IMMACULATA, Pa. – The Immaculata University men's soccer team tied the program mark for most conference wins as the Mighty Macs posted a 6-3 Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) record to snag the third seed in the CSAC Tournament starting on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
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Immaculata, which finished with the same record as Centenary, won the tiebreaker with the Mighty Macs' 2-1 win against the Cyclones earlier in the season. The Mighty Macs host the sixth-seeded Keystone College Giants on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Draper Walsh Stadium.
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The 2015 season marks the fifth time in the 11 years of the program that Immaculata has advanced to the conference playoffs, and it's the first appearance since the 2012 campaign. The Mighty Macs have not hosted a playoff contest since the 2009 season when Immaculata also earned the third seed and hosted sixth-seeded Centenary in the quarterfinals. The Mighty Macs went on to play in the CSAC Championship Game that year against top-seed Cabrini, after they defeated second-seeded Neumann in the semifinals. Immaculata and Keystone have never met in the CSAC Tournament.
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Immaculata (8-10) already defeated Keystone (7-8-1, 4-5 CSAC) once this season at DWS as the Mighty Macs used a three-goal second half, including two goals from freshman
Alex Noel, to down the Giants, 3-0, on Oct. 10.
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Keystone will be making its fourth CSAC playoff appearance in the last six years as the Giants secured the No. 6 seed in the postseason tournament with their 3-2 defeat of Cabrini in the regular-season finale on Saturday coupled with getting some help from wins by Immaculata and Summit.Â
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Noel leads the Mighty Macs in scoring this season with nine goals and 18 points. He ranks tied for fourth on the single-season ledger for points in a season, and lists fourth in goals.
Kyle Jumalon is second with 17 points on eight goals and one assist.
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Noel is sixth (1.00) in the CSAC while Jumalon is ninth (0.94) in points per game. Noel ranks fourth in goals, and Jumalon is sixth. Noel also ranks at the top of the CSAC in game-winning goals with four this season.
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Stephen Smith has scored three goals this season, and
Alec Schuler has two goals and two assists to tie for six points and third-best on the team.
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Joe Lubonski has started all 18 contests in goal this season with an .802 save percentage and 1.43 goals-against average. He ranks fifth in GAA and sixth in save percentage in the conference.
In the other quarterfinal contest, No. 4 Centenary College hosts No. 5-seed Neumann University at 2 p.m.
The winners of Tuesday's two quarterfinal contests will travel to either top-seeded Cabrini or second-place finisher Marywood for the CSAC semifinals on Thursday, November 5. The Colonial States Athletic Conference championship game will be held on Saturday, November 7, at the highest remaining seed. The winner of that championship game receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
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