MAC Men's Soccer All-Century Team
Center Valley, PA (December 14, 2012) – The Middle Atlantic Conference is celebrating its 100th birthday throughout this year and last week revealed the first of its All-Century teams, releasing the fall sports teams to the public and former Bulldogs,
Randy Sturm,
Derek Long, and
Jonathan Balfour, were all honored on the MAC Men's Soccer All-Century Team (2003-11).
Teams were voted on by fans during the fall semester. Those votes were combined with votes from sports information directors at participating schools within the conference. The teams are broken into four eras spanning the 100-year history of the MAC including the years from 1912-1974, 1975-1992, 1993-2002, and 2003-2011. The Bulldogs joined the MAC for the 1997-98 season.
In addition to the three Bulldogs, DSU's head men's soccer coach,
George Crampton, was honored on the team in the 1993-2002 era for his playing days at Elizabethtown College where he a Third-Team All-American in 1994 and still holds two of the top 10 single-season assist marks in school history, dishing off a career-best 18 helpers in 1994. Crampton also is responsible for the sixth-highest scoring output in a season with 48 points in '94.
Sturm (2003-06) was named an NSCAA Third-Team All-American and a Second-Team Academic All-American as a senior in 2006, while also earning NSCAA All-Region honors twice. He earned All-Freedom Conference honors four times including Second-Team honors as a freshman in 2003 and First-Team honors each of his last three seasons. Sturm was also a two-time Freedom Conference Player of the Year in 2005 and 2006.
Long earned All-Freedom First-Team honors three times in 2009, 2010, and 2011, while being named the Freedom Conference Player of the Year in 2011. He was named Academic All-District First-Team once, NSCAA All-Region First-Team twice, and was an NSCAA Scholar All-American in 2011.
Balfour earned All-Freedom honors all four years including Second-Team honors three times and First-Team honors once in 2011 when he was also named the Freedom Conference Player of the Year. In addition he earned NSCAA All-Region honors twice and was named an NSCAA Third-Team All-American in 2011.
All three players rank among the all-time leaders in goals; Sturm (2nd – 57), Long (46 – 4th), and Balfour (37 – 6th); assists – Sturm (25 – 1st), Balfour (17 – 8th); points – Sturm (139 – 1st), Long (101 – 4th); Balfour (94 – 6th).
