15.50

1. 15.50 Average goals per game for the women’s lacrosse team in 2008. The Mules led the Centennial Conference and ranked 15th in Division III in scoring offense, shattering the previous school record of 13.87 goals per game. Five Mules scored at least 30 goals, led by Ruth Morrongiello with 41. The high-octane offense, which scored 20 goals three times and set a school record with 16 assists in a game vs. Haverford, led Muhlenberg to a school-record 11 wins and the program’s first-ever CC playoff berth. A year after going 2-7 in the CC, the Mules were 5-4 in league play to earn the fifth seed in the CC playoffs. The scoring dropped a bit in 2009 (to 14.21 goals per game), but the team improved to 6-3 in the CC, earning the third seed in the playoffs, and received votes in the national Division III poll for the first time ever.

2. 15 Career goals scored by soccer standout Billy Dalton (2005-08). Dalton also had 12 assists, leading Muhlenberg in scoring as a junior and senior. The central midfielder was named to the All-Centennial Conference team three times and the All-Mid Atlantic Region team once. Dalton was one of nine Mules in the decade to be named a team captain three straight years. Jenn Risley (women’s basketball, 2000-02) was another three-year captain, earning All-CC honors two of those years. Brad Scheller (men’s tennis, 2001-03) was a first-team All-CC doubles player. The other three-year captains were Bill Snow (men’s golf, 2007-09), John Westendorf (men’s lacrosse, 2003-05), Jesse Kirschenbaum (men’s tennis, 2006-08), Mackenzie Parke (women’s tennis, 2002-04), Julie Lauro (volleyball, 2003-05) and Bill Holsinger (wrestling, 2000-02).

3. 14-6 Score of two important wins for the men’s lacrosse team. After being discontinued in 1980, men’s lacrosse was reinstated as a varsity sport in 2003. In their first game back, the Mules defeated Centenary, 14-6, as John Westendorf (right) scored seven goals. The fledgling program found the sledding a little tougher in the Centennial Conference. The Mules went 1-25 in their first 26 CC games, with the lone win coming against Ursinus, which also started its program in 2003. In 2006, Muhlenberg scored its first win against an established CC team, defeating Franklin & Marshall by the same 14-6 score. Galen Marsh (left) scored four goals, including three in the Mules’ 8-0 run to open the game.

4. 13-0 Start for the women’s basketball team in 2001-02. In Muhlenberg College athletics history, only the 1990 field hockey team (14-0) got off to a better start. The most impressive of the 13 wins was a 79-66 defeat of Scranton, at the time ranked ninth in Division III. The win propelled the Mules to a No. 8 national ranking, which remains the highest in program history. Muhlenberg ended the season 21-4, setting a school record for wins (since broken). Susan Marchiano led the team in points (15.0) and rebounds (9.2) per game as well as field-goal percentage (.574), steals and blocked shots.

5. 12-6¼ School- and Centennial Conference-record height in the pole vault for Alex Faust, the women’s field athlete of the decade. Faust, currently a senior, won the pole vault at the CC Championships both indoors and outdoors each of her first three years, adding more than two feet to the school records. Her best height came outdoors at the 2009 Swarthmore Last Chance Meet. In Faust’s next competition, she finished seventh at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors. Faust has also won three gold medals at the CC Championships in the 400 meters and holds school records in the 55 (indoors), the 200 (both) and the 400 (both). She was named Most Outstanding Performer for field events at the 2007 CC indoor meet.

6. 12-for-12 Shooting performance by Jeff Stewart in the second game of his career, against Elms in the 2003 Scotty Wood Tournament. He tied the school record for shooting accuracy in a game, set in 1984-85. Stewart finished his three-year career ninth on the Mules’ all-time scoring list with 1,345 points. His career scoring average of 18.42 points per game is just a hair shy of the school record of 18.43. Stewart earned All-Centennial Conference honors all three years, making the first team in 2005-06, when he led the league in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

7. 11 Wins without a loss against Centennial Conference opponents for the men’s soccer team in 2003. After going a perfect 9-0 in the regular season, the Mules defeated Gettysburg and Johns Hopkins in the CC playoffs to win their fourth CC title. Since the CC started a championship tournament in 2001, Muhlenberg is the only team to go 11-0, outscoring all opponents, en route to the title.* The Mules went on to defeat Gordon in a shootout in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 6 Stevens Tech in the second round. They finished the year with a record of 17-5-1 (the most wins for the program since 1994) and were ranked as high as 16th in Division III. * Technically, Johns Hopkins matched the Mules’ 11-0 record in 2002. The Blue Jays won both of their tournament matches on penalty kicks, and in 2002 only shootout wins went in the books as wins rather than ties. Had it been any other year, Hopkins’ record vs. CC opponents would have been 9-0-2.

8. 10:01.59,10:00.70 School-record times in the distance medley relay for men’s indoor track. In 2003, the DMR team of Will Elson, Ben Phillips, Josh Cohen and Brian Cash (top) ran 10:01.59, the fastest time in Division III that year. That record was considered unbreakable, but in 2009 the foursome of Peter Rice, Stuart Udis, David Chorney and Bobby Torphy (bottom) did even better. Both relay teams earned All-America honors by placing at the NCAA Championships, the 2003 team fifth and the 2009 quartet fourth.

9. 9 Uniform number worn by Tara DeMarzo, the softball player who was critically injured in a car accident in November 2005. The entire campus community, particularly the athletes, mobilized in support of their fellow student, participating in a series of fundraisers that brought in thousands of dollars. The DeMarzo family was just one of many beneficiaries of the Mules’ compassion during the decade. Other community service events included a charity volleyball match to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina, the wrestling team’s “Take Down Cancer” program, National Girls and Women in Sports Day, the “Dream to Read” program, charity 5Ks and marathons run by the baseball and lacrosse teams, the volleyball team’s “Digging for a Cure,” the men’s soccer annual clinic for special needs youths and many, many more.

10. 9-8 Score of the men’s lacrosse “playoff” win at Ursinus in 2008. It wasn’t officially a playoff game – it was the last game of the regular season – but the winner got to advance to the Centennial Conference playoffs and the loser had its season end. For Muhlenberg, every CC game was like a playoff game after an 0-3 start in the league. With no margin for error, the Mules reeled off an eight-game winning streak, capped by the 9-8 victory against Ursinus. Mike Brown broke a 7-7 tie midway through the fourth quarter to put Muhlenberg ahead to stay and in the playoffs three years after going 0-8 in the CC. Although the Mules lost their first official playoff game, they finished the season 10-5 and received votes in the national poll for the first time in program history.

11. 8 All-Centennial Conference nods (seven first team) in the decade for Joshua Carter, the co-male athlete of the decade. In football, Carter made the All-CC first team as a wide receiver and as a kick returner in both 2000 and 2001. In baseball, he made the All-CC first team as an outfielder in 2001 and 2002 and as a pitcher in 2002 as well as the second team as an outfielder in 2000. He was CC player of the year in football in 2000 and in baseball in 2002. Carter was a three-time All-America kick returner in football, setting a Division III record for career yards on punt returns and the school record for career receiving yards and all-purpose yards. He hit .348 in baseball, setting school records for career runs, hits, doubles and stolen bases. The baseball player of the decade also won 15 games on the mound and tossed what is believed to be the only no-hitter in program history at Western Maryland in 2002.

12. 8-0 Final score of the infamous “Mud Bowl” football game at Moravian in the last game of the 2002 regular season. The pictures pretty much tell the story, except that it was very cold too. You don’t get this effect on artificial surfaces. In 2008, the Mules did not play any of their 11 games on grass. The win wrapped up a 9-1 regular season for the Mules, who didn’t need help from the weather to stop the other team’s offense: this was their third shutout in four weeks. The offense, which came in averaging 39.4 points per game, was slowed down quite a bit but did enough to get the “W.”

13. 7 Innings in the two no-hitters by Muhlenberg pitchers in the decade. The baseball no-hitter was by Joshua Carter (slide 8) in the first game of a doubleheader at Western Maryland in 2002. Carter walked five and struck out eight, one with the bases loaded in the fifth. The Mules won 4-0. Alyssa Bruckner pitched the softball team’s first no-hitter since 1990 at home against Dickinson in 2009, in the second game of a twinbill. She walked one and struck out five, including the last two batters of the game with runners on second and third and the Mules leading 3-0. Bruckner allowed only one ball to be hit out of the infield and did not let a runner past first base until the seventh inning.

14. 6 Things the football team needed to happen on the last day of the 2004 regular season to make the NCAA Tournament. They all did. Muhlenberg defeated Moravian, 28-14, and got Centennial Conference wins by Johns Hopkins (vs. McDaniel), Dickinson (vs. Ursinus) and Franklin & Marshall (vs. Gettysburg). That left the CC with an unprecedented five-way tie for first place. To win the complicated strength-of-schedule tiebreaker, Muhlenberg also needed a win by Union (vs. Rensselaer) and a loss by Rochester (vs. Hobart). The favorable outcomes put into the NCAAs a Mule squad that led Division III in total defense, allowing 195.5 yards per game, and ranked in the top five in scoring defense, rushing defense and pass efficiency defense. Leading the defense that was without peer was linebacker Ryan Peer, who made a team-leading 71 tackles and was named CC defensive player of the year.

15. 5 Trips to the NCAA Championships for David Chorney, tying the College record for all athletes set by Tyler Cathey (1999-2002, wrestling and football). Chorney was part of the cross country team that competed in the NCAAs in 2006 and qualified as an individual in 2007 and 2008. He was a member of the distance medley relay team that earned All-America honors at the 2009 national indoor track and field meet and qualified outdoors later that year in the steeplechase. Chorney was named Most Outstanding Performer for track events at the 2009 Centennial Conference Indoor Championships after winning gold medals in the mile and the DMR. He graduated in 2009 with 10 school records in track and field, six individually and four with relay teams.

16. 5½ School- and Centennial Conference-record number of sacks by Dan McCall in a 2003 game at Ursinus. He tied another CC record with six tackles for loss in the game. McCall set a school record with 10½ sacks that season and finished his career with a school-record 22½. He was named CC defensive player of the year and a first-team All-American by Football Gazette in his senior year of 2005, when he led the conference in sacks (7½) and tackles for loss (14½) and tied a school record with four fumble recoveries, two of which he returned for touchdowns. McCall is one of a select group of players voted to the All-CC first team three times, despite changing positions from defensive end to linebacker as a senior. He capped his career by making two tackles and recovering a fumble for Team USA at the 2005 Aztec Bowl in Mexico.

17. 4 Career wins in the NCAA Tournament for Amy Schmidt (2003-06), the women’s tennis player of the decade. Invited to the NCAAs in both 2005 and 2006, she won one match the first time and three the second, reaching the national semifinals before losing to the eventual national champion. Schmidt earned All-America honors both years. Schmidt’s overall career record was 114-26, including a remarkable 65-7 singles record. She was a two-time Centennial Conference player of the year and seven- time All-CC selection. Schmidt also was a two-time All-CC midfielder in soccer. She is the female athlete of the decade.

18. 3 Times on the All-Centennial Conference first team for Lauren Boyle (2006-09), the women’s basketball player of the decade. Boyle was the first Muhlenberg player and one of just eight in the first 16 years of the CC to be voted to the first team three years. She is one of three in CC history with 1,500 points, 400 rebounds and 250 assists in a career. The first two-time All-American in program history, Boyle finished her career second on the Mules’ all-time list with 1,505 points. She averaged 14.2 points in 13 career postseason games and led the team to three CC championships in her four seasons.

19. 2 National ranking for the football team for one week in 2008, the highest Division III ranking ever for any Mule team in any sport. The Mules were 7-0 and had won 18 consecutive regular-season games at the time of their ranking. They finished the year 9-2 and ranked 20th after winning their second consecutive outright Centennial Conference championship. Linebacker Matt Rathbun was one of the stars of the team, leading the CC with 16½ tackles for loss and setting a school record with 164 yards on interception returns. He was named CC defensive player of the year and a third-team All-American.

20. 1 National ranking early in the 2005-06 season for Matt Loesch, the wrestler of the decade. Loesch was ranked fourth in the preseason poll and moved up to the top spot without competing: Of the three wrestlers ranked ahead of him, one changed weight classes, another was ineligible and the third was upset. Loesch got a late start because he was with the football team in the fall. Once he got on the mat, Loesch proved he was one of the best in Division III. He earned All-America honors three times at 197, finishing fourth in 2005 and sixth in 2006 and 2007 at the NCAA Championships. His fourth-place finish is the highest ever by a Mule wrestler. A four-time Centennial Conference champion, Loesch finished his career with a 90-16 record, including a 40-0 mark against CC foes.

21. 0 Losses in “perfect seasons” for 2009 women’s basketball and 2007 football, the women’s and men’steams of the decade. The basketball team became the first in Centennial Conference history to go undefeated in the CC regular season (18-0) and postseason (2-0). The Mules won their third CC title, reached the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever and ended with a record of 26-4. The football team became the first in the 106-year-history of the sport at Muhlenberg to have a perfect regular season. The Mules won their first outright CC championship and advanced to the Round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament. They wound up with a record of 11-1 and were ranked eighth in the final Division III poll.

22. Whew! There it is … the Muhlenberg Athletics Decade in Review. During the course of compiling the information, several things became apparent: 1. Uniform styles and colors changed quite a bit during the last 10 years. 2. Digital photos are much easier to deal with than the prints and negatives we were dealing with at the start of the decade. 3. Muhlenberg Athletics had an outstanding decade full of notable individual and team accomplishments. Every effort was made to be as all-inclusive as possible, but still there were some achievements and tremendous athletes left out. Everyone associated with Muhlenberg Athletics, whether they be fans, alumni, parents, coaches, support staff or, most importantly, student-athletes, can take a great deal of pride in the success of the Mule programs. 4. Those muddy football uniforms might never come clean. What will the next decade hold? Only one thing is certain: if it happens in Mule athletics in the “tens,” you can read about it here on the Mule Web site. Special thanks to Bill Johnson, who was with Muhlenberg the entire decade and took many of the great photos that were used in the slide shows.