Mens Soccer Home Page

2008 Men's Soccer Season Recap

The Crusaders, following a stellar 17-1-1 finish last year, delivered an equally successful performance this fall, finishing 16-4-1 and earning their first ever NCAA tournament invitation. At their highest point, they were ranked 10th regionally, and 9th in the NSCAA regional coaches poll. The team was also able to capture the NEAC conference championship in their first year as associate members of the conference. Over the course of their historic season, a number of the men received recognition for either their play on the field, or for their performance in the classroom.

After a 13-3-1 regular season, which included a 7 game winning streak, UD entered the NEAC tournament favored to win, and did not disappoint, easily capturing the first men team sport conference championship in the school's 52 year athletic history. In the process, they also extended their winning streak to 10 games. Over the course of the tournament, seven of the eleven UD starters performances merited recognition from the conference, with the highlight being senior forward Stuart Brown (Boerne, TX/Boerne H.S.), who had 4 points throughout the 3 game tournament sweep, en route to being named as conference tournament MVP.

Seven UD players also received spots on the 3 NEAC all conference teams. Those who won 1st team all conference awards were senior forward Adam Lunger (Keller, TX/Keller H.S.), junior defensemen Matt Stamper (Bentonville, AR/Bentonville H.S.), and senior midfielder Brandon Washatka (Topeka, KS/Hayden H.S.). Senior defender Bennett Rawicki (Bakersfield, CA/Garces Memorial H.S.) was placed on 2nd team, while the third team consisted of senior Stuart Brown, sophomore midfielder Ryan Meske (Niwot, CO/Niwot H.S.), and junior midfielder Aaron Tucker (Keller, TX/Birdville H.S.).

Following a bittersweet first round loss to UT-Tyler the awards kept rolling in for the Crusaders. Head Coach David Hoffman notched his 100th career win during the season and led the squad to such a successful season that the Association of Division III Independents named him as the Association's coach of the year for the second time in three seasons. Hoffman now has 104 career coaching wins, and possesses a 72-30-6 mark in 6 seasons at UD. The 72 victories and the .694 winning percentage are both school records. Also, for the second consecutive season, Adam Lunger's display of offensive prowess prompted the voters to name him as the AD3I Offensive Player of the Year and as a first team forward of the 2008 All-Independent Men's Soccer Team. Joining Lunger were Stuart Brown, Brandon Washatka, and Matt Stamper on the first team. Ryan Meske and Bennett Rawicki were named to the All-Independent 2nd team. Over the course of the season the AD3I also named Lunger as the Player of the Week twice, Brown received the award once, and Brown was also named the AD3I Player of the Month once.

Also at the conclusion of the year was the naming of the NSCAA/adidas D3 All-South Central Region Team. Lunger and Brown were both selected as second team members. Lunger was named to NSCAA/adidas all region team 4 times in his 4 year career. He was a third team all-region member in his first 2 seasons at UD, and a second team member in his final 2 campaigns, while Brown was honored by the association for the first time in his career.

A key to the Crusaders successful season was an offensive which was capable of dominating opponent defenses. In their 21 games, UD overwhelmed opponents, scoring 60 goals to their 21. Among all NCAA Division III schools, the Crusaders were ranked 21st in the nation in scoring offensive with 2.86 goals per game. The unquestionable leader of the offensive was Lunger, who scored 17 goals and assisted on 9 more. A large part of Lunger's statistics can be credited to an extremely talented supporting cast. Many members of the team chipped in, including Brown who had 10 goals and 11 assists, Washatka who contributed 9 goals and 7 assists, and Meske who scored 8 goals and assisted on 3 others.

Although they were talented offensively, this year's squad was by no means a strictly offensive team. They also had a defense that was capable of smothering opposing offenses. The team recorded 8 shutouts in its 21 games, and only gave up .99 goals per game. Starting goalie Chris Sumcizk averaged 1.06 goals against, while having 79 saves, and recording 5 shutouts.

Academically, Bennett Rawicki accomplished a truly notable achievement. For maintaining a 3.97 GPA, he earned a spot on the ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-District team, and then was chosen out of all college division II and III soccer players to be part of the ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-American Team.

Sadly, this year the Crusaders will graduate a senior class which is arguably one of the most talented in school history. Several seniors will exit UD with career records. Co-captain Washatka and Lunger will share the career mark with 30 assists. Lunger will also close out his record breaking career with 74 goals and 178 total points, both school records. He set both the career points and career goals records last season and extended both further in his final year. Sumcizk holds two records for goalies with 12 shutouts and a .80 goals per game average. Bennett Rawicki, co-captain and team MVP Stuart Brown, Gabe Barkley, Dan Mortenson, and Tyler Balzer are also graduating. All in all, the senior class was the core of the team and they will be sorely missed when next season rolls around.

2008 Team at NEAC Championships

Men's Soccer Becomes NEAC Champs

GANSEVOORT, NY - The North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) concluded the fall sports session with a busy week of conference championships and Tournament berths. The University of Dallas captured the Men's Soccer crown as they defeated Keuka College 3-1 at Penn-State Harrisburg.

2008-09 MENS SOCCER TOURNAMENT
First-Round
#8 Cazenovia defeats #9 D'Youville by a score of 3-0

Quarter Finals
#1 Seed University of Dallas defeats #8 Cazenovia 5-0
#4 SUNY Cobleskill defeats #5 Penn State Harrisburg 3-0
#2 Keuka defeats #7 Penn State Berks 3-0
#3 Seed SUNYIT defeats #6 Wells College 1-0

Semi Finals
#2 Keuka College ties #3 SUNYIT through regulation and OT, 1-1. Keuka College advances on Penalty Kicks.
#1 University of Dallas defeats #4 SUNY Cobleskill 6-1

Championship
#1 University of Dallas defeats #2 Keuka College 3-1

The University of Dallas' Stuart Brown took home the Men's Soccer Most Valuable Player Award, netting 2 goals and 2 assists for the tournament. University of Dallas will represent the NEAC conference in the Division III Men's Soccer National Tournament, where they will be taking on Texas Tyler on November 13th in the first round.

Congratulations coach Hoffmann for recording your 100th win!

Crusader Men's Soccer Program History

Soccer began as a varsity sport in 1975 coached by Hank Meinster, opening with a 1-1 draw against Hardin Simmons. Currently the team competes at the NCAA Division III level as an independent. Home matches are played on campus at Crusader Field. As an independent, the team competes throughout the region, with recent travels including, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Program highlights include a 14 win season in 2001, a USCAA Championship in 2002, a 17 win season in 2007 and an AD3I Championship, and 11 players recognized as Academic All-American from three different organizations. Most recently, the 2008 season finished with a 16-4-1 record, helped coach Hoffmann reach the 100 win milestone, and will go down in history. The Crusaders established a success rate that resulted in the team winning the NEAC Conference Tournament and qualifying for the first NCAA DIII Tournament bid in program history.

D3kicks.com

North Eastern Athletic Conference

The Association of Division III Independents

The University of Dallas is a charter member of the Association of Division III Indpendents. Please click on the heading below to check out all the latest information.