11/15/05
Hawks to open against Pirates
Freshman keeper Gibson likely to start Saturday in NCAA first-round road game
NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SOCCER TOURNAMENT
By P.J. Harmer
Staff Writer
There was no need for suspense Monday.
After failing to reach the NCAA Division I Tournament the past two seasons with an at-large bid, the Hartwick College men’s soccer team earned an automatic berth Sunday by winning the inaugural Atlantic Soccer Conference Tournament with a 2-0 championship victory over Oneonta State.
All that remained was the who, what, when and where, and the answers were provided with Monday’s announcement of the NCAA pa[an error occurred while processing this directive]irings.
Hartwick (13-5-1) travels to Seton Hall (12-3-3) at 1 p.m. Saturday for an opening-round game, which will mark the Hawks’ first NCAA appearance since 1995.
Saturday’s winner advances to play at Penn State (12-6-2), a No. 11 seed in the tournament, on Nov. 22.
"The guys are looking forward to it," said third-year Hartwick coach Ian McIntyre, an All-American sweeper at Hartwick in 1995. "It will be a great challenge. (Seton Hall) has a very competitive Big East schedule. It’s going to be tough but exciting."
The Hawks, who fell, 3-0, to Penn State on Nov. 4, gathered at McIntyre’s house Monday to watch a tape of the Oneonta State game and the selection show on ESPNNews.
"It was actually one of the last brackets to come out," McIntyre said. "We were patiently waiting. It’s fantastic to see your name appear on the TV screen among the bigger schools and bigger athletic programs.
"It’s a completely different experience than the last couple of years," McIntyre continued. "It was calmer, but the anticipation was exciting. To see our name pop up there was very rewarding."
Hartwick will make its 23rd NCAA appearance Saturday. The program has advanced to the final four seven times and won the national championship in 1977 under Jim Lennox, who retired in 2003 and was replaced by McIntyre.
In their last trip to the tournament in 1995, the Hawks beat St. John’s, 3-2, before falling, 4-0, to Virginia — the eventual national champion.
The Hawks start out this tournament against a Seton Hall team that’s ranked 19th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The two teams have met twice before, with Hartwick winning, 5-0, in 1964 and 7-2 in 1965.
The Pirates earned an at-large bid in the 48-team field after finishing second in the Big East’s Blue Division. Seton Hall tied Providence, 2-2, in the Big East quarterfinals but failed to advance, losing a shootout, 4-2.
The Pirates will make their fifth straight appearance in the tournament and 11th overall. Seton Hall, led by 18th-year coach Manfred Schellscheidt, lost, 2-1, in last year’s first round to Hofstra.
Big East Player of the Year Sacha Kljestan leads the Pirates with nine goals and 13 assists. Other offensive contributors include Eliseo Giusfredi (11 goals, 3 assists) and John Raus (10-5).
"We’ve already started making some calls trying to get information," McIntyre said. "We’re going to have to be on our toes. The guys have enjoyed (the last two days) and (today), it’s back to business. Our schedule this year has been challenging. We’ve played the winner of the Big East (Connecticut) and Big Ten (Penn State)."
Freshman John Paul Boyle leads Hartwick with 10 goals and three assists. Freshman Austin McCann (7-5), junior Chris Greatwich (3-5), sophomore Chris Jackson (4-2) and junior Tyler Hemming (4-1) are the other top scorers.
Freshman Joseph Gibson will be in goal for Hartwick. Gibson has started for Hartwick since taking over for Josh Wagenaar against St. John’s on Oct. 19.
Wagenaar, a Regional All-American last season, suffered a right-foot injury in the game and hasn’t played since.
"Joe Gibson is our goalkeeper right now and we’re going in preparing with Joe as our goalkeeper," McIntyre said. "He’s realistically the goalkeeper we’ll be playing with Saturday."
