by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College men's soccer team made a dramatic leap forward four spots to No. 6 in Tuesday's NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division II Southeast Region Poll after beating two others teams currently in the top 10.
The Bulldogs must now show they can maintain that level of play on Wednesday at 7 p.m. against a dangerous Chowan University team that includes the nation's leading scorer.
Barton sports information will provide live stats for Wednesday's contest.
Barton soccer fans can follow the Bulldogs all season on www.BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Barton College Men's Soccer
The Bulldogs (9-4) went on the road Saturday afternoon and claimed a 3-2 victory over Erskine College, which climbed into the No. 10 spot in this week's regional rankings despite the loss to Barton.
The win followed a 3-0 shutout on Wednesday over the nation's fifth-ranked offense, Pfeiffer University, which dropped from No. 5 to No. 8 in this week's regional poll.
Barton has now won four matches in a row while outscoring its opponents 10-2. The Bulldogs have received balanced scoring, as seven different players – Jovan Gracia, Alex David, Jonathan Rembecki, Austin Tausch, Alex Blake, Dante De Luca and Kevin Strassburger – have all recorded a goal over that span. Blake, De Luca and Rembecki have each scored twice.
DeLuca also provided the game-winning assist in both matches, and has an assist in each match of the four-game winning streak. He was named the Conference Carolinas Men's Soccer Player of the Week on Tuesday.
Strassburger, De Luca and Erik Pajunk all share the team lead and are tied for seventh in the conference in assists with four. De Luca and Pajunk both have six goals to pace BC and rank among the league's top 10.
Defensively, the Bulldogs have five shutouts on the season after the Royal Blue and White blanked Pfeiffer on Wednesday.
Defensive starters Nick Ahlquist, Drew Williams, Jovan Gracia and Tyler Dew joined keeper Jens Madsen Hordvik in leading the effort to blank the Falcons. Hordvik is eighth in the league in save percentage (.717) and goals against average (1.41), and has posted four shutouts in his freshman campaign.
Barton is 7-0 against Chowan in head coach Matt Akins' tenure, and have won those matches by a combined score of 38-5, including a 10-0 rout last season in Murfreesboro, N.C., in which De Luca recorded a hat trick. However, the Bulldogs will see an entirely different team than last year's 1-14 Hawks.
Chowan University Men's Soccer
After last year's disappointing season, Chowan brought in a highly successful coach who is very familiar with Barton and Conference Carolinas.
Chris Whalley, who had spent the two previous seasons as an assistant at Appalachian State University, was head coach at Lees-McRae College from 2005 to 2010, during which time he led the Bobcats to three Conference Carolinas regular season titles and a national runner-up finish in 2009.
Whalley has immediately turned around the Hawks by bringing in 11 freshman, many of whom have made significant impacts.
None has been bigger than Terrell Williamson of Alexandria, Va., who leads the nation with 17 goals. Williamson has recorded three hat tricks and a total of six multi-goal games in leading Chowan to 9-5 record so far this season.
Freshman midfielder Christian Funes has provided the helpers on many of Williamson's goals, and his eight assists rank eighth nationally. However, Funes has also scored five goals for a total of 18 points. Two other freshmen – Barkan Koeprueluegil and Francisco Ferrus – both have contributed five assists, and junior Jordan Radisavljevic has chipped in six goals.
As a team, the Hawks are averaging 2.43 goals per contest, which ranks 17th nationally.
Chowan likes to attack early in matches. The Hawks have outscored their opponents 21-7 in the first half and have enjoyed a 31-20 edge in corner kicks in the opening frame. Opposition keepers have been forced to make twice as many saves in the first half of games (36-18) as Chowan's.
The defense, although much improved, can be vulnerable at times. The Hawks are giving up 1.57 goals per contest, which ranks in the bottom third of Division II programs nationally. Junior keeper Marco Lujan has surrendered 20 goals this year while recording 44 saves. He has a 1.54 goals against average and a .688 save percentage.
Chowan enters the match having won four of its last five contests, including consecutive wins last week over Washington Adventist University and William Peace University by a combined score of 9-1. Williamson scored five of the nine goals.
The Hawks, members of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) but an independent in soccer, have played two Conference Carolinas members this season, losing to both despite playing well. Chowan lost to Belmont Abbey College 3-2 after leading 2-0 just 17 minutes into the match, and lost to regionally-ranked Pfeiffer 3-1. Williamson again scored the Chowan goal.
