The Muhlenberg men’s soccer team turned its season around dramatically when it won its final five regular-season games and earned a Centennial Conference playoff berth. After winning just three of their

Davis ended his career with a 0.89 goals-against average.

first 12 games, the Mules posted their 19th consecutive non-losing season, going 9-7-3 overall, 5-3-1 in the conference.

The win streak reached six when Muhlenberg defeated Franklin & Marshall on the road in the first round of the CC playoffs. The win came in dramatic fashion, as freshman Jonathan Kliewer found the back of the goal 1:21 into overtime for a 1-0 victory. It was the first overtime win of the year for the Mules, who had yet to pull out an overtime game in five tries.

That set up a meeting with undefeated Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field, which has historically not been good to Muhlenberg. Once again, the Mules came away with a disheartening result. The two teams held each other scoreless for 110 minutes, but the Blue Jays outscored Muhlenberg 3-0 on penalty kicks to earn the right to go on to the CC title game.

At the time, Johns Hopkins was undefeated and ranked second in Division III, and only twice had the Blue Jays been taken to overtime – both times by the Mules.

Muhlenberg placed five athletes, all juniors, on the All-CC team. Forward James Henshaw, who received third-team all-region honors,

Senior Ryan Melchior notched a career-high six points on two goals and two assists in his final season.

was a first-team selection after tying for the CC scoring lead with eight goals. He ranks 15th in team history with 23 career goals.

Midfielders Christopher King and Jose Ramirez and center back Adam Milberg were second-team honorees, and Ryan Smallwood, who started the season in the midfield before moving to center back, received honorable mention.

King was Muhlenberg’s leading scorer in CC matches with 10 points and ranked second on the team with 15 points overall. Ramirez tallied three goals and an assist. Milberg scored three goals and helped anchor a defense that recorded shutouts in eight of 11 games against CC opponents. Smallwood scored two goals and assisted on three others.

The Mules are losing only two seniors, but one is four-year starting goalie Chris Davis, who did not allow a goal in his final 352 minutes and ended his career third on the team’s all-time list with 27 shutouts. With a new ’keeper, Muhlenberg will attempt to lengthen its seven-game unbeaten stretch when it begins the 2005 season.