by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-The Barton College men's soccer team – ranked No. 21 in NCAA Division II and third in the Southeast Region – can secure a home playoff game for a fourth consecutive year with a win or tie against host King University in Friday's game scheduled to start at 3 p.m.
Barton is currently third in the league with a 6-3 conference mark. The Bulldogs would secure a top-four position in the league standings (which host the quarterfinal round of the 2014 Conference Carolinas Tournament) with either a win or tie against the Tornado. BC can finish as high as second in the league with a win and a Pfeiffer University loss at Belmont Abbey College on Friday.
King is currently fifth in the conference at 5-4 and must win Friday to secure a home playoff game. The Tornado could still potentially tie Lees-McRae in the standings with a tie but would lose the tiebreaker for the fourth seed being they lost to the Bobcats.
King sports information will be providing Live Stats and Live Video for Friday's contest that was moved up a day due to inclement weather forecast in Bristol, Tenn., on Saturday.
Barton soccer fans can follow the Bulldogs throughout the season on BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Barton College Men's Soccer
The Bulldogs suffered only their second loss of October on Tuesday in dropping a 2-1 decision at University of Mount Olive. Barton had won a half dozen consecutive games prior to that loss and still boasts records of 11-5 overall and 6-3 in the league.
The senior First Team All-Conference tandem of Erik Pajunk and Dante De Luca, who have won the last two Conference Carolinas Player of the Week awards, continue to pace the Bulldogs offensively. Pajunk and De Luca are tied for seventh in the league with eight goals apiece. Pajunk also has a team-high six assists (5th in the conference) for 22 points (6th).
De Luca had BC's only tally in Tuesday's loss at UMO. De Luca, who has had at least one point in six of the Bulldogs last seven games, has 20 total points (10th).
Three other Barton players have at least 10 points for a squad that averages 2.25 goals per game including sophomore Alex David (5G, 3A, 13P), junior Kevin Strassburger (3G, 5A, 11P) and senior Jonathan Rembecki (4G, 2A, 10P).
Jens Madsen Hordvik has been having a great freshman season in goal for the Bulldogs with a 9-3 record and a 1.47 goals against average and .714 save percentage.
Barton lost to King, 2-1, last season spoiling the Bulldogs 2013 Senior Day and Homecoming game. De Luca scored BC's lone goal on a PK. BC did defeat the Tornado each of the prior two years to hold a 2-1 series lead since King joined the league. De Luca also scored in each of those contests and he has four career goals against the KU.
King University Men's Soccer
The Tornado are coming off a 4-2 road loss at Lees-McRae College on Tuesday that has put King in a must-win situation in order to host a playoff game. King is 7-8 overall and 5-4 in the league but an impressive 5-1 mark at home in Bristol.
The sophomore trio of Chris Hicks, Eli Carrasco and Ryan Murphy has accounted for 18 of KU's 26 goals. Hicks is tied for fifth in the conference with nine goals and his 21 points ranks tied for seventh. Carrasco (4G, 5A, 13P) leads the Tornado in points while Murphy, a Second Team All-Conference honoree last year, is second on the team with five goals.
The Tornado defense is anchored by senior defender Zachary Clark, another Second Team All-Conference selection in 2013, and sophomore netminder Kari Sveinsson.
Sveinsson has played in all 15 matches and has a 2.20 goals against average and .542 save percentage.
Ryan Cobain is a fifth sophomore to note on a young Tornado squad as he scored the game-winning goal in the 84th minute of last year's 2-1 road triumph at Barton.
