Stevens Travels To Christopher Newport For NCAAs
Danny Vohden
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The No. 20 Stevens Institute of Technology men's soccer team will battle No. 18 Montclair State University Saturday in their 12
th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
The Ducks (13-3-2) are set to take the pitch against the Red Hawks (17-4) for a 5 p.m. match on the campus of Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. With a win, Stevens would play either Christopher Newport or Lynchburg College on Sunday at 5 p.m.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Stevens captured its eighth consecutive Empire 8 Conference championship last Saturday in a 3-0 win over Ithaca College. To get there, the Ducks fought off an upset bid from Alfred University with a 6-5 win in penalty kicks after a scoreless game.
Montclair St. won its first New Jersey Athletic Conference championship since 2009, beating Kean University and Rutgers University - Camden by a combined score of 6-1.
RIVALRY RENEWED
These two teams previously played each other in the NCAA Tournament in 2011 and 2009. In the first meeting, Montclair State won 1-0 in the Elite Eight while Stevens took the 2009 matchup 4-0 in the second round.
KEY PLAYERS
The Ducks are led offensively by junior
Carson Pryor who leads the team with 11 goals and 25 points. Junior
Joe Cellitti has scored seven times while junior
Colin Phillips has five goals and four assists.
In the backfield, junior
Harrison Kane has started every game this season and was recently named the player of the year in the Empire 8. Sophomore keeper
Mike Renna is fresh off an E8 Championship most valuable player performance, and has eight shutouts and 52 saves on the season.
Montclair features a strong scoring tandem in junior Lucas Terci and freshman Kyle Godowin who have scored 14 and 13 goals respectively this fall. Sophomore Michael Gonzalez has been the Red Hawks primary option in net after recording 60 saves and five shutouts in 17 starts.
OFFENSE VS. DEFENSE
As of Nov. 9, the Stevens defense was 15
th in the country with a .53 goals against average, and has allowed just 10 goals all season. Montclair on the other hand features the fourth highest scoring offense in the country after scoring 72 times this season.
TOURNAMENT SUCCESS
Since a first round exit in 2007, the Ducks have advanced to the second round in every season including a national championship appearance in 2008, an elite eight in 2011, and a pair of sweet sixteens in 2009 and 2012.
NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
After dropping out of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) national rankings early in the season, the Ducks reappeared on the list at No. 20 this week. Montclair has been ranked since Oct. 28, and comes into Saturday's match at No. 18.