Colgate Men Host SU Soccer Sat.

RFH 2010, Colgate Sports

Fri, Aug 26, 2011

The Colgate men's soccer team will open the 2011 season on Saturday when it hosts Syracuse, on Van Doren Field at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed live on Colgate-All Access and Orange All-Access.

The team returns its top four point leaders and goal scorers from last season, including Lowe's Senior CLASS Award candidate and co-captain, Steven Miller, who led the team with 12 points from a team-best five goals and two assists in 2010. Alongside him is senior, Matt Schuber, who was second on the team with 10 points from four goals and two assists, and was an All-Patriot League First Team and an NSCAA Division I Mid-Atlantic Region Third Team selection.

In the back field, the Raiders also return an All-Patriot League Second Team selection with junior Patrick Letourneau as well as classmate Wade Martin who was named to the All-Patriot League First Team and NSCAA Division I All-Mid-Atlantic Region Second Team last season. Defending the net will be Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year senior, Chris Miller, who was named to the All-Patriot League First Team after completing the season with a .764 save percentage, a .94 goals against average and eight shut outs.

This will be the 67th meeting between the two teams. The first encounter dates back to 1920 when the Raiders fell to Syracuse 2-0 at home in the first season of the Colgate men's soccer program. The Raiders leads the all-time series 30-25-11, with Syracuse winning the last meeting 3-2 in overtime in Syracuse.

The team, which was picked to finish eighth in the Red Division of the Big East preseason poll, will open its season against Colgate on Saturday. Syracuse is coming off two exhibition wins against Herkimer County CC and Le Moyne in preparation for its 2011 season.

The Orange return its top scorer to the team with senior, Nick Roydhouse, who led the team with 10 points from four goals and two assists. The team also returns junior, Mark Brode, who had six points from three goals last season, one of which was a game-winner.

The Colgate men's soccer team was picked to finish on top of the league in the 2011 Patriot League preseason poll voted by head coaches and sports information directors in the league. The Raiders, who had 94 points and 10 first-place votes, were projected to finish first above the 2010 defending PL tournament champions, Bucknell, which had 86 points and four first-place votes.