The Davis & Elkins men’s soccer team is riding a seven-win unbeaten streak so far this season and after garnering national attention last season, head coach Dean Johnson’s Senators are quickly gaining respect in their 2022 campaign.
Ranked third a week prior, D&E vaulted ahead of California State University-Los Angeles and Franklin Pierce University in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 National Poll following a Sunday night 1-0 win over Frostburg State University.
Previously unbeaten and last year’s National Champion, Cal State LA fell from the number one ranking to seventh in the poll following a Sunday night loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills. Cal State LA now stands at 7-1-0.
Franklin Pierce, now 10-0-1, remains in second in this week’s poll following a 0-0 draw with Le Moyne and a 4-0 win over New Haven.
Davis & Elkins has outscored opponents 25-1 so far this season. The Senators lead all of NCAA Division II in won-lost percentage, scoring offense, points per game, goals against average, save percentage, and shutout percentage. The Senators average 3.57 goals per game, 10.00 points per game, a 0.923 save percentage, and a 0.857 shutout percentage. Opposing teams have managed a mere 0.143 goals per game against the Senators on average.
With a wealth of talent on this year’s squad, D&E has utilized their balance and been able to spread the scoring around to several players. Five different players are tied for the lead in goals scored with three apiece. While Daniel Cerezo, Kevin Zapata, Manuel Castrejon, Christhian Bosquez, and Davide Materazzi have each led the team thus far in goals scored, a number of players remain from last year’s all-Mountain East Conference team, including MEC Defensive Player-of-the-Year Alex Estrada-Avila.
Castrejon and Soshi Fujioka lead D&E with four assists each and goalkeeper Beltran Fernandez leads the Senators with eleven saves and five shutouts.
The Senators play next against Wheeling University on Wednesday, September 28 at 7pm at home.
