The Red Devils had a solid 3-0 victory on Saturday, Sept. 14 against Alvernia University under the lights at Miller Field. As of September 17, Dickinson was rankied #11 in the NSCAA coaches’ poll national rankings for Division III. With his efforts Saturday night, Derek Kachadurian ’14 was named Centennial Conference Men’s Soccer Player of the Week.

Following Saturday’s win, the Red Devils took on #1 nationally ranked Messiah on Tuesday, Sept. 10 in another night game at Miller Field. Messiah jumped out ahead early with a goal in the sixth minute, led 2-0 at halftime, and held on to win 3-1. Braeden Kelly ’16 assisted Alfred Hylton-Dei ’16 for Dickinson’s score in the sixty-seventh minute to bring the score to 3-1.

Reed Milbrath ’15 made five saves in goal but was far more active than the save stat shows. Messiah had ten corner kicks (and limited the Red Devils to zero) and outshot Dickinson 23-11. Kachadurian led Dickinson with four shots, including two on goal. Javier Mena ’14, Jonathan Harper ’16, and Hyton-Dei had Dickinson’s other shots on goal for a team total of five.

This marks the fifth straight season that Messiah has handed Dickinson their first loss. Messiah has won four of the last five and nine of the last thirteen national championships and are the best team that Dickinson will face all season. Messiah is 33-0-0 all-time against Dickinson and is now 7-0 on the season.

Against Alvernia, Javier Mena was quick to put the Red Devils on the board in the fifth minute after an assist from Kachadurian, who is currently the conference leader in assists with six. He also has three goals for a total of fifteen points in only six game. On the conference assists leaderboard, Mena is not far behind at third and recored his nineteenth career assist, making him the top three in Dickinson men’s soccer history.

Later in the first half, Drew Carneal ’15 capitalized off of yet another assist from Kachadurian. The players were taking advantage of the open opportunities and doing a nice job of working the ball up the field. They controlled the majority of play and outshot the Crusaders 16-6. The third goal came in the beginning of the second half from a skilled play from Kachadurian to Isaac Pitkow ’16, who dribbled the ball into the net for the third and final goal of the game.

Goaltender Reed Milbrath had five saves to keep the Crusaders off the board. Ryan Bouseman ’16 played an outstanding defensive game and was able to continuously gain possession in the defensive end.

“We just focused on playing our style of soccer. We got an early lead, and we just then focused on moving the ball around and used our creativity up-top to score goals,” said forward Dan Gaj ’14. He continued to explain that although being ranked [eleventh] is an honor, it also makes Dickinson a target. “We need to work hard every game to make sure an upset doesn’t occur,” said Gaj.
The Red Devils are currently 5-1 this season. On Saturday, Sept. 21, they face their first Centennial Conference competitors of the season when they travel to Ursinus for a 4 p.m. game.

Dickinson’s next home game will be over Homecoming Weekend on Saturday, Sept. 28 against Johns Hopkins.

Last season, Dickinson defeated Urisnus 3-1 on Oct. 20 in what was Head Coach Brian Redding’s 100th career win. Dickinson returns six of the eleven starters from the 2012 game against the Bears. Ursinus is 3-4 thus far, but they went 1-8 in conference play a season ago and finish in last place.

This is the beginning of a stretch where nine of the last eleven games will be against Centennial Conference opponents, which will determine playoff seeding.

With their first loss, Dickinson joins three other Centennial schools with one loss on their overall record. McDaniel, Franklin & Marshall, and Swarthmore have all maintained their undefeated records. As of Sept. 17, Dickinson is the lone Centennial school in the top 25 of the NSCAA coaches’ poll for Division III national rankings.