BRISTOL, R.I. – It will be a huge, in-state rivalry showdown as the second-seeded Roger Williams University Men's Soccer team hosts the third-seed, Salve Regina University in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Semifinals on Tuesday evening at Bayside Field. The squads face off for a Battle of the Hawks in the first Men's Soccer Semifinals matchup that Bayside Field has seen since 2012 with a trip to the CCC Finals on the line.
"We are looking forward to this matchup," Head Coach
James Greenslit said. "We are coming off a strong performance against Wentworth, but things will not get any easier with Salve Regina. The win over Wentworth was huge for us. The postseason is a completely different atmosphere. It is do-or-die. You either win and play another game, or lose and your season is done. I thought we had some nerves in that game which is expected, but we got through it, settled our nerves, and pulled out the win in regulation and I think that was huge for our team."
At the end of an 11-6-3 regular season that saw the team go 7-1-1 in CCC play to earn a share of the regular-season title, the Hawks snuck past the Wentworth Institute of Technology, 2-1, in the CCC Quarterfinals to earn their second trip to the semifinals in their six seasons with
James Greenslit at the helm. Meanwhile, Salve Regina went 11-5-3, 5-2-2 against conference foes before rolling Curry College, 6-1, in the quarterfinals to get to this point.
"Our schedule early in the season was difficult," Greenslit said. "But in the end, it just made us stronger. Coming into the season, not many people believed in us besides ourselves and we could have folded early in the year. Instead, we stayed together and found ourselves, found our identity, and found success in conference play in large part thanks to the tough schedule early on. Our veterans have been a steady presence, our young guys have really shown what they can do, and our team has really played great soccer."
For The Hawks
Not many anticipated this kind of a season by the Roger Williams Men's Soccer team, as they were ranked sixth in the preseason coaches' poll. But when the actual games began, RWU established themselves as a really strong team thanks to the emergence of several young players on both ends of the pitch. Offensively, they have netted a solid 1.90 goals per game overall, the fifth most in the conference, but in CCC play that number skyrockets to 2.44, the second most in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The same is true for their defensive stats as they have allowed 1.30 goals per game overall, the fifth-best mark in the CCC, but in league play that number plummets to just 0.97 goals allowed per contest, the third-lowest mark in the conference.
"We took the step from being a good team with potential, to a great team when we clicked on the defensive end," Greenslit said. "And that has been the biggest key to our recent success, is strong defensive play. Jack (Avellar) has been terrific in net, but it extends all the way forward with our defenders and midfielders. We have great defensive shape right now, we are communicating well, and as a result, we are seeing a lot of success. That along with our timely offense has led to a terrific season for us and we just want to keep it going."
The Hawks offense runs through the CCC Offensive Player of the Year,
Javi Beltran (Madrid, Spain). The junior midfielder paces the team in all three scoring categories and currently ranks tied for second in the conference in goals with 12, tied for fourth in assists with seven, and second in total points with 31. Beltran consistently applies pressure as 52.4% of his 63 total shots this fall have been on goal and he is deadly when opponents commit fouls in the box as he is 5-5 in penalty kick attempts to lead the CCC.
The forward pairing of
Jack Wetzel (Northport, N.Y.) alongside
Justin Horvath (Stratford, Conn.) has also been effective for RWU and the two are tied for the team lead with three game-winning tallies each. Wetzel, an All-CCC Third Team selection, is a timely and efficient scorer as he is tied for second on the Hawks with five goals with a .192 shooting percentage. The RWU offense got even deeper with the second half emergence of
Justin Horvath who earned all-conference second team honors thanks in large part to a huge month of October. He has recorded a point in five of the team's ten games and has recorded all five of his goals since the calendar flipped after having just two assists in seven games in September. In addition, he really shows up in conference games recording all of his goals and two of his three assists against CCC foes.
It is also worth noting that Roger Williams would not be here if it were not for the contributions of fifth-year striker
Ryan Miller (Hillsdale, N.J.) who scored both goals for the Hawks in their quarterfinal victory after recording just two assists in the regular season. In addition, sophomore
Matt Bagley (Trumbull, Conn.) is another key piece of the RWU offense, and he is fourth on the team with three goals this season.
In the midfield, the Hawk feature one of the best all-around players in the Commonwealth Coast Conference in
Tyler Andrade (South Glastonbury, Conn.). The senior All-CCC Second Team selection has just one goal and two assists this season but is truly the total package with a great combination of size, speed, skill, and smarts.
However, the contributions of the young guys in the midfield cannot be understated as sophomores
CJ Sousa (Fall River, Mass.),
John McCarthy (Hampstead, N.H.), and
Sebastian Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.), along with freshmen
John Fogarty (Scituate, Mass.) and
Jack Wildermann (Madison, Conn.) all bring specific skillsets to the table and play a big role for RWU on both sides of the ball. Wildermann leads this group with two goals and three assists while Sousa has three helpers and a goal, and Fogarty has one score and one dish on the season.
The Roger Williams defensive unit boasts a pair of all-conference selections in
Niall Shea (Portsmouth, R.I.) and
Austin Hilger (Old Saybrook, Conn.). Shea was named to the first team as a big and athletic defender for this RWU squad who is great both as a one-on-one defender and within the Hawks defensive system. Meanwhile, the second team honoree Hilger is a little more fluid in his role as he owns three assists on the season in addition to his tremendous defensive skills. Those two along with
Elias Choclin (Suffern, N.Y.),
Andre Caceres (Ossining, N.Y.), and
Jason Salley (Durham, Conn.) have combined to hold opponents to just a .468 shot on goal rate on 12.6 attempts per game. In addition, they have really come together over the past month and have only allowed two goals twice in their last 12 games.
If and when opponents do get the ball through their defense, Roger Williams has the best goalkeeper in the conference in
Jack Avellar (Orleans, Mass.) there to usually make a play. An All-CCC First Team selection in his first season of collegiate soccer, Avellar sits atop the conference in save percentage (.847) and shutouts (4) while ranking third in goals against average (1.03) and fourth in saves (61).
For the Seahawks
Unlike RWU, Salve Regina was expected to be in this position from the start of the season being picked to finish second in the preseason coaches' poll while receiving half of the ten first-place votes. They rank third in the conference with a 1.06 goals against average, but the name of the game for the Seahawks is the offense as they pace the Commonwealth Coast Conference netting 2.68 goals per game.
"Salve Regina was a great test for us the last time we played them," Greenslit stated. "They are an extremely aggressive offensive team who wants to push the ball up field and push their attack. We played them really well the first time around and we will look to continue that by limiting their time in space with the ball, forcing turnovers in bad spots of the field, and then punishing their three-backs system defensively."
The Seahawks offense runs through the potent duo of Alessandro Oggiano (Stoughton, Mass.) and Jordan Borges (Milford, Mass.) who rank third and fourth in the CCC in total points respectively. An All-CCC First Team selection, Oggiano is tied for second in the conference with 12 goals while adding six assists, while Borges, a second-team selection himself, is the team's best facilitator ranking second in the CCC with ten assists to go with seven goals.
While that duo is potent, Salve Regina has benefited from contributions from a number of players as they feature six individuals with five or more goals and six players with three or more assists. All-CCC Third Team member Jacob Guerra (Colchester, Conn.) is the team's third scoring option with six goals on the season while Zeke Menendez (Avon, Conn.), Rich Ventura (Floral Park, N.Y.), and Sam Winiarski (Westfield, Mass.) each provide efficient scoring as each have scored five goals with a shooting percentage of .200 or better. Ventura combined his scoring with four assists as a midfielder to earn all-conference second team recognition as possibly the best all-around player on the Seahawks.
With all that scoring, it is essential to have a strong group of defense backs and Salve Regina has that. As a group they only have allowed 5.05 shots on goal per game this season and they are led by Casey Kelly (Waldwick, N.J.) and James Davies (London, England). Kelly was an all-conference first team selection while Davies made the second team for their contributions on both ends of the pitch. Their third back, Evan Arpin (Andover, Mass.) is also a factor as the most aggressive offensively of the three and he is second on the team with seven assists this fall.
In goal, the Seahawks will likely turn to Nathan Reid (Magnolia, Del.). The senior keeper has been rock-solid in net this season posting a 1.06 goals against average and a .798 save percentage, with both marks ranking fourth in the CCC. Most importantly, however, is he wins, as his ten wins in goal leads the conference and he is tied for the CCC lead with four shutouts.
Previous Matchups
This marks the first time since 2014 that the southeastern Rhode Island rivals have squared off in the CCC Tournament, a matchup that the Hawks won in penalty kicks. However, these teams are very familiar with each other, having just gone head-to-head a week and a half ago at Bayside Field for a Senior Day matchup. The contest ended in a 1-1 draw with Horvath scoring for RWU and Borges finding the back of the net for the Seahawks on a PK.
How To Follow Along
The contest is set for a 7:00 PM start time on Tuesday night at Bayside Field on the campus of Roger Williams University.
If you cannot make it in person, you can follow along online.
VIDEO:
https://rwuhawks.com/sports/2012/8/31/msoc_live_video.aspx
LIVE STATS:
https://rwuhawks.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary
