Newburgh, N.Y. – The Mount Saint Mary College Men's Soccer team opens the 2017 season with a pair of road games, traveling to Gwynedd Mercy on Friday and across the Hudson River to local foe Vassar on Sunday. Both contests are scheduled for 4:00 p.m. with Live Stats and Video available for each tilt.
MSMC At A Glance: Mount Saint Mary, who was picked first in Tuesday's Skyline Conference Preseason Poll, is coming off an 11-6-2 overall record in 2016 and a 10-1-0 mark in league play, good for a tie for first place in the regular season standings.
The Knights return eight of their top nine point producers from a season ago, including junior
Joey Dolan (New Paltz, N.Y.) who posted team-highs in goals (12) and points (28). Dolan and classmate
Fred Stark (Hollis, N.Y.) were each named First Team All-Skyline Conference in 2016, with Stark tied for second on the team in points with
Bereket Watts (Southold, N.Y.), with each player producing 11 points.
Jonathan Schefer (Greenlawn, N.Y.) returns after potting three goals, including two game winners, with
Kenan Kizar (Manalapan, N.J.) entering his sophomore season with three career tallies to his name.
Matt Fuge (Avalon, Conn.),
Joe Bacalhau (Woodbridge, N.J.) and
Joseph Sadofsky (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) each accounted for two goals and a pair of assists during the 2016 campaign.
The Knights will look to replace First Team All-Skyline Conference pick Matt Minniter and 2016 Skyline Conference Defensive Player of the Year
Tyler Biscone with a talented group of returning players in the midfield and on defense. Sophomore
Jared Whitford (Melrose, N.Y.) was one of just seven players to appear in all 19 games a season ago, while
Bobby Caronia (Ossining, N.Y.) is back for his junior campaign after posting three points in 18 games played.
Also returning for the Mount are
Nick Ciani (Sussex, N.J.),
Shacore Graham (Mount Vernon, N.Y.),
Andrew Marcantonio (Bristol, Conn.),
Connor Lynch (Clifton Park, N.Y.) and
Jay Marchese (Cold Spring, N.Y.).
Junior
Thomas Trainor (Patterson, N.Y.) is the only returning goalkeeper and is back after appearing in four games in his first season with the Mount. He stopped a pair of shots and posted a 0.97 goals against average in nearly 93 minutes of work.
Newcomers: Head Coach
Kevin Longacre welcomes a talented group of newcomers to the fold in 2017 and will look for the new Knights to make an immediate impact within the program. Goalkeepers
Tyler Rapp (East Berne, N.Y.),
Jakup Myrtja (Newburgh, N.Y.) and
Sean Madden (Islip Terrace, N.Y.) will vie for time in goal for the Mount as newcomers.
Max Antisell (Kendall Park, N.J.) and
Andrew Darling (Staatsburg, N.Y.) will see time at midfield and defense with
Brett Fucheck (Newburgh, N.Y.) returning to the Knights in the back for his junior season. Also joining the Mount this fall are midfielder
Joseph Mesoraca (Oceanside, N.Y.) and forwards
Matthew Iaria (Suffern, N.Y.) and
Steven Beleno (Newburgh, N.Y.).
A Glance At The Griffins: Gwynedd Mercy opens the season on Friday after posting a 9-11 overall record and a 5-4 mark in the Colonial States Athletic Conference in 2016. The Griffins were eliminated in their first game of the CSAC Tournament, dropping a 3-0 decision to Cabrini.
Matt Saba returns for his senior season as the team's top returning point producer after totaling eight points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 2016. Ryan Oyola is back in goal for the Griffins after playing 1,143:48 of a possible 1,823:27 last season, making 79 saves and posting a 1.81 goals against average.
Scouting Vassar: The Brewers open the 2017 season on Friday against Western Connecticut after posting a 14-4-2 overall record in 2016, that included a 2-0 win over the Mount on September 4. Vassar won the 2016 Liberty League Title with a 3-2 win over Skidmore before dropping a 1-0 overtime heartbreaker to Elizabethtown in the NCAA Tournament.
Vassar returns five players who totaled at least 11 points in 2016, including Mattie Mrlik who led the way with 29 points on the strength of 11 goals and seven assists. Matt Marcelino saw the bulk of time in goal a season ago, posting a 1.07 goals against average and a .750 save percentage.
The Schedule: Following back-to-back road games to start the season, the Mount will play the first of seven home games on September 6 when it plays host to Bard. A trip to the Plattsburgh Tournament is on tap for the weekend of September 9 with the conference opener slated for September 13 against Yeshiva.
