NAZARETH TO PLAY UC-SANTA CRUZ SATURDAY
Golden Flyers (14-4-3) reach NCAA round of 16

COMPLETE BRACKET | UPDATED STATS | ROSTER | SCHEDULE/RESULTS

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (Nov. 13, 2006) -- Nazareth's men's soccer team continues its improbable journey this weekend as one of 16 Division III teams competing for the NCAA championship. The Golden Flyers (14-4-3) have made the most of their second straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament last week as they defeated Geneseo, 2-0, and eliminated Medaille in penalty kicks.

Nazareth's next opponent will be the University of California Santa Cruz (21-1) Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, N.J. New York University (15-3-2), the host school, plays Stevens Institute (17-0-2) in the other game at 5 p.m. The winners meet Sunday at 6 p.m. for a berth in the Final Four.

"I'm sure that there aren't too many people who expected us to get this far," said Nazareth Coach Danny Gilbertson, whose team was picked to finish fifth in an Empire 8 pre-season poll. "We have a great group of guys who believe that we have a chance to win every game we play."

If there was ever a time to doubt those beliefs it was last Saturday against Medaille in a game played in a driving rainstorm at the University of Buffalo. After the game officially ended in a 2-2 tie, the teams resorted to penalty kicks to determine advancement to the next round. What ensued was a marathon session in which each team took 20 penalty kicks. Nazareth won 16-15, but not before Medaille was turned away three separate times with a chance to advance as Nazareth goalie Alex Kilroy (pictured above) made diving saves on each attempt.

The teams kept exchanging kicks until the 20th try. Sophomore Justino Flores (left) converted for the Golden Flyers' 16th goal. Medaille's Michel Mendez then fired wide left to finally end the match. As if a 20-pound anvil had been lifted off his shoulders, a relieved Kilroy fell back to the turf before being mobbed by teammates.

In the game itself, Nazareth had leads of 1-0 and 2-1 on goals from Christopher Löfgren and Justin Stevens, but Medaille answered each time. The Mavericks netted the tying goal with about 15 minutes to play in regulation. The teams then battled through two 10-minute overtime periods before heading to penalty kicks. Ed Babcock, Löfgren, Jeremy Bergan, Scott Cavanaugh, Andrew Wirfel, Nick Proukou and Flores all converted two penalty kicks in a session that took nearly 30 minutes to complete.

"They were a bunch of blue-collar kids who really worked hard and came after us," Gilbertson said of Medaille. "I was proud of the way we played in the second half and I felt like we deserved to win, but when you get to penalty kicks you never know what will happen."

In the opening round match last Wednesday, Nazareth blanked Geneseo 2-0 for its first-ever NCAA playoff win. Scott Rigney scored an unassisted goal early in the first half and the Golden Flyers withstood a second-half surge by Geneseo that included a couple of shots that skipped off the crossbar in the closing minutes. Nazareth scored again with :36 left as Paul Pacitto (pictured) finished on a crossing pass from Phil Holmberg. Kilroy's three saves were enough to earn him his seventh shutout of the season and 18th of his career, both numbers equaling school records.

GETTING HERE: Nazareth won the Empire 8 Conference championship by advancing past Ithaca and RIT -- both on the road -- earlier this month. Nazareth advanced past Ithaca in penalty kicks, 5-4, following a 1-1 tie. Nazareth made all five of its penalty kicks and Ithaca made its first four before Kilroy saved the Bombers' final attempt. Against RIT, Nazareth won 1-0 behind a first-half goal by Phil Holmberg. The win netted Nazareth an automatic berth to the tournament.

PLAYERS TO WATCH: Nazareth had four players honored as first-team Empire 8 Conference all-stars in 2006, including sophomore sweeper Mohammed Ahamed (right, Martin Luther King HS/Bronx, NY), who was named the Defensive Player of the Year. He was joined on the first team by senior midfielders Ed Babcock (Geneseo HS/Geneseo, NY) and Scott Rigney (Keshequa HS/Nunda, NY) and senior goalie Alex Kilroy (Spencerport HS/Spencerport, NY). Second-team honors went to Philip Holmberg (Malmo, Sweden) while sophomore forward Justin Stevens (Canisius HS/Derby, NY) and senior midfielder Scott Cavanaugh (Holley HS/Brockport, NY) were honorable mention choices.

Stevens leads the team in scoring with seven goals and three assists for 17 points. Rigney has five goals and six assists and Babcock has five goals and three assists. Kilroy, a four-year starter in goal, has started all 21 games in 2006 and has 113 saves for a 0.97 goals-against average with seven shutouts.

NAZARETH COACH DANNY GILBERTSON: Now in his third season, Gilbertson took over the Nazareth program from the late and legendary Doug May, who passed away in April of 2004 after a brief illness. A native of London, Gilbertson was an assistant coach at Hobart for four seasons before joining the Nazareth athletic staff. As a player, Gilbertson was a four-year starter at Plymouth State in New Hampshire and led the Panthers to three NCAA tournament berths. He earned regional All-American honors in 1998 and was a three-time Little East Conference all-star.

NAZARETH VS. UC-SANTA CRUZ: Nazareth and Santa Cruz have never met in a men's soccer match.

SCOUTING THE SLUGS: The UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs, ranked second nationally by d3kicks.com and 10th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, have been a regular NCAA tournament participant in recent seasons and should present a formidable challenge for the Golden Flyers. The Slugs lost to Messiah in the 2004 title game and to Trinity (Texas) in the national quarterfinals the year before that. They have been dominant in 2006 in holding a 21-1 record and outscoring opponents 75-4. Senior Steve Wondolowski and junior Harry Abraham each have 17 goals this season. Goalie Jared Wheeler has a miniscule goals-against average of 0.20. Nazareth and Santa Cruz have one common opponent this season -- Ithaca. The Slugs defeated the Bombers, 1-0, Sept. 22 in Colorado Springs. Nazareth lost to Ithaca, 1-0, Sept. 16 and tied the Bombers 1-1 Nov. 1.