Kick It: SU Soccer Season Outlook - Part I
8/27/2009 4:17:34 PM | Men's Soccer
The Orange men's soccer team begins the 2009 campaign on Tuesday, Sept. 1 with a match at Binghamton. Over the next two days SUathletics.com will preview the upcoming season. Part I includes a breakdown of the team's forwards and midfielders. Part II will run on Friday and highlight the team's defense, goalkeepers and schedule.
Syracuse enters 2009 looking to build upon an 8-6-3 season last year that had the Orange on the cusp of earning an NCAA Tournament berth. Eight returning letterwinners, including six starters, will make up the foundation of this year's club. Head coach Dean Foti will also benefit from the addition of several newcomers, making this year's team one of the deepest in his 19-year tenure.
In addition to the new faces on the field, Foti will work with a new assistant coach on the sidelines as Kris Bertsch replaced longtime aide Jaro Zawislan in July after Zawislan accepted the head coaching position at Cornell. Bertsch comes to the Orange from a successful Connecticut program that posted an overall record of 57-18-11 in his four seasons there and won a pair of BIG EAST Tournament titles.
FORWARDS
Senior Tom Perevegyencev is the team's most experienced striker, having played in 34 matches the past two seasons. He will likely step into the starting 11 this year after seeing action as a reserve last season behind departed standouts Spencer Schomaker and Kyle Hall. Perevegyencev was an offensive spark plug in 2008, tying for the team goal-scoring lead with six tallies.
Foti benefits from having several players who can also play up front, one of whom is sophomore transfer #L.J. Papaleo#. Papaleo is a Syracuse native and the son of former Orange All-American goalie Joe Papaleo, who played for Syracuse from 1979-82 and was a college teammate of Foti's. The younger Papaleo played for his father at Christian Brothers Academy in Syracuse and attended the University at Albany in 2008 before transferring to his father's alma mater. Papaleo played in all 18 matches and scored 10 points, including four goals, for a Great Danes squad that went 12-4-2 last season.
Another possibility is to play high-scoring senior midfielder Hansen Woodruff up front. Woodruff is a proven goal scorer with 21 tallies in his first three seasons.
Like Woodruff, senior Elliott Townsend and redshirt freshman Charles Schoening could shift up front from their more natural midfield positions.
Redshirt freshman Jose Zuniga and true freshmen Clayton Dubin and Tyler Hamill add depth to the group.
2009 Forwards
8 Tom Perevegyencev (Senior, 6-1, 180)
15 L.J. Papaleo (Sophomore, 6-2, 180)
10 Hansen Woodruff (Senior, 5-10, 160)
11 Elliott Townsend (Senior, 6-4, 180)
20 Charles Schoening (R-Freshman, 6-0, 160)
25 Jose Zuniga (R-Freshman, 5-11, 160)
18 Clayton Dubin (Freshman, 5-8, 165)
29 Tyler Hamill (Freshman, 5-8, 165)
MIDFIELDERS
The midfield may be the deepest position group for the Orange in 2009 with several experienced players in the mix. Woodruff will serve as the team's primary offensive threat whether he plays in the middle or up front. He has been a dynamic playmaker since first stepping on the field as a freshman in 2006, and he is as good as any player in the BIG EAST. He ranks fourth at Syracuse in career goals per game (0.45) and fifth in career points per game (1.09). He was named to both the NSCAA All-Northeast Region Second Team and All-BIG EAST Second Team in 2008, despite missing four matches due to injury.
Senior Kenny Caceros, junior Geoff Lytle and sophomores Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin and Nick Olivetti all possess a wealth of collegiate playing experience and will be critical to SU's ball-possession style. Caceros has played in 30 matches with 14 starts the last two years and is the most experienced of the four. Lytle developed into a consistent playmaker in 2008, finishing third on the team with four assists. Olivetti also came into his own last season as a redshirt freshman, starting 14 of SU's 17 contests, and Chan-Yu-Tin saw action in eight games with one start as a true freshman.
Townsend is another veteran who brings experience to the position. Standing at 6-4, he has the size to be an imposing physical presence in the midfield or at one of the forward spots.
Other midfielders in the mix include junior Manny Sevillano, Schoening, and true freshmen Mawuena Agbossoumonde, Melvin Andujar, Manolito Mazo, Jose Sandoval, Patricio Vaisman, Mark Brode, Jackson Widner, David Weinstein and Alessio Vitale.
Vitale is a local product having played scholastically at Liverpool High School. He is the son of Syracuse's all-time leading goal scorer Marcello Vitale, who like Joe Papaleo, was a college teammate of Foti's.
2009 Midfielders
10 Hansen Woodruff (Senior, 5-10, 160)
5 Kenny Caceros (Senior, 6-0, 175)
7 Geoff Lytle (Junior, 5-9, 160)
14 Nick Olivetti (Sophomore, 6-1, 150)
13 Kevin Chan-Yu-Tin (Sophomore, 5-7, 150)
11 Elliott Townsend (Senior, 6-4, 180)
19 Manny Sevillano (Junior, 5-10, 161)
20 Charles Schoening (R-Freshman, 6-0, 160)
31 Patricio Vaisman (Freshman, 6-1, 165)
6 Mark Brode (Freshman, 6-2, 178)
17 Jackson Widner (Freshman, 5-10, 150)
23 Mawuena Agbossoumonde (Freshman, 5-11, 175)
24 Melvin Andujar (Freshman, 5-9, 164)
26 Manolito Mazo (Freshman, 5-8, 135)
27 Jose Sandoval (Freshman, 5-9, 160)
28 Alessio Vitale (Freshman, 5-8, 150)
32 David Weinstein (Freshman, 5-7, 145)
