BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, NY - The St. Francis Brooklyn men's soccer team is set to return to the field on Thursday afternoon as the 2022 season kicks off at UMass Lowell.
The Terrier kick off the 2022 campaign after making the Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament Championship for a second consecutive season and securing a share of the NEC regular season championship. The NEC Coaching Staff of the Year all return for this season, with Head Coach Tom Giovatto opening his 16th season at the helm, Andy Cormack returning for his eighth season, and Jason Orban beginning his fourth season.
The three have the challenge of replacing the reigning NEC Player of the Year, El Mahdi Youssoufi, after he became the first player in program history to be selected in the Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Youssoufi has continued his goal scoring abilities in the New York City FC system.
They expect a series of scorers to step up and fill the gap for Youssoufi's 13 goals in 2021.
Veteran midfielders Sokol Ymeraj and Ramchwy Saint Vil return to anchor the center of the formation as Jaydon Humphries and David Santiago hold down the back.
The experienced Terriers have been hard at work getting 10 new teammates up to speed, a split between true freshman and experienced transfers.
St. Francis opens the season Thursday, Aug. 25 at 4:00 p.m. against UMass Lowell, a team the Terriers renewed their series with in 2021. A win in Lowell would be the first road win over the River Hawks in program history and the first win overall since 2015. The two played to a two-overtime 1-1 tie last season.
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