Trinity Men's Soccer Will Enter NESCAC Tournament As No. 22 Team In The Country
Hartford, Conn., Oct. 30 - The Trinity College men's soccer team, which is 10-3 overall and 5-3 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) after a 1-0 win against Tufts on Saturday, is currently ranked in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division III National Poll as the No. 22 team. The Bantams, coached by Michael Pilger (4th Season), are off to their best start since 1999 when the Bantams finished 13-4 and reached the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Championship Finals. Trinity, which is also ranked No. 2 in New England, has qualified for its second consecutive NESCAC Championship Tournament and will host Tufts in a quarterfinal game on Sunday, Nov. 2 at noon. That game will be webcast live at www.teamline.cc (team code 2055).
The Bantams opened the season by outscoring Albertus Magnus and Eastern Connecticut by a combined score of 7-0, before suffering a 3-2 loss in double overtime at league foe Connecticut College. Trinity rebounded to win five consecutive games including wins over NESCAC opponents Colby, Wesleyan, and Williams, and non-league schools Western Connecticut and Mitchell. Trinity's win at Williams, which was ranked No. 21 in the nation entering the game, was their first road win against the Ephs in the previous 21 games there. The Bantams lost, 3-0, at then-No. 4-ranked Middlebury before rebounding against Bates. The Bantams are 2-1 in the past three games, with the loss coming at Bowdoin, which scored two late goals for the win.
Junior forward Sam Wisner (Wayland, Mass.) and senior goalie Zac Trudeau (Norwell, Mass.) gave the Bantams back-to-back NESCAC Player of the Week honors during the early Bantam win streak, as Wisner scored four goals and assisted on two more in the wins against Western Connecticut and Wesleyan, while Trudeau made a season-high 11 saves and posted a shutout against Williams.
As a team, Trinity is second in the NESCAC offensively with 2.46 goals per game and defensively with 0.92 goals allowed per game. Wisner is first in the league in scoring with 24 points on eight goals (4th in NESCAC) and eight assists (4th in NESCAC, 12th in nation), while freshman forward Dan Mayernick (Gladwyne, Pa.) is seventh in the league in goals and assists, with seven apiece. Senior forward Nick Cantone (New York, N.Y.) is tied for second in the league in assists (6) and tied for eighth in goals (6). Cantone has six goals (7th in NESCAC) and four assists (10th in NESCAC), and Mayernick has seven goals (3rd in NESCAC) and two assists. Senior tri-captain midfielder Michael Van Beuren (Spring City, Pa.) and sophomore midfielder Peter Marlette (Buffalo, N.Y.) are tied for second in the conference in assists with six each. Trudeau tops the NESCAC rankings in saves with 5.77 per game (75) and is third in save percentage (.872, 15th in nation) and second in shutouts (5). Bantam senior tri-captain Phil Yeager (Hinsdale, Ill.), juniors John Graves (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Jason Kulik (Salem, Mass.), and sophomore Doug Stupay (McLean, Va.) anchor a consistent defensive front in front of Trudeau.
Click here for NESCAC Player of the Week information
