by Kevin Buczek
WILSON, N.C.-The Barton College men's soccer team lived up to preseason expectations in earning the third seed in the 2014 Conference Carolinas Tournament and the Bulldogs will host sixth-seeded Erskine College in the quarterfinals on Monday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. at the Barton Outdoor Athletic Complex.
The other three quarterfinals matches in the men's league tournament on Monday include top-seeded Limestone College hosting eighth-seed Belmont Abbey College; second-seeded Pfeiffer University entertaining seventh-seed University of Mount Olive; and fourth-seeded Lees-McRae College hosting fifth-seeded King University.
The highest remaining seed after the opening round will become the host institution for both the semifinals and championship matches scheduled for Nov. 6 and Nov. 8. The Barton-Erskine winner will play the Pfeiffer-Mount Olive winner in the semifinals on Thursday.
Barton sports information will be providing Live Stats for Monday's quarterfinals match against Erskine.
Barton soccer fans can follow the Bulldogs throughout the season on BartonBulldogs.com and via social media including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
No. 3 seed Barton College Men's Soccer
The Bulldogs are currently ranked No. 21 in the NSCAA/Continental Tire NCAA Division II Top-25 Poll and third in the Southeast Region by both the NCAA and NSCAA. Barton finished the regular season with a D-II program best 12 wins and are hosting a postseason match for a fourth consecutive year.
BC has a 12-5 overall record and finished conference play at 7-3. The Bulldogs, who were picked third in the league's preseason poll, earned the No. 3 seed after knocking off King University, 2-1, in overtime on Friday.
The Bulldogs carry a four-match home win streak into Monday's contest as they try and advance to the semifinals for a third straight campaign. Barton's last home playoff loss actually came against Erskine in 2011 when the sixth-seeded Flying Fleet upset the third-seeded Bulldogs by a 2-1 score.
Senior Erik Pajunk and Dante De Luca continue to highlight Barton's offense that is averaging over two goals per game. De Luca has scored one goal in five of the Bulldogs last six matches to take over the team-lead in goals at nine. Pajunk follows with eight goals and a team-best six assists. De Luca and Pajunk are tied for seventh in the league with 22 point apiece.
Other top options for the Royal Blue and White on offense include sophomore Alex David (6G, 3A, 15P), junior Kevin Strassburger (3G, 6A, 12P) and senior Jonathan Rembecki (4G, 2A, 10P).
Defensively, the Bulldogs have only allowed just eight goals in their last eight games (7-1 record) helping Barton back into the national spotlight. Freshman goalie Jens Madsen Hordvik (10-3) anchors the back line with a 1.43 goals against average and .725 save percentage (both numbers rank seventh in the league). Hordvik has been helped by a strong back line that has included primarily consisted of starters senior Nick Ahlquist, juniors Jovan Gracia and Drew Williams and freshman Tyler Dew.
Barton is in consideration for the NCAA Tournament but will most likely need a good performance in the Conference Carolinas Tournament to solidify its first ever bid under the leadership of eighth year head coach Matt Akins.
The Bulldogs defeated Erskine College, 3-2, in Due West, S.C., on Saturday, October 18 in a matchup of two teams that were ranked in the NSCAA Southeast Region Top-10 (just like they will be again on Monday). The Fleet held an early 1-nil advantage but three unanswered goals by freshman Alex Blake, De Luca and Rembecki helped BC rally. Barton finished with a 14-8 shot surplus and a 12-6 corner kick advantage in the triumph.
No. 6 seed Erskine College Men's Soccer
The Flying Fleet lost three of their final four league games beginning with their home loss to the Bulldogs to slip to the sixth seed. Erskine still finished the regular season over .500 at 8-7-2 overall and 4-4-2 in the conference and is ranked 10th in the NSCAA Southeast Region Top-10 Poll.
Erskine is coming off a 3-0 loss to regular season champion Limestone College on Saturday.
The Fleet features one of the league's most dangerous forwards in senior Andrew Settlemire. The reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Year is third in the league with 10 goals and fourth in the conference with 23 points.
Settlemire has factored in 44.8% of EC's total goals on the season. Junior Joe O'Neill (4G, 2A, 10P), freshman Alex Waldthausen (2G, 4A, 8P), sophomore Martin Maschio Jr. (3G, 1A, 7P) and junior Ross Henderson (2G, 3A, 7P) have supported Settlemire on the offensive end of the field.
Freshman goalkeeper Fiore Costa (6-6-2, 1.53 GAA, .738 SV%) has started in 14 of 17 games for the Flying Fleet but junior Nicholas Willenborg (2-1, 1.23 GAA, .818 SV%) has gotten the nod in net in three of Erskine's last four regular season contests.
Henderson and sophomore defender Ugo Galtier earned All-Conference attention last season along with Settlemire.
Sophomore Cameron Whitehurst and Stian Tsesmetsis scored the Fleets goals in the 3-2 home loss to Barton in the 13th and 90th minutes, respectively.
Erskine had defeated Barton in the three straight meetings before falling to the Bulldogs in October.
