Hopkins.

If Muhlenberg wins at Gettysburg (5-6-5, 4-4-1), at worst it will host a CC first-round playoff game.

Freshman Nicolette Miller scored the first and third Mule goals. In between, junior Jennifer Lynch headed in a cross from classmate Kimberly Hacker.

After squandering a 3-0 lead in its last game, Muhlenberg added to it this time, getting second-half goals from junior Kasey Hacker and freshman Renee Dessimone. Aside from games against Washington and Bryn Mawr, the five-goal output was the highest for the Mules in a CC match since 1999.
Click here for box score.