Men's Soccer

 

Baldwin-Wallace Men’s Soccer Team Receives First-Ever NCAA Division III Tourney Berth

Complete Bracket

BEREA, OHIO – The Baldwin-Wallace College men’s soccer team, 16-5 overall, received its first-ever NCAA Division III National Tournament berth.  The Yellow Jackets will play host SUNY-Oneonta in Oneonta, New York on Saturday, November 12 (time is still TBA).  B-W joins Ohio Athletic Conference champion Ohio Northern University, cross-town rival Case Western Reserve University   and North Coast Athletic Conference champion Ohio Wesleyan University as Ohio schools selected to the 61-team field.  Regional Championship matches will be played on Sunday, Nov. 13.

"I am very proud of the guys and enthusiastic to be making the first NCAA appearance for Baldwin-Wallace," said Head Coach Reid Ayers.  "They set very lofty goals at the beginning of the year and worked hard to achieve them."
 
The chemistry within this team is very special and this group overcame a lot of adversity to set a new standard of excellence for our program, added Ayers.  Oneota is a program rich in soccer tradition but we are very excited for the chance to compete for a national championship."

In the other half of B-W’s bracket, Hobart, N.Y. (16-3) plays Penn State-Behrend University (12-6-1). B-W defeated Penn State-Behrend, 2-1 in double overtime, in its second game of the season. Overall, B-W had a 4-1 record against teams ranked regionally with wins against Centre (Ky.) College, CWRU, Penn State-Behrend and Allegheny (Pa.) College. Its loss was to ONU.

The key to B-W this season is its depth.  A total of 21 student-athletes have played in 10 or more matches and Ayers (104-59-15 in 10 seasons) is not shy about playing 15-to-18 players per match. The Yellow Jackets have scored 51 goals and allowed just 22 in 21 matches, including six shutouts.

The Yellow Jackets are led in scoring by senior 3-time All-OAC forward Carlin Vandendriessche (Medina) with an OAC-leading 16 goals and five assists for a single-season school-record 37 points. Joining him up front are freshman Ben Deighton (Richfield /Revere) and senior Noah Eubanks (West Bloomfield, Mich.) .Deighton has five goals and one assist for 11 points and Eubanks has a pair of assists.

In the midfield, look for juniors Kirk Graf (Ashland) and All-OAC and Academic All-OAC player Pat Brennan (Akron/ Walsh Jesuit) to be the top players and they are joined as starters by seniors Andy Thompson (Huron) and Pete Childerson (Alliance).  Graf is second on the team with eight goals and six assists for 22 points. Brennan is third with 21 points on seven goals and seven assists.

The defense is led by its starters in senior Tommy Kramer (Worthington/ Kilbourne), sophomore Judson Sprandel (Akron/ Green) and freshman Vince Milner (Mayfield).  That trio stands in front of junior goalie Ryan Hulings (Centerville). The defense allows 1.02 goals per game. Hulings individually has played in 1731 minutes, has allowed 20 goals and has 72 saves, a .794 save percentage, has a 15-4 record and five shutouts.

In addition, look for freshmen Cody Smith (Brunswick) and Mike Womack (Mentor) to help offensively and senior Sean Maloney (North Versailles, Pa./ East Allegheny), junior Ricky Barth (Strongsville), sophomore Ashkon Bahrami (Newark), freshmen Trey Arney (Coshocton), Bill Gamble (Brunswick), Nick Gallo (Richfield/ Revere) and Michael Brennan (Akron/ Walsh Jesuit) to all come off the bench and add strength and depth. 

FOR MORE B-W Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter athttp://twitter.com/bwathletics

 

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