Center Valley, PA, (October 31, 2006) – Senior Randy Sturm (North Cape May, NJ/Lower Cape May) dressed up as himself on this Halloween afternoon, terrorizing the Wilkes University men’s soccer team with a hat trick and leading the DeSales University men’s soccer team past the Colonels and into the Freedom Conference Championship game on Saturday.

 

                Sturm, who has put on an offensive clinic all season long, now has 27 goals and nine assists for 63 points and records his fifth hat trick of the season.  His first goal of the game broke the career scoring mark at DeSales, which was held by Tim Riggs at 132 points since the 1990 season.  He now has 57 career goals and 24 assists for 138 points and owns nearly every scoring record in the DeSales record book with the exception of career goals in which he needs just two to tie Riggs.

 

                The win advances DSU (12-4-3 overall) to the Freedom Conference championship game for the second straight year and for the third time in the last four years.  The Bulldogs defeated Drew University, 1-0 (OT), last season to claim its first-ever conference crown.  They await the winner of the other semifinal game, which will be played tonight with the #1 seed, The University of Scranton, hosting the #4 seed, Drew University at 7:00 pm.

 

                Sturm started the scoring at 29:01 of the first half when he took a long pass from fellow senior Phil Yetter (Saylorsburg, PA/Pleasant Valley) and knocked it past a charging Colonel (12-6-1 overall) keeper.  The long pass from Yetter sailed over a defender’s head and Sturm collected the ball into his body, took one dribble and fired it past the keeper.

 

                The second goal came just 2:31 after the first and was unassisted.  Sturm took a pass on the run, made an offensive move past two defenders, took a few more dribbles and beat the keeper to the far post for his 26^th of the season.

 

                DSU took the two goal lead into the half and struck early in the second half to put the game away.  At the 52:50 mark, freshman defender Tony Aufiero (Wall, NJ/Wall) sent a perfect pass thru the Colonel defense.  Sturm timed his run perfectly, beat the WU keeper to the ball and touched the ball while on the run and the ball was in mid-air into a wide-open net for his third tally of the game and the 27^th of the season.

 

                The exclamation point came at 69:46 when sophomore German Reyes (Beach Lake, PA/Honesdale) received a long pass up the sideline from sophomore Chris Ravita (Lebanon, NJ/North Hunterdon), dribbled into the middle of the field past a defender and fired a shot to the far post and past a diving keeper for his ninth marker of the year.

 

                The Bulldogs defense, consisting of Ravita, Aufiero, freshman Thomas Sparango (Salfordville, PA/Souderton) and sophomore Tim Hall (Montclair, VA/Bishop Ireton) were equally as impressive limiting the Colonels to just six shots on goal.  Junior Rusty Riedmiller (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) made six saves en route to his fourth shutout of the season.