Men's Soccer

Hartwick Eyes MAC Title This Weekend at Akron

AKRON, OH - For the second time in less than a week, Hartwick's men's soccer team will play at Lee Jackson Field in Akron, OH. After narrowly falling to unbeaten and top-ranked University of Akron, 3-2, last Saturday in the regular season finale, the stakes are much higher this time around for the Hawks as they play for their first Mid-American Conference title. Second-seeded 'Wick plays in the semifinals against third-seeded Western Michigan Friday at 3 p.m. Akron hosts Northern Illinois in the other semifinal at 6 p.m.

Five days ago, Hartwick used two first-half goals from Nick Pratico (Philadelphia, PA) and Michael Cunningham (Dunedin, New Zealand) to take a 2-1 lead on the Zips at halftime. Up until that point, the Zips had not trailed at halftime since 2007, a streak of 53 matches. No other MAC team had recorded a goal on Akron in 2009 and it was just the second time in two seasons a team had registered more than a goal on the Zips.

The Hawks are led offensively by Dan Summers (Banstead, England) who has four goals and three assists for 11 points. Cunningham is second with three goals and three assists and Nick Roydhouse (Palmerston, New Zealand) has two goals and leads the squad with five assists. Sam Wright (Newquay, England) and Pratico each have three goals apiece. Keeper Jeremy Vuolo's (Downingtown, PA) 0.71 goals against average ranks 3rd in the MAC this season and his 7th shutouts is tied for second in the league.

Before another shot at the 18-0-0 Zips, the Hawks need to take care of business against a strong Western Michigan squad. The two teams played to a 1-1 tie at Elmore back on Halloween. After a strong first half for the Broncos in which they took a 1-0 lead, Hartwick outshot the visitors 14-3 in the second half and overtime periods with Jakob Karlgren (Gothenburg, Sweden) getting the tying tally.

WMU junior striker Saeed Sulemana Baba leads the team in scoring with 12 goals and one assist for 25 points. He ended the regular season as the nation's leader in goals per game, scoring 12 goals in 13 games, averaging 0.92 per contest. Second in the scoring column is freshman forward Kai Mendes who has two goals and six assists for 10 points. Classmate Darren Jones also has six assists this season.

This is the third straight trip to the MAC playoffs in 'Wick's three seasons in the conference. In the previous two trips, the Hawks have opened with the WMU Broncos. In 2007, Hartwick advanced 4-2 in a shootout over the Broncos after a 1-1 draw at Elmore. A late goal would end Hartwick's season against Buffalo in the semifinals. Last year, Hartwick rolled past WMU, 4-0, in the first round and led then #4 Akron, 1-0, late in the game in the semifinal round. The Zips got the tying goal and advanced to the final, 3-0, in a shootout.

Should the Hawks advance on Saturday, the team will play the NIU-Akron winner for the MAC crown at 4 p.m.

Live stats will be available for both semifinals and the championship at: http://www.gozips.com/liveStats/liveStats.dbml?SPSID=47177&SPID=4334&DB_OEM_ID=10800&LIST_SPORT_ID=M_SOCCER.