Battling the 14th toughest schedule in the nation, the Emory University Men's Soccer team completed the 2018 season with a 9-7-2 overall record, the 18th consecutive season with a winning record.
The campaign was a tale of two seasons as the Eagles raced out to an 8-0 start, the ninth best start in program history, before faltering down the stretch. During the eight-game winning streak, the Eagles reached the No.-3 spot in the D3Soccer.com national poll, the highest ranking for the team since the poll's inception in 2009, and were as high as sixth in the United Soccer Coaches' top-25, the highest position for the program since 2014.
Emory opened the season with a pair of tournament victories, winning its second straight Sonny Carter Invitational before taking home the Ciallella Classic crown. During the Sonny Carter Invitational, the Eagles collected perhaps their most impressive win of the season, knocking off 14th-ranked Washington & Lee in an instant classic at the Woodruff PE Center. Trailing 3-1 in the second half, Emory stormed back to take the lead at 4-3 before eventually winning the match and tournament on senior Moustafa Khattab's overtime game-winner. The goal was one of two game-winners for Khattab at the Invitational as he was named tournament MVP and was one of five Eagles tabbed to the All-Invitational Team.
The following weekend, the Eagles secured back-to-back one goal victories against Garden State-foes Rowan and Rutgers-Camden to claim the Ciallella Classic. Junior Jun Tsuru was tabbed as the Offensive MVP of the Classic after assisting on both game-winning goals while senior Tyler Santee earned Defensive MVP honors as the team surrendered one goal across the two contests.
The Eagles' winning streak culminated with four consecutive dominating performances, outscoring Millsaps, SUNY-Maritime, Birmingham-Southern and Sewanee by a combined total of 14-0. The final win of the streak pushed Emory's unbeaten streak dating back to the end of the 2017 season to 13 matches, which tied for the fourth longest streak in team history.
Tsuru matched the second longest consecutive scoring streak for an Eagle as he helped the team build its 8-0 start. During his nine-game stretch with at least one point, Tsuru notched five goals and seven assists for 17 points, all figures setting new career-highs for the Roswell, GA native. At the conclusion of the season, he was honored for his play both on the field and in the classroom as he was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Team.
In addition to Tsuru, three other members of the squad collected postseason honors as junior William Jones earned All-University Athletic Association Second Team acclaim while Khattab and Santee were named as All-UAA Honorable Mentions. Khattab also earned recognition from the United Soccer Coaches as he was named to his second straight South Atlantic All-Region team, earning a berth on the Third Team. Khattab led the Eagles in all three offensive categories, finishing with six goals and a career-high seven assists for 19 points.
Behind the Eagles' double-digit scorers in Khattab and Tsuru, Emory saw seven players net two or more goals on the year with sophomore defender Josh Berman ranking third on the team with three tallies. Junior Keegan McCombie compiled two goals and three assists for seven points with senior Aidan Datené contributing two goals and one assist for five points.
Defensively, sophomore Cole Gallagher stopped a personal-best 55 shots to give him a .764 save percentage while posting a 1.08 goals-against average and finishing 94th in Division III with five shutouts. The Eagles' backline as a unit, anchored by starters Berman, Santee, sophomores Max Mehlman and Declan Cetta, compiled seven clean sheets and limited opposing teams to averages of 11.4 shots and 4.8 shots on goal per game.
The Eagles earned the following honors during the 2018 season:
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United Soccer Coaches South Atlantic All-Region |
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Third Team |
Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Toronto French School) |
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All-University Athletic Association (UAA) |
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Asheville, NC (Asheville) |
Second Team |
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Toronto French School) |
Honorable Mention |
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Huntersville, NC (Hopewell) |
Honorable Mention |
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CoSIDA Academic All-District |
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Roswell, GA (Milton) |
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Sonny Carter Invitational All-Tournament MVP |
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Toronto French School) |
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Sonny Carter Invitational All-Tournament Team |
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Toronto French School) |
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Huntersville, NC (Hopewell) |
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Roswell, GA (Milton) |
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Paradise Valley, AZ (Chaparral) |
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Denver, CO (Kent Denver School) |
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Ciallella Classic All-Tournament Team |
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Offensive MVP |
Roswell, GA (Milton) |
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Defensive MVP |
Huntersville, NC (Hopewell) |
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Toronto French School) |
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Cole Gallgher |
Louisville, KY (Kentucky Country Day School) |
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University Athletic Association Athletes of the Week |
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada (Toronto French School) |
Sept. 4 |
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Huntersville, NC (Hopewell) |
Sept. 11 |
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2018 Emory team leaders:
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Goals |
6 |
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Assists |
7 |
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Points |
19 |
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Game Winning Goals |
3 |
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Shots |
39 |
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Shots on Goal |
18 |
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Wins |
9 |
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Saves |
55 |
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Shutouts |
5 |
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Goals Against Average |
1.08 |
Emory in the final NCAA Division III statistical rankings (out of 417 ranked teams):
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Category |
Rank |
Total |
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Scoring Offense |
184th |
1.67 |
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Total Goals |
175th |
30 |
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Team Goals Against Average |
125th |
1.07 |
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Shutout Percentage |
107th |
0.389 |
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Won-Lost-Tied Percentage |
174th |
.556 |
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Assists Per Game |
144th |
1.33 |
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Saves Per Game |
291st |
3.72 |
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Points Per Game |
171st |
4.67 |
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Save Percentage |
151st |
0.77 |
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Total Assists |
150th |
24 |
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Total Points |
173rd |
84 |
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Shots Per Game |
141st |
14.94 |
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Shots on Goal |
226th |
6.11 |
Eagles in the final NCAA Division III individual statistical rankings (top-200 players ranked):
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Shutouts |
94th |
5 |
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Assists Per Game |
97th |
0.39 |
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Total Assists |
80th |
7 |
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Goals Against Average |
132nd |
1.08 |
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Save Percentage |
176th |
0.764 |
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Game-Winning Goals |
116th
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3 |
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Goalie Minutes Played |
174th |
1421:08 |