THIS WEEK: No. 19-ranked Plattsburgh State travels to play No. 8 Rochester in the second round of the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday at Fauver Stadium. The Cardinals – who are on an 11-game unbeaten streak going 6-0-5 since their last loss on Oct. 2 – own a 13-2-6 record. The Yellowjackets currently stand at 12-1-3 overall, including a 7-0 mark at home. Ticket prices range from $2-6 and free for children under 2. For more ticket information, call Yellowjackets Athletics at (585) 275-4301 or go to the website http://www.rochester.edu/athletics/index.php

TEAM RECORDS: How the Cardinals have fared in 2009…
Overall: 13-2-6 (.762)
Conference: 7-1-1 (.833)/1st Place in SUNYAC
Home: 7-1-3 (.773)
Away: 6-0-2 (.875)
Neutral: 0-1-1 (.250)
Overtime: 1-1-6 (.500)
Postseason: 1-0-2 (1.000)
Leading/Trailing/Tied at Halftime: 6-0-1/1-2-1/6-0-4
Scoring the First Goal: 10-0-2 (note: three scoreless ties)
Opponent Scoring First: 3-2-1 (note: three scoreless ties)
Longest Winning Streak: 6, from Sept. 9 to Sept. 26
Longest Non-Winning Streak: 2, done three times

LAST TIME OUT: Host Plattsburgh and Bowdoin battled to a scoreless tie in double overtime in Thursday’s NCAA tournament first round action before the Cardinals took the penalty-kick shootout, 6-5, to advance. Freshman Mike Payne scored the shootout-clinching goal in the seventh round, set up by goalie Andy Heighington’s kick-save on the Polar Bears’ final attempt off the foot of Eddie Jones.

CARDINALS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: This signals the program’s ninth appearance in the Big Dance…
Year Round Opponent Score
1981 First at St. Lawrence L, 2-3 (ot)
1992 First at Cortland T, 1-1 (2ot)
Second vs. Rochester Tech L, 1-2 (4ot)
1993 First vs. Clarkson T, 1-1 (2ot)
1994 First vs. Albany (N.Y.) W, 2-0
Second vs. Rochester Tech L, 1-2
1998 Reg. Semis at St. Lawrence T, 1-1 (2ot)
1999 Reg. Semis vs. Ithaca W, 2-0
Reg. Finals at St. Lawrence L, 1-4
2000 Reg. Semis vs. Hamilton T, 1-1 (2ot)
2005 Second BROCKPORT W, 5-2
Reg. Semis W. NEW ENGLAND W, 1-0
Reg. Finals WILLIAMS W, 1-0
Semifinals vs. Messiah L, 0-4
2009 First BOWDOIN T, 0-0 (2ot)
Second at Rochester Sun@1 p.m.

HOW THEY GOT HERE: Plattsburgh is an at-large entry, receiving one of the 17 Pool C berths allotted to schools who didn’t win their conference championship. Rochester earned a NCAA first-round bye after sharing the University Athletic Association championship with Carnegie Mellon and Chicago, but earned the conference’s automatic qualifier through tie-breakers. The Cardinals and Brockport tied 0-0 before the Golden Eagles earned the SUNYAC’s automatic NCAA bid via a penalty-kick shootout, 11-10.

TALE OF THE TAPE: A brief look at how the teams compare statistically (per game averages) in 2009:
GF GA SM Shots Corners Saves ShO%
Cards 1.90 0.71 +25 14.9 6.67 2.62 .476
UR 1.62 0.56 +17 16.5 7.81 2.88 .563

ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY: Sunday is the first time the in-state schools have met in men’s soccer since the 2004 campaign. Rochester leads 4-1 (according to available files), with all games occurring during the postseason. Here’s a game-by-game look at the series…
Year Tournament Score
1975 ECAC N.Y. Upstate Semifinals Plattsburgh, 4-2
2001 ECAC N.Y. Upstate Finals Rochester, 3-1
2002 ECAC N.Y. Upstate Finals Rochester, 3-0
2003 ECAC N.Y. Upstate Semifinals Rochester, 3-1
2004 ECAC N.Y. Upstate Finals Rochester, 2-0

HEAD COACH CHRIS WATERBURY: The SUNY Cortland ’81 graduate is in his 25th season on the Plattsburgh sideline, compiling a school record of 347-105-48 (.742) and a 28-year career ledger of 371-123-51 (.728). The winningest coach in school history is a 6-time SUNYAC Coach of the Year, piloting eight NCAA teams.

500 MILESTONE: Thursday’s game with Bowdoin marked the 500th in Chris Waterbury’s coaching career at Plattsburgh. The Cardinals have 499 wins since the program was founded in 1950.

GOAL KICKS: Plattsburgh is 5-5-5 in nine NCAA tournaments, including 5-4-5 in eight trips during the Waterbury coaching tenure…Chris Taylor is two assists shy of tying Malcolm Gatherer’s single-season school record of 17, set in 1999…defender Bart Misiak is the 2009 SUNYAC Player of the Year and a three-time all-conference choice…the Cardinals are the winningest New York-based collegiate program, at any NCAA level, since 1990 (308-65-37; .796)…Plattsburgh debuted in the NSCAA coaches’ poll at No. 22 on Oct. 27 and was T-20th last week to extend 17-year streak in the national rankings.

POSTSEASON HONORS: Plattsburgh had the second-most players place on the All-SUNYAC Team, including junior midfielder Chris Taylor (1st), junior backs John LoGuirato (1st), Bart Misiak (1st), senior midfielder David Hickman (2nd) and senior back Mike Pinamonti (3rd). Hickman, LoGuirato and Pinamonti also were selected to the conference all-tournament team. Hickman joined Taylor on the all-tournament team at Saint Joseph’s—Long Island.

MORE HONORS: Anis Makaren (Sept. 14) and Chris Taylor (Sept. 21) earned SUNYAC Player of the Week honors in back to back weeks. In addition, Taylor was chosen the co-offensive player of the week by ECAC Upstate on Sept. 22.

WORKING OVERTIME: The Cardinals this season have played in eight contests that went past regulation, breaking the school record of six in 1999 when the team went 3-2-1 in overtime games. The NCAA Division III benchmark is nine, set by the 1996 Allegheny squad.

TEAM LEADERS: Plattsburgh players to watch for…
Goals – Anis Makaren, 8; Pat Shaughnessy, 7
Assists – Chris Taylor, 15; Gurtej Dhillon, Shaughnessy, 6
Points – Taylor, 23; Shaughnessy, 20; Makaren, 18
Shots – Taylor, Shaughnessy, 45; Makaren, 31
Shots on Goal – Shaughnessy, 26; Taylor, 23; Makaren, 22
Game Winners – Taylor, Shaughnessy, Makaren, Joe Bogart, 2
Saves – Andy Heighington, 53
Goalie Minutes Played – Heighington, 1913:43
Goals-Against Average – Heighington, 0.61 (13 goals allowed)
Shutouts – Heighington, 9

CARDINAL RECORD BOOK: Watching current Cardinals climb up the school’s record book…
Single-Season Assists
1. 17, Malcolm Gatherer, 1999
2. 15, Chris Taylor, 2009
3. 13, Mark Misiak, 2006
4. 12, Andrew Gatherer, 1994
5. 11, Nick Goddard, 1975
(tie) 11, Tom Bedinotti, 1995

Career Assists
1. 32, Rich King, 1993-96
2. 30, Jason Sousa, 2002-05
3. 29, Chris Gondek, 1995-98
4. 28, Mark Misiak, 2003-06
(tie) 28, Malcolm Gatherer, 1996-99
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Note: Chris Taylor has 25 assists since 2007

Single-Season Shutouts
1. 16, John San Filippo, 2007
2. 12, Eric Rienecker, 1994
3. 11, Chris Balducci, 1992
4. 10, John San Filippo, 2008
(tie) 10, Zach Manning, 2005
6. 9, Andy Heighington, 2009

Single-Season Goalkeeper Victories
1. 21, Zach Manning, 2005
2. 16, Eric Rienecker, 1994
3. 15, Chris Balducci, 1992
(tie) 15, Andrew Cumbo, 1996
5. 14, Recorded three times
8. 13, Andy Heighington, 2009

2009 Plattsburgh State Results (with attendance)
September
1 NORWICH W, 2-0 275
5 vs Merchant Marine # L, 1-2 100
6 vs St. Joseph's-Maine # (S in PKs, 2-4) T, 2-2 (2ot) 50
9 at Clarkson W, 3-1 190
12 at St. John Fisher W, 2-1 175
16 at Castleton State W, 3-1 310
19 SKIDMORE W, 3-2 351
25 at Brockport * W, 4-1 250
26 at Geneseo * W,1-0 (2ot) 350

October
2 OSWEGO * L, 1-2 (2ot) 172
3 CORTLAND * W, 2-1 201
9 at Oneonta * T, 0-0 (2ot) 127
10 at New Paltz * W, 3-0 181
16 BUFFALO STATE * W, 2-0 179
17 FREDONIA W, 3-0 253
24 POTSDAM W, 5-0 129
20 UNION (N.Y.) T, 1-1 (2ot) 112
28 at St. Lawrence T, 1-1 (2ot) 22

November
6 ONEONTA $ W, 1-0 379
7 BROCKPORT $ (B in PKs, 10-11) T, 0-0 (2ot) 467
12 BOWDOIN ! (P in PKs, 6-5) T, 0-0 (2ot) 500
15 at Rochester Sunday at 1 p.m.

# St. Joseph’s-Long Island Tournament (Coram, N.Y.)
* State University of New York Athletic Conference game
$ SUNYAC Tournament (Semifinals, Finals)
! NCAA Division III Tournament First Round
Home games denoted in bold

2009 SUNYAC Men’s Soccer
Standings thru Nov. 14
SUNYAC Only Overall
W-L-T PCT GF GA W-L-T PCT GF GA
1. Plattsburgh 7-1-1 .833 21 4 13-2-6 .762 40 15
2. Brockport 7-2-0 .778 14 8 10-5-4 .632 27 15
3. Geneseo 5-3-1 .611 13 8 9-7-2 .556 24 19
(tie) Oneonta 5-3-1 .611 12 7 12-5-2 .684 41 19
5. Cortland 4-4-1 .500 10 11 5-9-3 .382 25 23
(tie) Oswego 4-4-1 .500 10 11 6-10-1 .382 18 30
7. Fredonia 3-4-2 .444 5 7 7-8-3 .472 14 19
8. Buffalo St. 3-5-1 .389 11 12 8-9-1 .472 35 23
9. New Paltz 2-7-0 .222 11 19 7-10-2 .421 29 34
10. Potsdam 1-8-0 .111 5 25 3-12-1 .219 14 34
= Plattsburgh is regular season champion; NCAA at-large
= Brockport is the conference champion; NCAA AQ