Mids Jump To Seventh In NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Poll

Navy hosts Bucknell in Patriot League Opener on Saturday night.

Sept. 25, 2007

DeVuono, Parker Earn PL Honors | Navy Stats

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The Navy men's soccer team jumped to seventh in the NSCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings, released on Tuesday, The Mids, who were unranked last week, moved back into the poll following an impressive weekend sweep of a pair of Florida teams over the weekend. The No. 7 regional ranking is the highest for the Navy program since the 2001 season. Navy is one of six Patriot League teams mentioned in the top 10.

Navy, 4-1-1 on the season, is off to the program's best start since the 2001 team opened 5-0-1. Last weekend against Florida Gulf Coast and Florida International, the Mids outscored the two teams, 7-1, in winning back-to-back road games for the first time since 2001. Senior Doug DeVuono (Racine, Wis.) scored a hat trick against Florida Gulf Coast, the first for a Navy player since Craig Ruhs tallied three goals against Fordham on Sept. 21, 2001. In Sunday's win over Florida International, sophomore Andrew Garcia (Garland, Texas) netted two second-half goals to break open a 1-1 halftime score and lead Navy to a 3-1 victory.

So far this season, Navy has scored 11 goals in six games to lead the Patriot League in scoring, at 1.83 goals per game. Six different players have scored goals for head coach Rich Miranda, and already this year, five players have scored at least four points, one year after just three players scored four or more points. The Navy defense has also been stout, posting three shutouts and ranking fourth in the league in goals against average at 0.78. The Navy defense, spearheaded in the back by senior goalkeeper Evan Barnes (Dublin, Ohio) with senior defensemen Will Riordon (Oak Ridge, N.C.), Anthony Parker (Fredericksburg, Va.) and Brett Copare (Pittsgrove, N.J.) and sophomore Scott Robertson (Chester, Va.), has allowed just one team (St. Francis, N.Y.) to score more than one goal this year.

Saint Louis University is ranked atop the Mid-Atlantic Regional poll, while Patriot League members Lafayette (2nd), Lehigh (4th), Army (6th), Colgate (T-8th) and Holy (T-8th) are all listed.

Navy also sits prominently on the NCAA leaderboard. As a team, the Mids' shutout percentage of 0.50 (three shutouts in six games) is tied for 28th nationally. Cal Poly and DePaul lead at 0.83 (five shutouts in six games). Navy is tied for 24th nationally in won-lost-tied percentage at .750. Quinnipiac and Wake Forest lead the way at 1.000 (Wake Forest is 6-0-0, while Quinnipiac is 4-0-0).

Individually, sophomore Chris Schneider ranks tied for first in the Patriot League and 10th nationally in assists per game (0.67). His four assists equal the most for a Navy player since 2001 and are tied for the second most by a sophomore in the country. Among Patriot League players, Schneider is tied with Lehigh's Jim Taranto for tops on the list.

Navy will open its Patriot League campaign on Saturday night at the Glenn Warner Soccer Facility against 2006 NCAA second-round participant Bucknell. The contest is slated for 7:00 pm and fans that attend Saturday's football game with Air Force can get into the soccer game free by presenting the ticket stub from that afternoon's football game. Several other promotions are planned including a "Family Night Out", "Design-A-Sign Contest" and a "MWR Pregame Clinic". For ticket information, please call 1-800-US4-NAVY and for promotion information, please call 410-293-8785.

# GO NAVY #