INDIANAPOLIS, IN – The Pairings for the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship were announced Monday morning and York College, the automatic qualifier out of the CUNY Athletic Conference, will visit Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Stevens (15-3-1) enters the tournament as the Empire 8 Conference champion, following a thrilling victory over Nazareth in the championship game in which the Ducks tallied the game-winner in the final minute of play.
It will be a tough task for the Cardinals to get past Stevens who is ranked 14th in the nation in the latest D3soccer.com poll and fourth in NCAA East Region rankings. The Ducks have a pair of prolific goal scorers in Nolan Sandberg (11 goals, two assists) and Terrence Johnson (10 goals, four assists) who have each tallied 24 points this season. Goalie Zach Carr had 13 shutouts and a .889 save percentage this season.
York (12-7) will enter the first round following a 1-0 victory over Hunter College in the CUNY Athletic Conference championship game. Elysee Vilsaint, the tournament MVP, set up Francisco Florez for the game’s only goal.
The Cardinals will look to Vilsaint to lead them an upset. The junior forward is fifth in the country in points per game (2.63) and eighth in goals per game (1.06). Goalie Samer Abdel-Fattah, who leads the conference with nine shutouts, will look to stifle the Stevens attack.
For more information and Stevens and the NCAA Tournament click on the links below:
Stevens Website
Stevens Men’s Soccer Stats
NCAA Bracket
Directions to Stevens