All things considered, it wasn’t a bad year for the Muhlenberg men’s soccer team.

Although the Mules finished with a record of 8-4-4 and were eliminated

One of only three seniors on the team, Peter Palomaki helped shore up the Mule defense, starting the last 12 games at center back.

from the Centennial Conference playoffs in the first round, they had some things working against them: they graduated eight seniors from the CC championship team of 2005; they started their stretch drive with a back four that included one freshman, two sophomores who hardly played last year and a senior who hardly played his first three years; and their starting forwards combined for only three goals all year.

Muhlenberg scrapped its way to a successful season all the way to its last game, when it scored with 20 seconds left in regulation to tie Gettysburg, 1-1. It was the third time the Mules came back in the second half for a 1-1 draw, with the other two coming against NCAA Tournament participants DeSales and Franklin & Marshall. Unfortunately, Muhlenberg fell in the ninth round of penalty kicks to Gettysburg, ending its season in excruciating fashion.

The Mules opened up with three straight shutouts wins for the first time since 1999, earning a national ranking of No. 12 after defeating a Wilkes team that in turn knocked off Johns Hopkins. Muhlenberg dropped its next game to Hopkins (which would not lose again until the national quarterfinals) and teetered through the rest of the year, clinching the CC’s final playoff spot with a 1-1 tie at last-place Ursinus in the

Senior Blake Grannell scored his lone goal of the season on his birthday in a 4-0 shutout of Moravian.

regular-season finale.

Sophomore Billy Dalton started a center midfield the entire season and emerged as one of the top rising players in the CC, leading the team with eight goals, including the game-winner with five seconds left in a 1-0 win against defending regular-season champion McDaniel. He earned third-team all-region honors. Junior Jonathan Kliewer split time between back and midfield and proved to be a dangerous player at either spot.

Junior Peter Bennett had his best season in goal, earning CC player-of-the-week honors after making nine saves in back-to-back wins against New Jersey and Gettysburg. Junior Karim Assous received All-CC recognition for his hard work up front.

A young team with only six upperclassmen had several other sophomores make their first varsity impact, including forwards Steve Tenenzapf and Brendan Carroll, midfielder Greg Leischner and backs A.J. Barnold, Andrew Brick and Josh Glueck.