Men's Soccer Preview:
With thirteen returners back and the addition of nine newcomers the St. Thomas Aquinas men's soccer team is eager to take the field tomorrow at Assumption College. The Spartans are coming off one of their best seasons (9-5-3) since the program moved to NCAA Division II nine years ago. STAC finished fifth in the ECC just missing out on any post season play. "Our goal is to continue to improve upon where we left off last year," commented Head Coach Graham Brown.
The Spartans have big shoes to fill with the loss of Gerald Jones who led the team with eight goals and an assist, Steve Rozycki in the backfield and captain Andres Gomez. Gomez will continue to provide leadership to the squad as he moved to the sideline joining Brown's staff along with fellow assistant Dan McEnry.
The Spartans return last years team MVP, Chris Hernandez who was named captain of this year's squad and is expected to lead the way in the midfield. ECC All Conference selections Remington Lee (2nd Team) and Renan Lopes (3rd Team) are back and looking to build off last seasons success. Both players contributed key goals in the Spartans final three wins last season; Lee finished with five goals total and Lopes added three. Juniors Peter O'Malley and Konstantinos Sapountzis round out the midfield and bring back valuable experience. William Miller and Michael Felix; both versatile players that add depth in the midfield/defense return for the Spartans.
James Earl, a strong forward that brings back a lot of energy to the field along with senior Jon Michael Nabais tallied four and two goals respectively last year. Freshman Brendan Flynn, Jorge Mera and Daniel Davren add an energetic spark to the team and will look to make an immediate impact to the Spartan attack. Sean O'Leary rounds out the forwards for the Spartans.
Brown will look toward the solid play of defensive sophomore Edgar Barragan and senior Jesse Trajkovski as his leaders in the backfield. Key Newcomers Ronald "Jordan" Demshick, Michael Lincoln along with transfer Connor Flynn a fearless defender with Division I experience, will work to limit opponents shots on goal. Oscar Diaz and Daniel Cheivier add depth to the defense and will look to gain experience in their rookie seasons.
Andrew Tartara returns to the net after a strong rookie campaign. Tartara who received votes for rookie of the year was an ECC Rookie of the week three times last season. The keeper has worked hard in the off season to improve upon his weaknesses and was named the vice captain of this years squad. Nicholas Croce, a fundamentally strong and confident goalie will continue to challenge Tartara this season.