Seven members of the 2008 Muhlenberg men’s soccer team (six who will be returning this fall and one alumnus) are playing for the Pennsylvania Stoners of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) this summer.

The Mules – rising juniors Matthew Cecconi, Andrew Harshey, Tom Reilly, Evan Rubin and Eric Williams, rising sophomore Cody Antonini and recent graduate A.J. Barnold – were selected from close to 100 players who tried out to fill the 22-man Stoners roster.

The staff has its Muhlenberg connections as well. Head coach Dave “Weitie” Weitzman

The Mule/Stoner contingent: Antonini, Rubin, Reilly, Harshey, Williams, Cecconi, Barnold (left to right). Pictured above are Reilly, Barnold, Cecconi, Rubin and Antonini.

served two stints as an assistant coach with the Mules, and player/coach Sam Bishop coached the Muhlenberg goalies for the last two years.

The Stoners compete in the Northeast Keystone Division of the NPSL, whose membership includes 27 teams around the country, and play a 10-match schedule in addition to two or three practices a week. With one match left in the season, the Stoners are 4-4-1.

Like most of the teams in the league, the Stoners are a mix of current college players (from all three NCAA divisions) and recent college graduates, some of whom have played professionally overseas. One of the Stoners’ opponents, the FC Reading Revolution, features a player who had a tryout with the Chicago Fire of MLS.

“The level of play is definitely higher than Division III soccer,” said Cecconi. “I was a little nervous going in; I didn’t know if I’d get an exceptional amount of playing time. But Weitie put me in and I’ve been starting ever since. I think my game has elevated.”

“The overseas players bring a different dimension and a different style of play,” added Barnold.

Cecconi, Barnold, Antonini, Reilly and Rubin have all started for the Stoners, with Williams seeing time off the bench.

“It’s a good thing to have so many Muhlenberg players on the team,” said Cecconi. “It will be good for next year’s [Muhlenberg] team. Playing four or five times per week at a higher level of competition should give a boost to our chemistry and level of play.”

Barnold, of course, will not be on the Mule team in the fall, but said he just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to play before starting graduate school for psychology at Temple. The first-team All-Centennial Conference back matched his career total at Muhlenberg when he scored a goal against Reading.

“Topp” – Mule head coach Sean Topping – “was at the game and he was giving me some stick afterwards: ‘You scored one goal in four years at Muhlenberg and you score one goal in six games here?!’” joked Barnold.

In addition to the actual play, the Mules are enjoying the whole experience of being minor league soccer players. The Stoners played before a crowd of 2,000 in their home finale at Whitehall High School against the Pocono Snow last night.

“The whole setting at atmosphere is so professional,” commented Barnold. “It will be a good experience for the guys to bring back to Muhlenberg next year.”

“At the beginning of the season we had a media day with all our sponsors … At home games we walk out with youth teams … Our home games are on TV,” said Cecconi. “After games we walk over to the stands and sign autographs – it’s the most amazing feeling ever. Teenagers come over to us, and they know our names and numbers and ask us to sign t-shirts and hats. It’s great.”

What isn’t so great is having to explain the team’s name. The Pennsylvania Stoners were first founded as a professional team in 1979 and competed in the American Soccer League, which folded in 1983. The name was revived in 2008, when the new Stoners won the NPSL championship in their inaugural season.

“Stoners” is a shortening of the original team name, the Keystoners, derived from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s official nickname, The Keystone State. The word “Stoners” may not have had the same implications in 1979 that it does 30 years later, but that doesn’t mean the current team won’t hear its share of jokes.

Related Cecconi, “Sometimes I wear a practice shirt, and when people see it they ask, ‘Is that really your name?’ They think it’s some joke men’s league team. I have to tell them, It’s semiprofessional soccer!”