College soccer players from the area closing in on national titles

More than two dozen soccer players from greater Philadelphia will be competing this weekend for college teams knocking on the door of national championships.

Philadelphia Union Academy grad Isaiah Holquist (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) is back in the Division III men’s national semifinal with University of Chicago for the second year in a row. The sophomore defender has started all but one game for the Maroons this season and has chipped in a goal and an assist. Chicago will play Calvin in the first semifinal today at 11 a.m.

The other Division III men’s semifinal will feature area players on both sides with Joe Braun (Yardley, Pa.) and Max Jacobs (Cherry Hill, N.J.) on Tufts and JR Eisold (Pipersville, Pa.), Josh Saitsky (Dresher, Pa.) and Will Eisold (Pipersville, Pa.) on the University of Rochester roster. Braun leads the Jumbos in scoring with nine goals and four assists on the season and was named a First-Team All-American by the United Soccer Coaches on Thursday. Will Eisold has made 17 appearances and 11 starts this season for Rochester while Saitsky has four appearances off the bench for a team that knocked off both Eastern and Messiah en route to the final four.

Two first-year players from the region will be participating in the Division I women’s College Cup with Rachael Dorwart and North Carolina facing Boo Jackson and Georgetown in the first semifinal at 5 p.m. on Friday.

Dorwart, from Mechanicsburg, Pa., has featured in all 25 games this season for the Tar Heels, scoring five goals while delivering four assists. Jackson, of Marlton, N.J., has a goal and an assist in 22 appearances off the bench this season for the Hoyas. The winner will face the winner of Stanford and Florida State. All four teams in the College Cup were No. 1 seeds and both Stanford and Georgetown have not lost this season.

Three players from the area are rostered on teams in the Division III women’s final four. They include Williams senior midfielder Lauren Brown (Yardley, Pa.), Middlebury junior forward Ellie Greenberg (Gladwyne, Pa,) and Washington University-Saint Louis junior midfielder Jesse Rubin. Rubin has a pair of goals and an assist in 19 appearances and two starts this season while Greenberg has six goals and an assist in 22 appearances and five starts and Brown has an assist in 22 appearances and 15 starts.

The Division II finals on Saturday feature a West Chester University men’s team that is predominantly made up of players from the Philadelphia area while one player is rostered among the two finalists in the women’s tournament, Bridgeport junior goalkeeper Anneliese Jennings (Warminster, Pa.), who has not featured this season.

The Golden Rams, which advanced to the final with a come-from-behind 2-1 overtime win over Cal Poly Pomona, have the following local players on their roster: goalkeeper James Wood and Kendall Walkes both hail from West Chester, Cameron Peploe (Northampton), Jamison Burns (Douglassville, Pa.), Colin Muller (Bethlehem, Pa.), Kyle Hoops (Phoenixville, Pa.), Tyler Rapposelli (Reading, Pa.), Andrew Slater (Hanover, Pa.), Eric Greer (Chadds Ford, Pa.), Daniel Grindrod (Feasterville Pa.), Philadelphia Union Academy grad Nick Jachwak (Souderton, Pa.), Sami Phelps (Yardley, Pa.), Brett Miller (Washington Crossing, Pa.), Austin Eveland (Kennett Square, Pa.), Nicholas Meal (Avondale, Pa.), Kyle Dutch (Lester, Pa.), Jason Pixely (Philadelphia, Pa.), Shane Hartey (Runnemede, N.J.) and Stephen Thompson (Mechanicsburg, Pa.).