The Muhlenberg men's soccer team had an outstanding season come to an end with a 2-0 loss to Stevens in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Mules (12-4-6), who won three games this season on goals in the waning minutes, had the tables turned on them, as the Ducks (12-3-4) broke a scoreless deadlock in the 85th minute and added an insurance goal just 2:20 later. They will play Amherst, a 3-1 winner against Neumann, in the second round.

After Stevens took five shots, one of which hit the crossbar, in the first 10 minutes, the tied of the game shifted to the Mules, who finished with a 17-10 edge in shots. Muhlenberg's best chance at scoring came in the 58th minute when a shot by freshman Saleem Diakite was saved off the line. 

Stevens took only one shot in the first 38 minutes of the second half before putting in two in the final seven.

"We went through so much adversity this year, just the fact that we made the NCAA Tournament is really a testament to our hard work. We had five starters out at one point and we just kept fighting," said senior co-captain Kevin Adams. "We fought all the way to the last whistle and I'm really proud of all the guys."

"These guys came in when the program was down a little bit," said head coach Sean Topping of Adams and fellow senior co-captain Evan Schlotterbeck. "Making three Centennial Conference championships in a row is a testament to these guys and how hard they have worked to bring the program back up to one of the top programs in the Centennial Conference and the country, to get the at-large bid. Their leadership has been instrumental in our being successful."

pictured above: senior Jake Mendelson