Utica, NY - The Utica College men's soccer team kicks off its season on September 1 when they travel to SUNY Delhi to take on the Broncos.
2020 Season Recap: In the shortened 2020 season, the Pioneers finished 1-5 (1-4 E8) and qualified for the expanded Empire 8 Tournament as the fifth-seed. The opening round match between UC and Nazareth was ruled a no contest which allowed the Golden Flyers to advance.
Schedule Outlook: The Pioneers will take on nine non-conference opponents to add on to its eight conference games. UC will host seven of its 17 total regular season matches and will play the other 10 on the road. September 12 at 1 p.m. will be the first of seven games at Gaetano Stadium for Utica as they will take on Misericordia that Sunday afternoon. The Pioneers will begin conference play on September 18 when they travel to Houghton and will play its final conference match on October 29 when they host Hartwick to close out the regular season.
Who's Back: Utica enters the 2021 season returning 19 players from last season including eight of the team's 11 starters from the spring season. Among those returning, many will be looked at to step up and play a larger role than in the spring. Cody Baker-Green (Warwick, NY/Warwick Valley), Nick Webster (Maple Valley, WA/Tahoma), Jahren James (River Vale, NJ/Pascack Valley), LJ Nuzzo (Peru, NY/Peru Central) and Jama Joseph (New York, NY/Clarkstown North) are just a few that will be turned to after the team lost five players overall and three starters from last season.
Fresh Faces: The Pioneers will welcome eight new members to the program this season. Evan Amberger (Pavilion, NY/Pavilion Central ) and Kameron Hallas (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa) come aboard to provide some more depth in the net with only two other keepers on the roster. New midfielders include Gavin Baxter (Ellenville, NY/Ellenville), Kamer Lenio (Brighton, NY/Brighton) and Gian Rodriguez (Tenerife, Spain/Northwood), as well as junior Michael Bernardo (Bayshore, NY/Bayshore ). UC also added two forwards to its roster in Orin Williams (Mt. Vernon, NY/Sacred Heart ) and Jacob Sherline (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro).
He's Not Sory: Fresh off of an All-Empire 8 first team selection, Sory Konate (Harlem, NY/Forsyth Satellite Academy) enters the 2021 season with E8 Player of the Year potential. He finished in the top-five in the conference with three goals scored in six games last season. Konate was very effective on his shots as the junior attempted seven on goal and 10 shots overall in six games.
Head of the Pack: Colin McCarthy (Vestal, NY/Vestal) enters his senior seasons looking to provide veteran leadership to the team as well as build off of a solid handful of games played last season. In five games, McCarthy recorded one goal on two shots on goal while adding an assist in the same match against Alfred. In three seasons the defender has logged 1,210 minutes for UC including an average of 88.8 minutes per game played last season.
Iron Men: Daniel Varsames (Gansevoort, NY/Saratoga Springs) and Patrick Hynes (Glenmont, NY/Bethlehem) are both expected to move into the top 10 in school history for total games played in their careers. Hynes, a 2019 All-Empire 8 second team selection, recorded one assist last season and logged the third most minutes on the team with 486. Varsames will look to anchor the defense yet again as the workhorse finished with the second most minutes played on the team last season with 505. In four seasons, Varsames has started in 54 of the 58 games he's played in.
Jammin' Juma: Another All-Empire 8 first team selection, Ramazani Juma (Utica, NY/Proctor) was one of the more active offensive players for UC in the spring. The senior led the Empire 8 by attempting 26 shots and 15 shots on goal over the five games he played in. Although he converted on just one shot while adding in an assist on the year, his aggressiveness can spell for good things to come for the Pioneers attack.
In the Net: With the loss of Randy Miksch (Lake Villa, IL/Warren Township) due to graduation, the Pioneers will be turning to a new goalkeeper this season. Of the 540 minutes recorded in goal last season, Miksch logged 428:16 of them leaving the remaining 111:44 minutes shared between Eduardo Paez (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester) (90) and Foti Xidias (Carteret, NJ/Carteret) (21:44). In his one and only start, Paez allowed one goal and made four saves while Xidias allowed one goal and recorded one save in his only appearance.
About the Broncos: In 2019, SUNY Delhi's most recent season of competition, the team finished 9-8 and fell to SUNY Canton in the NAC quarterfinals. That same season the Pioneers defeated the Broncos 3-2 at Charles A. Gaetano Stadium thanks to a pair of second half goals. Delhi enters the season with five seniors on its roster while half of its roster (24) are freshman.
What's to Come: Following Wednesday's game at SUNY Delhi, Utica will travel to Oswego to battle Skidmore College on September 4 and Oswego St. on September 5 in the Oswego State Tournament.
