LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's soccer team, ranked No. 8 in the latest United Soccer Coaches national poll, dropped a hard-fought 2-1 match against Muhlenberg in the Centennial Conference Tournament semifinals on Tylus Field Friday night. The third-seeded Mules (13-3-2) defeated the second-seeded Diplomats (13-2-2) as the game-winning goal was recorded during the 83rd minute of action.
The first half saw the majority of the play in the midfield as the two sides combined for just six shots during the opening 45 minutes. Two saves from the Mules' Ben Mulford, and another from F&M keeper Nolan Booth, kept both offenses off the board early.
After some halftime adjustments, the action certainly started to pick up which led to the Diplomats owning a 13-9 advantage in shots and 8-6 edge in shots on goal at the final whistle. Despite that pressure from the F&M offense, it was Muhlenberg who struck first as when Sebastian Tis worked through a couple Diplomat defenders before finding teammate Taylan Akdag for his first goal of season.
Finding themselves trailing 1-0, the Diplomats needed just 14 minutes to answer. During the 73rd minute of action, F&M had a number of chances with Koa Kaliebe and Isaac Mintz both seeing their shot attempts saved after a foul just outside of the 18. However, Myles Ryan gathered the possession in the box and found Oscar Horwitz who added on to his single-season school record with his 19th goal of the season.
Muhlenberg earned just two corner kicks all night, but made the most of that second chance as Evan Schlotterbeck headed home the corner from Akdag for the 2-1 advantage with just 7:07 remaining in regulation. The Mules' defense made that 2-1 lead stand up behind seven saves from Mulford, with Booth adding four saves of his own.
Despite the loss in the conference semifinals, the Diplomats built a very strong resume during the regular season and should receive strong consideration for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament which begins next weekend. Franklin & Marshall will officially learn its NCAA Tournament fate during the live selection show on Monday, November 6 at 2 p.m. A link to watch the NCAA selection will be available on NCAA.com to watch the show at that time.
