BRISTOL, R.I. – For the first time since 2014, the Roger Williams University Men's Soccer team will host a Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament game on Saturday when the Wentworth Institute of Technology comes down to compete in the quarterfinals round of the CCC Tournament.

"Our goal was always to win the CCC Championship," Head Coach James Greenslit said. "Coming into the season we talked with our vets about it and talked with our young guys about it, and we are on the right track to reach our goals, so we just want to keep getting better and if we do that we have a chance to win this thing."
 
It has been a wild season for the young Hawks squad. After being ranked sixth in the preseason polls, RWU skyrocketed up the standings finishing the regular season with a 10-6-3 record, 7-1-1 in CCC play, and as a result they claimed a share of the CCC regular-season title. But now their focus turns to the task at hand: the postseason and their first opponent in the Leopards of Wentworth. They slipped into the postseason after going 10-9 in the regular season, and 4-5 against in-conference foes before taking down Suffolk University in the Opening Round game on Thursday evening.

"I think our team knew that we had a lot of pieces to be great in this conference, but it did take us a little while to find our identity and who we were," Greenslit said. "Our tough early schedule was really important for us because we could see what we had and got to play some of the young guys to see what they could do. We showed a lot of resilience because we could have let it unravel after our early season scuffles, but we stuck with it, and we really came together and showed what we could do in conference play."

 
For The Hawks
Roger Williams features a young and exceptionally well-balanced roster that can beat you in any style. Defensively this season, they rank fifth in the CCC with a 1.39 goals-against average, but that mark goes down against CCC foes with a mark of 1.09, the third lowest in the conference. They have been even better offensively in conference play as well, as they are tied for the best goals per game average netting 2.63 while they have scored 1.94 goals per game overall. Furthermore, they are efficient on offense as they have recorded a .136 shooting percentage this season, the third best in the CCC.
 
On the defensive side, the Hawks effectively prevent good scoring chances for the opposition, allowing just 12.5 shots per game and 5.89 shots on goal per game. When shots do get to the keepers, the odds are strong that they will be stopped as opponents are shooting just .109 against RWU. In addition, the seven shutouts the team has posted is tied for the most in the CCC, and four of those shutouts have come thanks to sophomore Jack Avellar (Orleans, Mass.).
 
"The key element to our recent success has been our ability to keep balls out of the net," Greenslit said. "Our team's mindset and shape has really come together throughout the season, and it showed in the results.  If we continue to play well defensively, we will position ourselves to win games and make a lot of noise in the postseason."

As the best goalie in the conference, as evidenced by his All-CCC First Team selection, Avellar has been outstanding in his first non-COVID season in Bristol despite missing a month due to injury. He leads the conference in save percentage with a mark of .848, 34 points higher than the next best GK with at least six games started. In addition, despite starting just nine games, he is tied for the CCC lead in complete game shutouts (4), third in goals against average (1.03), fifth in saves (56), and sixth in wins (5). Most importantly, when he is in net, the Hawks do not tend to lose as they are 5-1-3 with him in goal.
 
Avellar is aided by a great group of defensive backs that have effectively limited the scoring chances by the opposition. The leader of that group is senior Elias Choclin (Suffern, N.Y.) who has appeared in 18 games this fall with 11 starts while netting a goal against Johnson & Wales. What sets this group apart, however, is the emergence of the underclassmen. Sophomores Andre Caceres (Ossining, N.Y.) and Niall Shea (Portsmouth, R.I.) and freshman Jason Salley (Durham, Conn.) have all been key pieces of the Hawks defensive group with Shea earning all-conference first team recognition for his efforts and Salley emerging down the stretch for RWU as he has started and played key minutes in of each of the team's last ten games.
 
Headlining the midfield is the top scoring threat in the entire Commonwealth Coast Conference in the form of junior Javi Beltran (Madrid, Spain). It is no hyperbole to say that the RWU offense begins and ends with Beltran, the two-time CCC Offensive Player of the Week is simply lethal with the ball in his possession as both a scorer and passer. He ranks in the top-three in the conference in each scoring category as he has accumulated 31 points (2^nd), 12 goals (tied-2^nd), and seven assists (tied-3^rd). He has been efficient with it too as his .211 shooting percentage ranks fourth in the CCC among players with at least 25 shots taken.

"Offensively, we have had good consistency thanks to Javi (Beltran)," Greenslit added about his offense. "But what has allowed us to take that next step scoring the ball is that we have had a lot of guys step up offensively throughout the season in some really key spots."
 
He is supported by great group of dual-threat midfielders. Senior captains Tyler Andrade (South Glastonbury, Conn.), and Austin Hilger (Old Saybrook, Conn.) lead this group and were both All-CCC Second Team honorees. Andrade really embodies the style of the Hawks' midfield unit, he does not always pile up the points, as he has just one goal and two assists, but he remains a threat and is strong defensively. Hilger has also been a tremendous facilitator this season with three assists while playing reliable defense.
 
Like every other position group on the Hawks, the midfield unit would not be as good as it is without the contributions they have received from the underclassmen. Sophomores CJ Sousa (Fall River, Mass.), John McCarthy (Hampstead, N.H.), and Sebastian Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.), as well as freshmen John Fogarty (Scituate, Mass.) and Jack Wildermann (Madison, Conn.) have all been crucial pieces of the midfield for RWU this fall. Wildermann is a standout among this group as he has tallied two goals and three assists this fall.
 
Senior captain and All-CCC Third Team selection Jack Wetzel (Northport, N.Y.) leads the forward group for Roger Williams. A smart and disciplined player, he is tied for second on the team and tenth in the conference with five goals to go along with an assist this season, and he has a knack for scoring when it matters most as he has recorded a trio of game-winning tallies. Matt Bagley (Trumbull, Conn.) has also been a key striker for the Hawks scoring three goals but what has really made the difference for this unit has been the late-season emergence of Justin Horvath (Stratford, Conn.).
 
Since the calendar flipped to October, the all-conference second team member Horvath has flipped the switch to be an offensive force for RWU recording a point in five of the team's nine games in October after having just two assists in September. He has netted five goals across the team's last seven games and tallied the game-winning score in three consecutive contests from October 9^th through the 15^th.
 
For The Leopards
The Wentworth Institute of Technology squad is among the most potent offensive teams in the CCC after netting 2.16 goals per game this fall. However, they have had troubles defensively leading to them allowing the fourth most goals per game with 1.65.
 
"They are as good of a seventh seed as you will find," Greenslit said about Wentworth. "They are a very difficult team with lots of seniors, lots of experience, and a lot of just good players. It is a redemption game from 2019 for us and they will be a tough test, but if we continue playing like we have this year, we will position ourselves for success."

For the Leopards offensive attack, it really comes down to one simple fact; they shoot the ball a lot. They average the third-most shots per game this season, firing 16.4 per game including 7.31 shots on goal per contest while also ranking second in total shots this fall. They simply put a lot of pressure on their opponent's defense, and it is senior forward Nathan Gosselin (Hudson, N.H.) who leads them in that respect.
 
The Second Team All-CCC selection Gosselin is the reason Wentworth advanced to play in this contest after he netted the only two goals in their matchup against Suffolk, but he has been a deadly scorer all season. His 11 goals lead the team and ranks tied for fourth in the CCC, and a trio of those tallies have been game-winners. Not only does he take a lot of shots, accumulating 39 on the campaign, but he is efficient with those attempts with over 64% of those shots being on frame while he scores at a .282 clip, the second best in the CCC among players with 25 shots and he did all this in just 12 games.
 
The other players that will likely see time as forwards for Wentworth are Juan Cedeno (North Andover, Mass.), Jaedon Costa (North Providence, R.I.), and Augustin Edwin, Jr. (New Bedford, Mass.). All three have played in all 19 games this fall and it is Edwin who leads the group with a pair of goals while Costa and Cedeno have each scored once each. Andrea Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela) could also make an appearance as he has scored two goals, albeit in just six games.
 
What actually makes the Leopards so difficult is the fact that they get scoring contributions at all three levels. 14 different players have found the back of the net this season including six players who have scored three or more times and yet Gosselin is the only forward who has scored more than twice. Therefore, a big reason for their success despite that is the efforts they have gotten in the midfield. It is the sophomore, Jacob Dukeshire (Nashua, N.H.) who leads this group with five goals scored, the second most on the team, while seniors Jomar Martins (Braintree, Mass.) and T.J. Prouty (Glendora, Calif.) have contributed three and four goals respectively. Despite all that, the best midfielder on the roster is probably Ryan Firmin (Gorham, Maine), a player that has not even scored this fall. The All-CCC Third Team selection Firmin is a great defender in the midfield and makes a huge difference for a Leopards squad that has plenty of scoring but is challenged defensively.
 
On the back line is even more offense for Wentworth, led by all-conference second team selection John Dauphin (Yorba Linda, Calif.). Despite being listed as a defensive back, Dauphin leads the Leopards and the entire CCC with 11 assists, has pitched in a trio of goals, and has fired more shots than anyone else on the roster with 44. Erik Treble (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) is another offensive-minded back that the Hawks will have to keep their eyes on after he has scored three goals this season. Their more traditional backs are Nile Keiller (Bowie, Md.), Alex Moore (Salem, Conn.), and Eddie Smith (San Luis Obispo, Calif.). Smith and Moore are near locks to be in the starting lineup, but it is possible that the Leopards could deploy all three to start the contest. Moore is a threat as a passer as he has four assists this season, a number that is tied for the second most on the roster.
 
The Achilles heel of this Wentworth team is their defense because while they do tend to take a lot of shots offensively, they also tend to give up a lot of shots defensively. They have surrendered 14.1 shot attempts per game including 5.95 shots on goal and when teams do get shots off, they score at a .119 clip.
 
The Leopards have been searching for stability in net all season, as all four goalkeepers on their roster have started multiple games this fall, but they will most likely deploy their senior Robbie West (Weymouth, Mass.) in net. West leads the team with 12 games played and 11 starts but is near the bottom in most goalkeeping statistics. He ranks eighth in the conference with 45 saves, but he also is eighth out of the 12 qualifiers in conference in goals per game and his .692 save percentage ranks tied for tenth.
 
Previous Meetings
The Hawks and the Leopards faced off all the way back in their CCC opener on September 18^th, and it was a wild one. In what may well be the best game the conference has seen all fall, Roger Williams scored in the 89^th minute to sneak past Wentworth, 4-3. The game featured three ties, two lead changes, two goals on PKs, two more goals off free kicks, and finally a header from Niall Shea for the game-winner.
 
How To Follow Along
The game is slated for a 1:00 PM start time at Bayside Field right here on the campus of Roger Williams University.
 
There is precipitation in the forecast so pack your raingear. Alternatively, if you decide not to brave the elements, or cannot make it in person for any other reasons, you can follow along online.
 
VIDEO: https://rwuhawks.com/sports/2012/8/31/msoc_live_video.aspxm
 
LIVE STATS: https://rwuhawks.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary