Hayden named player of the week

Strong Finish for Mules, Oyer The Muhlenberg men’s golf team had a solid second round and finished in a tie for sixth place at Allegheny’s Guy W. Kuhn Invitational. The Mules posted the fourth-best score (309) over the final 18 holes, improving their first-round total by three strokes. They tied Carnegie Mellon, a team that was nationally ranked last spring, for third among Division III schools. Junior Zachary Oyer also improved in the second round, shooting a 1-over-par 73 to tie for second with a 36-hole total of 3-over 147, three strokes off the lead. It was the second straight tournament in which he finished in the runner-up spot. Oyer is the first Muhlenberg golfer this decade to card a 74 or better in three consecutive rounds. Freshman Brandon Davis shot a 78 in the second round to tie for 17th. Click here for Muhlenberg box score. Click here for complete results.

Senior Samuel Hayden of the Muhlenberg men’s soccer team was named defensive player of the week by the Centennial Conference.

Hayden led a Mule defense that allowed only three shots on goal in road shutouts of Moravian (5-0) and Franklin & Marshall (4-0). Muhlenberg has shut out its last three opponents, all on the road, and has not allowed a goal in its last 286:16.

The win at Franklin & Marshall, in the Mules’ CC opener, was a big one. The Diplomats entered the game ranked ninth in the Mid-Atlantic Region and have traditionally defended their home field very well against Muhlenberg. The Mules were 1-5-1 against F&M in their previous seven trips to Lancaster, with the only win coming in the 2004 CC playoffs.

Combined with a 4-0 win against Wilkes last week, the results against Moravian and F&M gave Muhlenberg shutouts of 4-0 or better in three straight games on the road for the first time in its history. The Mules have scored a CC-leading 19 goals in their first six games; last year it took them 11 games to score 19 goals.