The Muhlenberg men's soccer team advanced to the semifinals of the Centennial Conference playoffs with a 2-1 home win against Dickinson.
The third-seeded Mules (12-3-2) will travel to second-seeded Franklin & Marshall on Friday for a rematch of last year's semifinal, won by Muhlenberg. In the other semifinal, fourth-seeded Johns Hopkins, a 4-0 winner against Swarthmore, plays at top-seeded Washington College.
If both road teams win in the semifinals, the championship game would be at Muhlenberg on Sunday.
All three goals came in a span of a little more than five minutes late in the second half. With 13:47 remaining in regulation, a cross by senior
Zack Mikuta was deflected into the back of the net by a Red Devil back for an own goal.
The Mules extended their lead to 2-0 less than three minutes later when senior
Andrew Gaines headed in an endline cross from senior
Caleb Herring for his first goal of the season. Gaines
(pictured above) also figured prominently in Muhlenberg's first-round win last year, assisting on the lone goal in a 1-0 win at Gettysburg.
Dickinson (9-7-2) cut the deficit in half a few minutes later by putting in a rebound, but the Mule defense did not allow a shot the rest of the way.
The win was the first by the Mules in a home CC playoff game in 20 years, since the 2003 squad captured the CC title on Varsity Field.
Muhlenberg is 10-1-2 in the last four postseasons.
