http://www.allegheny.edu
2006 Gators Aim to Continue Trend of Success
August 25, 2006
MEADVILLE, Pa. - The Allegheny College men’s soccer team has made the finals of the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament each of the past two seasons, including winning the championship and advancing to the NCAA Division III playoffs in 2004. The Gators aim to make it a hat trick in 2006 as they enter the season with a deep and experienced squad.
All 15 letterwinners returning for Allegheny saw at least one match in the starting lineup last season, a with 10 more returnees and eight newcomers, Panzetta expects his team to once again finish among the top teams in the NCAC.
“With such an experienced group of returning players, I expect to stay where we’ve been finishing in the conference,” said Panzetta. “I’m excited about the competition that we will have at practice for playing time this season.”
Allegheny finished last season 8-8-4 overall and ran off a 5-3-1 record in conference play to finish in third-place at the conclusion of the regular season. After knocking off second-seed Oberlin College in the semifinals, the Gators were denied a return trip to the national tournament with a 3-0 loss to then-undefeated Ohio Wesleyan University.
Though the team made it back to the conference championship, Allegheny was plagued by inconsistent play throughout the year. The Gators competed with some of the top teams in the region in 2005, only to struggle against weaker squads in non-conference and conference play.
“Having a bit of a younger team last year, we struggled with our level of consistency and I hope we can fix that this season.”
Allegheny is solid throughout the field as far as experience goes, and this particularly holds true for the frontline. Anchoring the offensive attack will be senior Alan Carr (Blairstown, N.J./Blair Academy), who will look for an encore to his breakout 2005 season, which saw him tally 11 goals and two assists en route to first-team All-NCAC honors. Senior Mark Dobish (New Wilmington, Pa./Wilmington Area) adds another experienced offensive threat for the Gators with seven career goals and three assists.
Junior Andrew Stutzman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) notched three assists last season and will likely round out the starting lineup, while Panzetta expects juniors Robert Del Greco (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-LaSalle) and Yusufu Sulai (Abuja, Nigeria/Bethany Christian), sophomores Jim Beyer (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Mendon) and Alex Habay (Gibsonia, Pa./Hampton) to contribute off the bench.
The midfield will be led by senior captain Chris Fedele (Williamsville, N.Y./Williamsville), who is one of the most proven veterans with 60 matches under his belt. Fedele has six career goals, including a hat trick against Kenyon College in 2004. Joining him in the midfield will be sophomore Nathaniel Yates (Cleveland Heights, Ohio/Cleveland Heights) and junior Pat Bowman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon). Yates picked up honorable mention all-league accolades after an impressive first year, finishing second on the team in scoring with three goals and four assists, while Bowman started all but one game last season, notching one goal and one assist.
Senior Daniel Carik (Pittsburgh, Pa./Chartiers Valley) was one of the Gators’ top reserves last season in the midfield and has played nearly every match throughout his three years on the squad. Adding their names to the competition for playing time will be sophomore Chris Cantwell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and first-years Dave Piccirillo (Wantagh, N.Y./Wantagh), and freshmen James Fulton (New York, N.Y./Friends Seminary).
Defensively, Allegheny will have a strong core of returning players, including All-NCAC starters Eric Sloan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) and Jeremy Garbutt (St. Louis, Mo./John Burroughs School). Sloan, a junior, has picked up second-team all-league honors each of the past two seasons as the leader of the defensive unit. Garbutt, also a junior, was an honorable mention pick in 2005 after helping the Gators hold 13 of 20 opponents to one goal or less and has appeared in all but one match over the last two years.
Two other key returnees are senior Ryan Kelly (Pittsburgh, Pa./Seton-LaSalle) and sophomore Ryan Floyd (McMurray, Pa./Peters Township), who started 16 and three matches, respectively, last season. The Allegheny coach noted that senior Berardo Diamante (Campbelleville, Ontario/Hillfield Strathallan College), sophomores Pat Doherty (Getzville, N.Y./Williamsville) and Todd Maurer (Rochester, N.Y./Brighton), and freshman Tom Ludwig (Bay Village, Ohio/Bay) could all compete for major minutes.
The biggest loss from last season would appear to be the graduation of two-time All-NCAC selection and three year starter in goal, Brian Manougian, but Panzetta has faith in his new starting keeper, junior Ryan Larkin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin).
“Even though Ryan doesn’t have a lot of minutes at the varsity level, I have all the confidence in the world in him this season to take over the reigns,” commented the Gator coach. “I see goalkeeping being a strength for us again this season with Ryan stepping into that role.”
Larkin made his only goalkeeping appearance against Pitt-Greensburg last season, accumulating 45 minutes and two saves, while allowing one goal.
Sophomore Zane Miller (Canal Winchester, Ohio/Wellington School) will serve as the Gator backup goalie after a junior varsity campaign last fall.
Top to bottom, the NCAC is as competitive as ever with not much separating the top team from the sixth-place team. Ohio Wesleyan, Oberlin, Wittenberg University, Denison University, and The College of Wooster all look to be in contention early on, but with the experience and depth of his team, Panzetta thinks the Gators can put the pieces together and make it back to the playoffs.
“I think the players learned last season what a fine line it is between the top-four teams and the next three in the conference,” said Panzetta. “We’re going to be relying on our seniors for some significant minutes and hopefully we can produce a more balanced offensive attack to get us back to the top.”