Transylvania Picked to Win Fourth Straight Men's Soccer Title
August 13, 2008
GREENWOOD , IN - Transylvania University 's men's soccer team has been selected as the front runner to win the 2008 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference championship. The Pioneers received eight first-place votes and 79 total points in a poll of the conference's nine head coaches.
Rose-Hulman will look to claim the school's first HCAC men's soccer championship, as the Engineers totaled a second best 67 points. Manchester College placed third in the poll with 64 points and the final first place vote. Hanover College finished fourth with 54 points and was followed by Anderson University (39 points), Defiance College (32), Franklin College (31), Mount St. Joseph (23) and Bluffton University (16).Transylvania is coming off a 15-3-3 record in 2007. The Pioneers finished on top of the HCAC last fall with a 7-0-1 record, and defeated Manchester in the conference tournament final 2-1. Transy advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament after defeating Ohio Wesleyan and John Carroll on penalty kicks. TU fell to Washington ( Mo. ) 1-0 in the third round of competition. Transylvania led the HCAC and ranked fifth nationally in scoring defense last season, allowing only nine goals all season.
The Pioneers return two first team All-HCAC selections from 2007. Leading the way on offense will be sophomore Stu Hampson (Lexington , Ky./Henry Clay) and senior Ryan Wood (Versailles, Ky./Woodford Co.) . Hampson led Transy in scoring a year ago with seven goals and four assists, while Wood tallied five goals and two assists. TU also returns second team All-HCAC selection Trey Kramer (Versailles, Ky./Woodford Co.) in net. Kramer led the conference in shutouts (7), save percentage (.870), and goals against average (0.44) last season.
Rose-Hulman will look to challenge the Pioneers for the top spot in the HCAC championship race once again. The Engineers finished last season 12-6-2 overall and 6-1-1 in conference action. New head coach Sean Helliwell will take over the Engineer squad after previously being an assistant coach at Division I Western Kentucky. RHIT will have to pick up the scoring slack left by 2007 HCAC Co-Most Valuable Player Matt Trowbridge. Trowbridge led the conference with 21 goals and 47 points last season. Senior forward Trevor Miller (Okemos , Mich. /H.S.) and 2007 HCAC Freshman of the Year Corbin Clow (Martinsville , Ind. /H.S.) will look to pick up the scoring slack from the departed Trowbridge. Miller ranked third on the Engineers last season with five goals and 14 points, while Clow netted five goals and 13 points.
Manchester finished the 2007 season 5-2-1 in conference play and advanced to the conference tournament championship game. The Spartans welcome back a couple first team All-HCAC selection this fall. Junior defender Brian Woods (Carmel , Ind. / Westfield ) led the team with 10 goals and ranked second in points with 23 last fall, ranking second in the conference in goals scored and third in points. Senior midfielder Chris Rowe (Belleville , Mich. /H.S.) added four goals and seven assists last season for MC.
The 2008 men's soccer season is set to begin on August 29.