BOX SCORE
Center Valley, PA (November 3, 2007) – The DeSales University men's soccer won its third straight Freedom Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon defeating third seeded King's College, 2-0, in front of a capacity crowd in Center Valley.
The Bulldogs (10-9-2 overall) wasted no time taking the lead as sophomore Dustin Sturm (North Cape May, NJ/Lower Cape May) scored his eighth goal of the season just 20 seconds into the game as junior German Reyes (Beach Lake, PA/Honesdale) sent a pass over the Monarch's sweeper's head and Sturm flicked a shot over a charging Monarch keeper's head and into the net.
The game was back-and-forth for the rest of the first half as neither team really threatened either net heading into halftime. DSU held a 4-2 edge in shots in the opening half and the only two corner kicks.
In the second half King's (8-9-3 overall) put some pressure on early creating several scoring chances that were turned aside repeatedly by the Bulldog defense and senior goalkeeper Rusty Riedmiller (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg). Midway thru the half, DSU had three straight excellent chances to get an insurance goal but two were hit wide and another connected with the crossbar and back out in play.
The insurance goal eventually came at the 83:26 mark when Reyes took control of a rebound off a blocked shot from freshman Joe Yoha (DuBois, PA/DuBois) dribbled once to his right and fired a shot into the left corner of the net for his 11th tally of the year.
DSU finished with a 12-8 advantage in shots and each team had two corner kicks. Riedmiller made two saves and finishes his Freedom Conference career having never allowed a goal in a Freedom Conference playoff game (six career games). Reyes earned Most Valuable Player honors totaling two goals and one assist in the two playoff games.
The Bulldogs earn the Freedom Conferences automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament which will be announced on Monday morning by the NCAA. Details of the Bulldogs first-round opponent will be posted on the DeSales athletics web site shortly after the announcement.
