MEN'S SOCCER EARN THIRD SEED FOR CACC TOURNAMENT

October 31, 2011

MEN'S SOCCER EARN THIRD SEED FOR CACC TOURNAMENT

Orangeburg, NY (10/31/11) The Dominican College men's soccer team has earned the third seed in the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men’s Soccer Tournament, which will commence on Monday, Oct. 31 with quarter-final action. Dominican College, the defending tournament champion, will take on the No. 6 seed Felician College today at 2pm at the OMM Field in Orangeburg, NY.

Orangeburg, NY (10/31/11) The Dominican College men's soccer team has earned the third seed in the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) Men's Soccer Tournament, which will commence on Monday, Oct. 31 with quarter-final action. Dominican College, the defending tournament champion, will take on the No. 6 seed Felician College today at 2pm at the OMM Field in Orangeburg, NY.

Post University will serve as the top seed for the upcoming Central Atlantic Collegiate and will face No. 8 Caldwell College in the opening round.

Post, Wilmington University, Dominican College and Bloomfield College will serve as the top four seeds and will host quarter-final contests on Monday. Chestnut Hill College will host the semi-final and championship rounds on Thursday, Nov. 3 and Saturday, Nov. 5.

Post went 9-3-4 overall in the regular-season and is currently ranked seventh in the East Region poll. The Eagles are the top seed despite not having a player ranked among the league's top 15 in goals or points. Senior Hylton Davis and junior forward Francis Eno lead the team with five goals apiece, while Eno leads the way with 12 points. Davis and sophomore forward Joe Baccielo have each contributed 10 points. The Eagle defense ranks third in the CACC with 23 goals allowed in 16 games for a 1.35 goals-against average. Post advanced to the semi-finals of last season's conference tournament as the No. 5 seed before falling to Bloomfield. The Eagles will be looking for their first conference title since 2008, when they took the crown as the No. 4 seed.

Post upended Caldwell in the regular-season, 3-1. The Cougars went 7-8-2 overall and 4-6-1 in conference play and is led on offense by sophomore forward Mosiah Whyte, who is tied for second in the conference with 12 goals, and fifth with 26 points. Facundo Zalazar has contributed 14 points (five goals, four assists) for the Cougars. Caldwell is making its first tournament appearance since earning the top seed in 2008.

Wilmington (8-6-4, 7-2-2 CACC) clinched the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 Nyack College (10-5-2/5-4-2 CACC) in the opening round. Sophomore Eddie Kowalo leads WU with 12 goals and five assists for 29 points and stands second in the conference in goals and points. Sophomore forward Tom Quaranta has posted nine goals and one assist for 19 points, which is tied for ninth in the conference. Wilmington finished the regular-season by going 5-1-1 in its last seven conference games. The Wildcats last won a conference title in 2007. Nyack won the regular-season match with Wilmington, 3-2, at home on Sept. 17 after jumping to a 3-0 lead at halftime. Felix Horn and Marco Likos pace Nyack with 19 points apiece, while senior goalie Adrian Ibanez ranks second in the CACC in save percentage (.818) and goals-against average (1.03). Nyack won the conference title in 2009, with Ibanez claiming Tournament MVP honors. Nyack went 4-1-2 against the rest of the tournament field this season.

Dominican (9-5-3, 7-2-2 CACC) claimed the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Felician College in the quarter-finals. Sophomore forward Jorge Zubillaga leads DC with seven goals and 16 points, including the game's lone goal in a victory over Post on Saturday. Freshman forward Clodalain Lolo is next with five goals and 12 points. Senior goalkeeper Brandon Heembrock* was named Tournament MVP last season after leading the Chargers to three shootout victories. He sports league-leading numbers in goals-against average (0.85) and a save percentage (.883) this season in 17 games.

Dominican defeated Felician on the road earlier this season, 2-1, in a double-overtime thriller on Sept. 20. The Golden Falcons are making their first tournament appearance since 2006. The team posted a winning record in conference play for the first time since 2005 by going 6-5 to go with a 9-9 overall mark. Graduate student Adrian Sutcliffe leads the team and is tied for seventh in the conference with 21 points (nine goals, three assists), while sophomore Azedine Maazouzi has five goals and four assists for 14 points.Bloomfield (10-6-1/7-3-1 CACC) is the No. 4 seed seed and will host No. 5 Holy Family University (10-5-1/7-3-1) on Monday. After starting the season with five straight losses, the Deacons have gone 10-1-1 in their last 12 games. BC is guided by the conference's leading scorer in senior forward Terry Gibbs, who checks in with 18 goals and seven assists for a total of 43 points. Gibbs has recorded at least one point in 10 straight games, including a pair of three-goal performances.

Bloomfield was the top seed for last season's tournament, but lost in a shootout to Dominican in the finals. Bloomfield and Holy Family tied in the standings, but the Deacons won the head-to-head match-up in the regular season to earn the No. 4 seed. BC won that game in decisive fashion, 6-1, on Oct. 8, with Gibbs scoring three goals. For Holy Family, senior forward Seydou Ba is tied for second in the CACC with 29 points on 11 goals and seven assists, while Keith Crews and Nicolas Delgado each have 13 points on their resume. The Tigers have won three of their last four games entering tournament play.

Ticket prices for all tournament games are $6 for adults and $3 for children, students (with ID) and senior citizens. Children age three years and under will be admitted free.

2011 CACC Men's Soccer Tournament

Quarterfinals – Monday, Oct. 31

#8 Caldwell at #1 Post – 1:30 pm (at U. of Bridgeport)

#7 Nyack at #2 Wilmington – 2:00 pm

#6 Felician at #3 Dominican – 2:00 pm
#5 Holy Family at #4 Bloomfield – 2:00 pm

Semi-Finals – Thursday, Nov. 3 at Chestnut Hill College

Caldwell/Post winner vs. Holy Family/Bloomfield winner
Nyack/Wilmington winner vs. Felician/Dominican winner

Game 1 - 11:00 am (top remaining seed plays first)

Game 2 - 1:30 pm

Championship Match – Saturday, Nov. 5 at Chestnut Hill College

12:00 pm

The aim of Dominican University New York is to promote educational excellence, leadership, and service in an environment characterized by respect for the individual and concern for the community and its needs. Founded by the Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt, the university is an independent institution of higher learning, Catholic in origin and heritage. In the Dominican tradition, it fosters the active, shared pursuit of truth and embodies an ideal of education rooted in the values of reflective understanding and compassionate involvement. Committed to building its programs upon a strong foundation in the liberal arts and sciences, the university maintains a student-centered climate and serves a diverse community of students in undergraduate and graduate programs. The university empowers this community of learners to excel, lead and serve with integrity and to engage responsibly in the pursuit of a more just, ethical and sustainable world. Dominican also sponsors 18 varsity intercollegiate sports that compete at the NCAA Division II level. To learn more about Dominican University New York, please visit www.duny.edu.