Emory Men’s Soccer to Open 2010 at Home on Wednesday

The Emory University men’s soccer team will kick off its 2010 campaign on Wednesday, September 1^st, hosting Covenant College at the Woodruff Physical Education Center at 7:30 PM.

Coverage:
Live statistics will be available at no cost for Wednesday’s game.  Go to http://emoryathletics.com/information/LiveStats and click on the ‘Men’s Soccer’ link to gain access.

Emory University Eagles
The Eagles finished the 2009 campaign with a 12-4-2 record, including a fifth-place finish in the University Athletic Association (UAA) with a 2-3-2 in-conference record.  The Eagles are returning all-South Region second team and all-UAA first team midfielder Jake Graetz, in addition to all-UAA second team member Nathan McKeever and honorable mentions Christopher Howie and Zach Samuels.  Emory is led by head coach Sonny Travis, who has compiled a 44-9-3 record during his three seasons as the Eagles’ helm.

Covenant College
The Scots finished their 2009 season with a 13-6-2 record, including victories in five of their last six contests.  Covenant, which is currently transitioning to an NCAA Division III program, is returning senior and former NCCAA All-American Julian Allgeier, who scored 18 goals and added seven assists in 2009.  The Scots are led by head coach Nathan Pifer.

Matchup History
This will be the 14^th matchup all time between the two teams, including the third meeting since 1983.  Emory holds a 5-1-7 advantage over Covenant, including a 3-0 win in 2008 and a 1-0 win last season.  Senior Michael Scannapieco scored the only goal in last year’s game, while junior Trenton Spindler made eight saves in goal, en route to the shutout win.  Senior Christopher Howie scored one of the Emory goals during the 2008 contest.

Emory Notes
The Eagles were picked to finish second in the UAA, according to the preseason conference coaches’ poll… Emory is 149-37-7 (good for a .790 winning percentage) during the month of September since 1985, and 56-2-0 (a .966 winning percentage) in September since 2003… The Eagles will enter the season with eight-straight double-digit winning seasons, one short of the program’s best streak (1984-92)… Emory is undefeated in 17 of its last 18 home games, going 14-1-3 during that stretch.