October 26, 1999
'Berg takes on Otterbein in Crew Stadium today
COLUMBUS -- Crew Stadium, the only soccer-only facility in the nation, has drawn the eyes of the soccer world to Columbus. Soccer fans all over the nation will once again turn their attention to the city today when Heidelberg takes on Otterbein at 3:30 p.m. in a battle of nationally-ranked Ohio Athletic Conference foes.
The 'Berg (15-1, 5-1) enters the game ranked 18th in the nation and tied for second in the Great Lakes Region with Earlham. Otterbein is also 15-1 and 6-0 in the conference. They are ranked seventh in the country and first in the region.
The contest will feature the OAC's top performer in every category, except saves.
Heidelberg has one of the nation's highest-scoring offenses with a 3.31 goals per game average. Sophomores Ryan Wise (Worthington Kilbourne), Adam Neill (Monroe Lemon-Monroe), Brad Wolf (Mansfield St. Pete's) and first-year performer Josh Longdon (Bay Village) lead the charge. Wise is tops in the OAC in points per game with 2.69 and goals per game at 1.19 and is eighth in assists with 0.31. Neill is third in the OAC in points per game with 2.00 and goals at 0.88. Wolf is ninth in goals per game at 0.50 and 10th in points per game at 1.13.
Otterbein is second in the OAC with 2.75 goals per game. Michael Mundy leads the Cardinals with 17 goals and four assists while Stephen Wilson has eight goals and seven assists. Rodney Borah leads the OAC with eight assists while Wilson's seven assists are good for second in the conference.
The Cardinals turn up the heat on defense, leading the OAC with 0.36 goals allowed per game. They have shut out 11 of 16 opponents with Jeff Schmid ranked third in the nation in goals against average and tops in the OAC with 0.42.
The 'Berg is second in the OAC in defense with 0.62 and have scored eight shutouts on the year. Bucky Harrison (Lexington) and Ryan Mack (Elyria Catholic) are ranked second and third in the OAC with 0.57 and 0.69 averages respectively.
The winner of today's match will be top seed for the OAC playoffs which begin next week. Heidelberg has never been seeded higher than third in its past five trips. This is the sixth time in seven years that they have been assured on a trip to the OAC Tournament. The Cardinals will be making their third straight trip to the conference playoffs.