2019 CSAC Men's Soccer Championship Page
ROSEMONT, Pa. - The four-team field is set for the 2019 Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) men's soccer championship which will commence Saturday, November 2 with semifinal action.
Top-seeded Centenary University will host fourth-seeded Rosemont College in the first matchup at 2 p.m. while No. 2 seed Cairn University will host defending champion Keystone College, the third seed, at 2:30 p.m.
Centenary, Cairn and Keystone are all advancing to the postseason for the second straight year while Rosemont is making its first appearance in the men's soccer playoffs since 2012.
Centenary captured the top seed in the tournament by virtue of a goal-differential tiebreaker with Keystone and Cairn, as all three teams finished with identical 6-1 league records. Rosemont (4-3 CSAC) clinched its postseason berth in the regular season finale by virtue of a dramatic come-from-behind 2-1 double overtime victory on the road against Clarks Summit University.
The Cyclones and Ravens last met on October 5 at Rosemont. Five different players found the back of the net for Centenary and goalkeeper Will Hodic made nine saves in a 5-0 win for the visitors.
Centenary is led offensively by Tom Parry who took home CSAC Player of the Year accolades by a vote of the league's head coaches. Parry posted 34 points and led the CSAC with 16 goals, including three game-winners, and two assists. Jahn Lopez recorded a conference-high 12 assists this season and broke the school's single season record in that category.
Rosemont has seen contributions offensively from 14 different players including six players who have scored two or more goals. Josh Lessig netted the "golden goal" for the Ravens against Clarks Summit to propel the Ravens to the playoffs. Josh Dawicki comes into the semifinal contest with a team-high eight goals, six of which have come against conference foes. Goalkeeper Grant Gonzalez has posted 5.43 saves per game in league play, ranking him third in the CSAC.
Keystone and Cairn also battled last on October 5 at Cairn with the Highlanders registering a thrilling 3-2 triumph in double OT in front of the home crowd. Josiah Nistorenko tallied all three goals in the game for Cairn, including the game-tying score in the 71st minute and the game-winner in the 105th minute.
Cairn is led by a balanced scoring attack from a nucleus of four players, including Nistorenko (6g, 2a), Brett Kikendall (5g, 6a), Hunter Martinez (5g, 5a) and Brandon Hasko (5g, 3a). Defensively, the Highlanders rely on the steady play of goalkeeper Kameron Clark, who was recently chosen as the CSAC Defensive Player of the Year by the coaching group. In conference games, Clark tops the CSAC chart in goals-against average (.901) and save percentage (.793). Clark and the Highlanders surrendered just six goals in conference play and recorded shutouts against CSAC rivals Bryn Athyn College, College of Saint Elizabeth, Wilson College and Clarks Summit.
Keystone and Cairn rank 1-2 in the conference overall in defense, allowing just 1.50 and 1.53 goals per game respectively on the season. The Giants are the top scoring team in the conference racking up 46 goals in their 16 games for an average of 2.875 per outing.
Daniel Zuniga (Lakeland, Fla./McKeel Academy) and
Emmanuel Onwubiko (Newtown Square, Pa./Upper Darby), both all-conference performers, rank second (8) and third (6) respectively in goals scored in CSAC games. Goalkeeper
Erick Gomez (Marrero, La./John Ehret), another all-conference honoree, is third in the CSAC with a 1.577 goals-against average. Since the setback to Cairn, Keystone has gone on a five-match winning streak and outscored its opponents by a combined score of 25-8.
The winners of Saturday's semifinal matchups will advance to the CSAC championship scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 9 on the campus of the highest remaining seed. The CSAC champion will receive the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
