by Benny Benton
WILSON, N.C. – The Barton College men's soccer team will welcome Southern Wesleyan University to the Barton Outdoor Athletics Complex on Saturday night for a 7 p.m. Conference Carolinas matchup.
As part of the night's activities, a Wounded Warriors Benefit will also take place. The Bulldogs will wear special camouflage uniforms in the contest, and those uniforms will be auctioned off following the match to benefit the Wounded Warriors Project, which provides a wide variety of programs, services and events for wounded veterans.
Barton sports information will provide Live Stats for Saturday's match.
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 entered the week ranked No. 4 in the Southeast Region, but put that status in jeopardy by dropping a 1-0 decision on the road at UNC Pembroke on Wednesday.
Barton, now 5-2 overall, lost on a penalty kick in the game's 76th minute. The Bulldogs played a man-down for the final 33 minutes of the match, the second time in three matches that the Royal Blue and White have had to deal with a man disadvantage.
Despite being short-handed, the Bulldogs still took 19 shots to UNCP's 15, led by a team-high seven from the reigning Conference Carolinas Player of the Week, Erik Pajunk. Barton had several scoring opportunities, most notably a shot off the crossbar by Dante De Luca in the 85th minute, but was held scoreless for the first time in 13 matches dating back to last October.
Junior keeper Derek Collins, getting his second straight start in goal for BC, collected five saves to keep the match close and now has eight for the year. Collins has a 1.07 goals against average and a .727 save percentage. Freshman Jens Madsen Hordvik started the team's first five matches this season and has a 1.18 goals against average, 16 saves and a .762 save percentage.
Pajunk, De Luca and sophomore Alex David all share the team lead in goals with four, while Pajunk paces the squad in assists (3) and points (11).
Barton remains unbeaten at home this year with a 3-0 mark that includes a win in its only conference match to date this year, a 4-0 triumph over North Greenville University.
Southern Wesleyan University Men's Soccer
The Warriors (4-3, 0-2) entered the season as the defending National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) national champions, but lost a number of players off that 16-6-2 squad, including leading goal scorer Douglas Andrade (13 goals).
This year's Southern Wesleyan unit opened the season with a 2-1 home loss to St. Andrews University, then rolled off four straight victories – primarily against NCCAA schools – by a combined score of 15-1.
However, the Warriors have found their first season of Conference Carolinas competition to be challenging so far. SWU dropped its league opener, 4-0, at Pfeiffer University and fell 3-0 at home to Lees-McRae College.
Southern Wesleyan is in the process of transitioning from the NAIA ranks to NCAA Division II. Conference Carolinas is sponsoring the Warriors and they will join the league as full members upon successful completion of their application process. SWU's games against conference opponents count as league games this season, but the Warriors are not eligible for postseason play.
Saturday's match will be just the third of the year away from home for the Warriors. In addition to the loss at Pfeiffer, the other road match was a 6-0 rout over Bob Jones University.
Senior midfielder Alexandro Sanchez has paced SWU this season with four goals and nine points. Junior forward Joey Capone and sophomore midfielder Ivan Malagon have each collected three goals and seven points, and senior forward Joao Oliveira has produced four assists, which is tied for the Conference Carolinas lead.
In goal for the Warriors has been junior Ruben Rodriguez, who has a 1.5 goals against average and a .714 save percentage with 25 total saves. Rodriguez started 22 matches for last year's NCCAA national title team.
