Men's Soccer

`Wick To Host WMU in Men's Soccer Play-in Game

ONEONTA, N.Y. - The Hartwick men's soccer team's quest for its 24th trip to the NCAA Division I Championships begins Tuesday evening as it hosts Western Michigan in a Mid-American Conference play-in game at Elmore Field. Game time is set for 5 p.m.

This will be the second meeting between the two schools in Oneonta this season. Hartwick squandered a 3-2 lead at intermission and held on for a 3-3 result in double overtime on October 20. John Paul Boyle (Renfrew, Scotland) netted two goals, while Michael Cunningham (Dunedin, New Zealand) tallied his first collegiate goal for Hartwick. CJ Brown posted two goals for the Broncos.

The Hawks, 5-5-6 overall, enter the game following a 1-0 loss at Cornell, November 7. Prior to that result, the team had posted six consecutive games without suffering a loss, including registering back-to-back victories over league foes, Northern Illinois and Buffalo.

Hartwick's offense centers around four players - Boyle, Chris Jackson (Manchester, England), Austin McCann (Jenks, Okla.), and Cunningham. Boyle is one of the top scorers in the MAC with 15 points (7 goals, 1 assist), while Jackson is second on the team with 9 points (4 goals, 1 assist). McCann (2 goals, 3 assists), who sat out the 2006 season with an injury, has come on as of late, scoring both of his goals in the last three contests. Cunningham is one of the top assist leaders in the league with four helpers to his credit.

Jeremy Vuolo (Downingtown, Pa.) sports a 4-4-6 record when protecting the goal for the Hawks. The redshirt freshman has posted 50 saves, a 1.04 goals against average and five shutouts this season.

WMU, 7-10-1 overall, enters the contest with three consecutive losses, including its most recent, a 3-0 defeat at the hands of regular-season MAC champ, Akron, October 3. The Broncos suffered back to back 4-1 defeats at the hands of 16th-ranked Michigan State and Bowling Green following the tie at Elmore Field.

WMU has three double figured point producers in Tom Oatley (5 goals, 4 assists - 14 points), Brown (5 goals, 1 assist - 11 points), and Jordan Fylonenko (4 goals, 2 assists - 10 points). Tyler Rosenhagen (1 goal, 4 assists - 6 points) is another player to keep tabs on. Casey Aubil, the MAC leader in saves (61) is expected to earn the start. He has a 5-7-1 record in the cage for the Broncos.

Tickets can be purchased at the entrance at Elmore Field. Admission for adults is $5, while children will be charged $3. Hartwick faculty, staff, and students will be admitted for free with a valid school ID card.

The winner of this game will advance to the MAC Semifinals, this Friday at Akron's Lee Jackson Field. Either Hartwick, the third seed or WMU, the sixth seed, will face the second seed Buffalo, while the other play-in game winner between Northern Illinois and Bowling Green will play top seeded Akron in the other semifinal Friday evening. The title game will be played Sunday.