Madison, NJ (September 27, 2006) – The DeSales University men’s soccer team fell behind by a 2-0 score after 35 minutes had ticked away on the clock but senior Randy Sturm (North Cape May, NJ/Lower Cape May) scored a late first-half goal that gave DSU the momentum heading into halftime and ignited a furious second half rally giving the DeSales University men’s soccer team a 4-2 win over FDU-Florham in Freedom Conference action.
Sturm was once again sensational and is starting to garner national attention for his scoring streak. He has been named Freedom Conference Player of the Week three straight weeks, was named the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Region Player of the Week as announced today and entered the week ranked sixth in the entire country in points per game and fifth in goals per game.
Sturm added to his already historic season with three more goals and one assist to give him 13 goals and five helpers for 31 points on the year. If the season ended today, his scoring numbers would be the eighth best in school history and we are only eight games into his senior year. His seven points today give him 106 in his career and move him within just 11 points of second place all-time and just 22 points behind the all-time leader, DSU Hall of Famer, Tim Riggs.
DSU was sluggish in the first 25 minutes of the game falling behind 2-0 on goals by the Devils’ Ali Bayram (30th minute) and Alex Malcolm (35th minute). The deficit seemed to light a fire under the Bulldogs (5-2-1, 2-0 Freedom) as Sturm responded with his first goal at the 42:45 mark on an assist from sophomore German Reyes (Beach Lake, PA/Honesdale). The Bulldogs were still down one but ran into the halftime locker room with some much needed momentum.
The second half was all DeSales. A Sturm centering pass was knocked into the goalmouth by sophomore Tim Hall (Montclair, VA/Bishop Ireton) to tie the game at two with 35 minutes left to play and Sturm did the rest.
The two teams went back and forth over the next 25 minutes before Sturm scored his second on another pass from Reyes to give DSU a 3-2 lead with 6:18 left to play. His third goal came with just four seconds left on a pass from junior Daniel Jones (Ronks, PA/Pequea Valley) as an exclamation point to a big comeback in an important Freedom Conference road contest.
DSU out-shot FDU (2-6, 0-2 Freedom), 17-12, and held an 11-4 edge in corner kicks. Junior Rusty Riedmiller (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) shook off those first two goals to blank the Devils over the last 55 minutes, making nine total saves. Jared Drucker had five saves for FDU-Florham.
DeSales returns to action and home for the first time in seven games on Homecoming Saturday when they entertain Freedom Conference foe, King’s College, at 3:00 pm.
