Men's Soccer Tournament Pairings Set for Saturday
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - The 2013 Sun Conference Men's Soccer Tournament begins on Saturday, Nov. 9 and will feature the top eight teams from the regular season. The winners of Saturday's four quarterfinal matches will move on to the semifinals hosted by the highest remaining seed in the tournament. The semifinals and finals are slated for Nov. 15-16.
The Embry-Riddle Eagles, ranked No. 14 in the latest NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll, won the 2013 regular season title with a 9-1 mark in league action and a 12-2 record overall. Dave Gregson led his team to their eighth conference regular season title in program history and Embry-Riddle will open up the tournament by hosting eighth-seeded Florida Memorial in Daytona Beach.
The Eagles feature a potent offense, scoring an average of 4.0 goals per contest, led by freshman Sigurbergur Elisson's 12 goals and senior Nicklas Petersson's 10 scores and NAIA-leading 18 assists. Embry-Riddle has also posted seven shutouts in 14 games this year with Nils Carlson in net. Carlson has made 65 saves in 1,262 minutes and broke a program record with 19 career shutouts during the course of his junior campaign.
The Lions enter the postseason with a 4-6 conference mark, winning four of their final six contests to qualify for the conference tournament. Florida Memorial, who took the Eagles to overtime during the regular season, have posted just two wins on the road, both 4-1 wins over Ave Maria and Northwood.
Gabriel Umansky paces the Lions with three goals, while five other FMU players have scored twice. The Lions have outshot their opponents 193-185, with 76 going on frame. FMU has used four goalkeepers, but PabloTerminiello has seen the majority of time in goal for the Lions, making 29 saves in 11 games.
Regular Season Result: Embry-Riddle def. Florida Memorial, 3-2 (OT)
Second-seeded Thomas brings a 12-3-2 overall record into the postseason after a 7-1-2 mark in league action. The Night Hawks, ranked 20th in the Coaches' Poll, were the only team to beat Embry-Riddle during league play, but had their own unbeaten mark snapped by SCAD Savannah on Oct. 30 in a 2-1 loss. TU hosts Warner in Thomasville, Ga. on Saturday in the 2-7 matchup.
Like the Eagles, Thomas has an offense that can find the back of the net often, scoring 2.82 goals per contest. Rowan Liburd and Jarrod Ingram have been nightmares for opposing defenses, combining to score 25 goals and assisting on 13 others. The Night Hawks have a 312-175 advantage in shots taken, including a 171-78 lead in SOG.
Andi Hoffer has garnered 11 starts in 12 games for TU, making 36 saves with a 1.57 GAA and one shutout. TU has allowed only 23 goals thus far and has shutout opponents three times in 2013.
The Royals of Warner posted four points (a draw and a win) in their final two contests to reach the postseason, concluding with a 4-5-1 mark in league play and 7-7-2 record overall. Warner began the conference slate with three straight wins, but dropped five consecutive games during October before drawing with Webber International and defeating Ave Maria in their finale.
Warner relies heavily on seniors Diego De La Fuente, Miguel Benito and Daniel Marrugo as the trio have combined for 17 of the team's 28 goals and nine of the squads' 18 assists. Defensively, Leo Viala has saved 58 shots while allowing 21 goals for a 1.42 GAA in 14 starts.
Regular Season Result: Thomas def. Warner, 5-2
Webber International, the No. 3 seed for the tournament, is 9-3-1 overall and 6-3-1 in conference play, despite being picked to finish ninth in the conference preseason poll. The Warriors will take on sixth-seeded Southeastern on Saturday in a rematch of a regular season game that occured recently on Oct. 26.
The Warriors have statistically one of the best defenses in the nation, allowing just eight goals in 13 games for a 0.620 GAA. WIU has senior Fabian Egger leading the offense as the forward leads the conference with 14 goals. Webber International's opponents have posted just a .042 goals-per-shot percentage in 2013, and the Warriors are tied with Embry-Riddle with seven shutouts this year.
The Fire will be making the program's first-ever conference tournament appearance on Saturday after a 4-5-1 mark in conference play and an 8-7-2 record overall. Southeastern has won three of its last four games, however, the lone loss did come at the hands of Webber International.
Ashton Hicks has scored seven times and assisted on nine other goals for a team-leading 23 points, followed by a six-goal performance from Gerritson Craane this season. David Danahy is 7-5-2 this season with 42 saves for the Fire in net.
Regular Season Result: Webber International def. Southeastern, 3-0
The final quarterfinal matchup features fourth-seeded SCAD Savannah and fifth-seeded Northwood. The Bees earned the No. 4 seed with an upset win over Thomas last week and ended the conference slate with a 6-4 record. The Bees will be looking to avoid a first round upset to the Seahawks, who did so in 2012 with a win over Thomas on the road.
Jordan Trinci-Lyne has scored 10 goals and assisted on four others to lead the Bees who have outscored their opponents 28-19 in 14 games. Will Oswin has five goals to rank second on the team, while a pair of Bees have scored three times.
Ali Bassir has taken over the goalkeeping job for the Bees, going 2-1 in 405 minutes of play over the last few contests.
Northwood finished the 2013 regular season 7-6-2 overall and 5-3-2 in conference play. The Seahawks are led by senior Marcus Johansson who has scored eight times in 12 games, while Matthew Farnworth has registered five goals for NU. The Seahawks have played their last five matches at home, so Saturday's game will be their first road contest since Oct. 9.
Three goalies have seen time for Northwood, but Patrick O'Neil has seen the most, going 5-3-2 in 10 games with 46 saves and a 1.22 GAA.
Regular Season Result: SCAD Savannah def. Northwood, 2-0
Visit
www.thesunconference.com/msoctournament for tournament headquarters.