NCAA Division III

Division III men’s soccer roundup: Conference clashes, downpours, and more

Photo: Courtesy of Rutgers-Camden

Author’s note: At the time of compiling the weekly recap, not all of Wednesday’s results were available on D3soccer.com or on the schools’ athletic websites.

With conference playoffs only two weeks away and the NCAA tournament starting before we know it, college soccer is in full-swing and one in-conference result could be the difference between a conference post-season birth and the season ending. Also, regional rankings and new regional ranking criteria was announced this week, but we will get more into that at the end of this weekly roundup.

Capital Athletic Conference

Complete conference standings

York (Pa.): The Spartans suffered their first conference loss against Salisbury. They took the early lead off a Tobi Iguade header, but gave up three second-half goals to Salisbury in the 3-1 loss. In addition to four goals, the game featured three yellow cards being given out to each team. However, York’s Chris Weaver received a yellow in the 26th minute and was sent off in the 60th minute. Games like this describe perfectly how conference games feel and play-out heading into the stretch and into the post-season. York recovered with a 1-0 victory against Penn-St Harrisburg, who sit in the basement of the CAC standings.

Wesley: The Wolverines won twice this past week outscoring their opponents 8-0. After defeating Southern Virginia 3-0, Wesley shutout Penn-St Berks 5-0.

Centennial Conference

Complete conference standings

Swarthmore: The Garnet earned two big conference wins. Two unanswered goals from Alec McClean and Jack Momeyer lifted Swathmore over Dickinson 2-1. Four days later, Swarthmore defeated Washington College 2-0.

Dickinson: After falling to Swarthmore, the Red Devils defeated Muhlenberg 1-0. Derek Kachadurian scored the lone goal.

Haverford: The Fords earned two big wins against both Franklin and Marshall and Ursinus. Haverford went up early against F&M, lost the lead 19 minutes later, but scored twice in the second-half to win 3-1. Against Ursinus, Matthew Clausen scored twice in the 2-1 win.

Commonwealth Conference

Complete conference standings

Messiah: In front of 4,000 spectators, Messiah honored legendary coach Layton Shoemaker in a pre-game ceremony. After the opening whistle, they scored early and often. Josh Wood scored his 14th and 15th goals on the season. After Wood’s first goal in the 12th minute, the skies opened and the Falcons and Stevenson played in a heavy rain until halftime. The rain didn’t stop Messiah’s scoring threat as they went up 2-0 before half, and added three second half goals for the 5-0 win. On Tuesday, Messiah held on for a 2-1 win over Lycoming.

Elizabethtown: The Blue Jays defeated Hood 2-0 before dispatching Stevenson 5-1.

Lebanon Valley College: The Dutchmen defeated Albright College 4-2 behind three first-half goals, and defeated Hood 2-0 three days later.

Arcadia: Despite two goals from Alex Wells, the Knights fell to Alvernia 3-2.

Widener: The Pride continue to be humbled. Currently 0-3-3 in conference play, Widener tied Arcadia 1-1, before losing 3-1 to Albright.

Freedom Conference

Complete conference standings

Eastern: Eastern suffered their first Freedom Conference loss being shutout 4-0 against Misericordia. The Eagles responded with a 3-2 win against Delaware Valley. Center back John Remberg’s early ejection put Eastern down a man and eventually down a goal early on, but they overcame adversity and held on for the 3-2 win.

Misericordia: After surprisingly shutting out Eastern, the Cougars lost shockingly to Desales 1-0. Their play this week shows why we play every game. You never know when the better team will stumble and slip up.

Wilkes: The Colonels defeated Desales 2-1.

Landmark Conference

Complete conference standings

Susquehanna: The Crusaders earn a pair of 1-0 conference wins against Scranton and Juniata. Andrew Murphy scored the game-winning goal in both matches. With the wins, Susquehanna moves to atop Landmark Conference Standings.

Catholic: The Cardinals defeated Goucher 1-0 off a 73rd minute Earl Hamilton goal.

Merchant Marine: After not playing for three weeks due to the government shutdown, the team pulled out a thrilling 1-0 overtime victory against Drew. Props to USSMA on restarting their season on the right foot.

Moravian: The Greyhounds couldn’t keep their momentum going after a 13-0 win over Valley Forge Christian and fell to Juniata 2-1 and Scranton 3-1.

New Jersey Athletic Conference

Complete conference standings

Rutgers-Camden: Rutgers remained perfect with a 3-1 win over William Paterson. Mike Ryan scored twice in the victory. They then defeated Cairn University 2-0.

Stockton: After defeating Ramapo 2-1 in overtime, Stockton increased their win-streak to four games with a 5-0 win over Purchase College. Anthony Colofranson scored twice and added an assist in the game.

Rowan: After losing 4-0 to Rutgers-Newark, Rowan defeated Berkely (NJ) 5-0 behind two Christian Fountian goals.

National Scene

The first regional rankings of the 2013 season were released this week. The next regional rankings will come out Oct.30 and Nov. 6. D3soccer.com details why they are important and what new criteria is being used to determine this year’s regional rankings.

NCAA’s pre-championship manual lists Toyota Field — the San Antonio Scorpions new stadium — has the host site for both the Men’s and Women’s Final Four and Championship with Trinity University (Texas) and San Antonio Sports as co-hosts. However, NCAA.com still lists Blossom Stadium as the 2013 host venue. This could simply be that NCAA hasn’t updated their website yet, but the manual could have been misprinted as well. Typical NCAA sending mixed messages.

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