MONMOUTH MEN'S SOCCER WEEKEND PREVIEW
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Monmouth (1-5-3, 0-0-1 MAAC) vs. Iona (3-4-2, 0-0-1 MAAC)
Location: The Great Lawn – West Long Branch, N.J.
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Live Video: www.GoMUHawks.com
Live Stats: www.GoMUHawks.com
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Monmouth (1-5-3, 0-0-1 MAAC) vs. Siena (4-4-0, 0-0-0 MAAC)
Location: The Great Lawn – West Long Branch, N.J.
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Live Video: www.GoMUHawks.com
Live Stats: www.GoMUHawks.com
**FANS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PARK IN LOTS 13 AND 18… PARKING WILL BE EXTREMELY LIMITED IN LOT 11**
The Monmouth University men's soccer team returns home to play host to Iona and Siena, Wednesday and Saturday nights, respectively. The Hawks are coming off a 1-1 draw at Fairfield to open MAAC play on Saturday. Dave Nigro scored his second goal of the season to help nullify a penalty kick awarded to the Stags. Iona halted a three-game losing skid on Sept. 28 with a 3-1 win over Fairleigh Dickinson and opened league play with a scoreless draw against Quinnipiac on Saturday. Siena is 4-4-0, alternating wins and losses in its first four games, before winning two against Saint Joseph's and Albany and, most recently, falling in its last two to UMass and Fairleigh Dickinson.
BREAKING DOWN THE IONA GAELS
The Gaels are led by Franklin Castellanos, whose four goals, five assists and 13 points are all team highs. Samuel Adjei has added three goals and added one assist for seven points (2
nd-team). Ignacio Maganto has scored twice and dished out three assists, tying Adjei for second on the team with seven points. Jannick Martens and Michael Hodgen have scored once each, while Martens, Alex Ramos and Willya Mekolo have contributed one assist apiece. Julian Petrello has played every minute in net for the Gaels, posting a 1.06 goals-against average and a .808 saves percentage.
BREAKING DOWN THE SIENA SAINTS
James Beeston leads Siena with five goals, three assists and 13 points. Falco Friedrichs and Matt Needham have scored twice each, while Nathan Olukanmi and David Itoafa have scored once and dished out three assists each. Tom Allen has also chipped in with a goal and two assists, while Mike Matera and Matt Hemsley have one goal and one assist apiece. Alex Portela rounds out the Siena goal scorers with one, while Edmundo Briones has a pair of assists. Peter Gadze and Danilo Markovic round out the Siena point scorers with one assist each. Adam Myers has posted a 1.12 goals-against average and a .647 saves percentage in seeing the majority of time in goal for Siena.
FRESHMEN STEPPING UP
A pair of freshmen scored their first career goals during the weekend of Sept. 20. Dave Nigro got things started with the go-ahead goal in the second half against Albany on Sept. 20. Colin Stripling then scored his first-career goal at Hofstra to spark a comeback bid for the Hawks on Sept. 22.
WALK-OFF WEDNESDAY
The Hawks defeated Villanova on Wednesday, Sept. 11, when Tomas Penfold scored just 37 seconds into overtime off assists from Edney Derrick and Francois “Paco” Navarro. The goal was Penfold's first of the season, while the win over Villanova was the first in program history after four losses. The most-recent meeting between the two teams prior to this season was in 2002.
WALKING THE PLANK
The Hawks found themselves down a goal with less than a minute left against Seton Hall, but Emmanuel Senyah Agyemang received a David Acuna Camacho cross at the far post and blasted it past Pirates goalkeeper Julian Spindler with 52.5 seconds left for the equalizer. The game would end in a 1-1 tie.
RETURN OF THE MAC
Senior midfielder Joseph Schmid (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) became the 10th Monmouth player since 2007 to be named to the prestigious MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List, representative of college soccer's top individual honor. Schmid joins former teammates Ryan Clark (2012), RJ Allen (2011), Max Hamilton (2011) and Anthony Vazquez (2011), as well as Ryan Kinne (2009, 2010), Bryan Meredith (2010), Chase Barbieri (2009) and Tom Gray (2007) as recent Hermann Trophy Watch List honorees from Head Coach Robert McCourt's program.
RUBBING ELBOWS WITH THE NATION'S BEST
A fixture in the national polls over the last several years, the Hawks opened the season receiving votes in the College Soccer News Preseason Top 30 Poll. Monmouth reached a program-high of the No. 4 ranking in 2010.
NEW LEAGUE, SAME FORECAST
Playing in its first year in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), the Monmouth University men's soccer team has been selected by the MAAC's coaches to win a league title in its first year with the conference. The Hawks enjoyed a seven-year reign atop the Northeast Conference (NEC) under Head Coach Robert McCourt, winning each league regular-season title from 2005-11 in addition to four postseason tournament championships to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Hawks (111 points) narrowly edged Ione (110 points) in the voting.
PLENTY BACK FOR THE HAWKS
In addition to Schmid, Monmouth returns another pair of players who both earned 2012 All-Region and 2013 Preseason All-MAAC honors in junior backs Matt Jeffery (Freehold, N.J./Freehold Township) and Emmanuel Senyah Agyemang (Kumasi, Ghana/KNUST University). The pair of backs return after helping Monmouth post nine shutouts and hold the opposition to an 0.70 goals-against average, good for seventh nationally, in 2012. Both Agyemang and Jeffery scored one goal for the Hawks in 2012.
