November 10, 2014
Cortland men's soccer to face Neumann in NCAA opening round Saturday at Babson
The SUNY Cortland men's soccer team has earned a berth into the 61-team NCAA Division III playoffs and will play Neumann University (Pa.) in an opening-round game on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 1:30 p.m. hosted by Babson College (Mass.). The other game in the four-team bracket features Rutgers-Newark versus Babson at 11 a.m., with the two winners playing in the second round Sunday at 1:30 p.m. at Babson.
Cortland (14-4-1), under third-year head coach Steve Axtell, finished second in the SUNYAC regular-season standings and advanced to the league tournament title game for the second straight year before losing at top-seeded Oneonta, 2-1. The Red Dragons received one of 18 “Pool C” at-large bids into the NCAA field. Neumann (10-8-2) earned an NCAA automatic berth by winning the Colonial States Athletic Conference. The Knights are 10-1-1 in their last 12 games after starting 0-7-1.
Cortland is making its 19th NCAA tournament appearance and first since advancing to the second round in 2008. The Red Dragons have six top-five national finishes, including a second-place showing in 1977 and a third-place finish in 1978. Three of Cortland's 18 previous NCAA tournament appearances came as a Division I program in 1960, 1964 and 1966 prior to the advent of Division III.
Through 19 games this fall, Cortland has outscored its opposition by a combined 46-19 margin. Junior Ole Toepfer (Haltern am See, Germany) leads the team with seven goals and five assists for 19 points and junior Robby Reiser (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East) has seven goals and three assists for 17 points. Senior goalie Tim Beauvais (Hilton) has started all 19 games and has a 1.00 goals-against average and a .793 save percentage with nine shutouts. Beauvais' 23 career shutouts are a new school record.
NCAA Selection Announcement
Cortland (14-4-1), under third-year head coach Steve Axtell, finished second in the SUNYAC regular-season standings and advanced to the league tournament title game for the second straight year before losing at top-seeded Oneonta, 2-1. The Red Dragons received one of 18 “Pool C” at-large bids into the NCAA field. Neumann (10-8-2) earned an NCAA automatic berth by winning the Colonial States Athletic Conference. The Knights are 10-1-1 in their last 12 games after starting 0-7-1.
Cortland is making its 19th NCAA tournament appearance and first since advancing to the second round in 2008. The Red Dragons have six top-five national finishes, including a second-place showing in 1977 and a third-place finish in 1978. Three of Cortland's 18 previous NCAA tournament appearances came as a Division I program in 1960, 1964 and 1966 prior to the advent of Division III.
Through 19 games this fall, Cortland has outscored its opposition by a combined 46-19 margin. Junior Ole Toepfer (Haltern am See, Germany) leads the team with seven goals and five assists for 19 points and junior Robby Reiser (Melville/Half Hollow Hills East) has seven goals and three assists for 17 points. Senior goalie Tim Beauvais (Hilton) has started all 19 games and has a 1.00 goals-against average and a .793 save percentage with nine shutouts. Beauvais' 23 career shutouts are a new school record.
NCAA Selection Announcement
