New Paltz men's soccer season preview

NEW PALTZ, N.Y. – In his first year as head coach, Gene Ventriglia steered the State University of New York at New Paltz men's soccer team to its first State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) Men's Soccer Championship Tournament berth since 2004.

The Hawks earned their first trip to the SUNYAC Tournament in seven years after pulling together an overall mark of 8-10-1 and a 4-4-1 conference record, yielding a No. 6 seed in the conference tournament. In a hard-fought battle, New Paltz dropped its opening round contest with Geneseo, 3-2, in the first overtime period.

"We underachieved," said Ventriglia. "That team was very talented and I honestly thought we could have won the whole thing."

The Hawks played one of the tougher schedules in the conference, going up against six teams that went on to qualify for the NCAA Division III Men's Soccer Championship Tournament. New Paltz defeated then No. 13 Stevens Institute of Technology on Sept. 4, 2011, 1-0. They also took down SUNY Plattsburgh, ranked No. 19 at the time, 1-0, on Oct. 7, 2011. This was the first Hawks victory over the Cardinals in 23 years.

New Paltz also competed against Montclair State and SUNY Oneonta, both of which qualified for the Final Four in the NCAA Tournament, losing both contests by just a single goal.

"[Montclair State] was probably one of the best teams I've ever seen. They were big, huge, physical," said Ventriglia. "Oneonta was just a super team, and we were right there with them."

New Paltz graduated 13 seniors after the 2011-12 academic year, forcing Ventriglia to rely on very young talent in the 2012 campaign. He believes that his new recruits, along with his seasoned veterans, are an overall improvement for his club.

To fill up his roster, Ventriglia brought in 15 newcomers to not only make an impact, but also to improve the team's depth.

"We won't depend on 10/11 players," said Ventriglia. "The actual rosters that's going to be really involved is probably around 18 to 20 [players], which is a good thing."

Of the 15, 11 primarily play offensive positions, which Ventriglia says is very rare to find in a recruiting class.

"We really have improved the physicality of the team," said Ventriglia. "We are a very big team, we are a very physical team, a very athletic team and we've also improved our speed overall."

Ventriglia raved about his incoming class of student-athletes. He described freshman forward Casey Terramoccia (West Milford, N.J./West Milford) as a "very gifted, good, very mobile player who can score goals."

Freshman forward Angelo DiMatteo (Merrick, N.Y./Sanford H. Calhoun) is expected to be a physical presence in the Hawks' offensive attack.

"He looks like a football player," said Ventriglia.

Ventriglia believes junior midfielder Hobie Ramin (Baldwinsville, N.Y./C.W. Baker), who transferred to New Paltz from Onondaga Community College, is one of the most technical student-athletes he has ever seen. Freshman forward Jake Falk (Jericho, N.Y./Jericho) played in the state championship last year and has "unbelievable speed," according to Ventriglia.

The biggest of Ventriglia's new recruits, freshman midfielder Joseph Hughes (Westbury, N.Y./Carle Place), stands 6-foot-4, making him the tallest player on this year's squad.

Also planning to make an impact on offense in their first year are senior midfielder Mateo Cordini (Buenos Aires, Argentina/San Martin de Tours), sophomore midfielder Javier Ventas, freshmen forward Austin Villela (Albany, N.Y./Albany, forward/midfielder Noah Onoff (Pittsford, N.Y./Pittsford Sutherland), forward Dondre Irving (Elmont, N.Y./Valley Stream North) and midfielder Anton Herodes (LaGrangeville, N.Y./Arlington).

Of all the returning players, Ventriglia expects sophomore forward Stephen Browne (Carle Place, N.Y./Carle Place) to benefit the most from the new forwards that he will be playing up-top with.

"He's going to thrive playing with these guys," said Ventriglia.

Freshman defender Kevin Jacobson (Guilford, Conn./Guilford), the younger brother of junior forward Mike Jacobsen (Guilford, Conn./Guilford), is expected to start in the backfield. The coach hopes that older brother Mike can make Kevin's transition to the college game easier after his own experience.

Junior defenders Eamon Graziano (Rhinebeck, N.Y./Rhinebeck) and Veton Osmani are also expected to each play a role in the backfield this season.

Ventriglia also brought in sophomore goalkeeper Steven Domino (Valatie, N.Y./Ichabod Crane), a transfer from Fairleigh Dickinson University, whom he has high hopes for in this program.

Team captain, senior defender Nicholas DiPaola (Huntington, N.Y./Huntington) is expected to lead the team and improved upon his 2011 success, which landed him on the All-SUNYAC Third Team.

"He's a classy kid. He has the whole package," said Ventriglia of DiPaola. "In my opinion, at this point he is probably the best defender in the conference."

Also expected to be veteran leaders for the 2012 Hawks are senior defender Harrison Lane (Glenmont, N.Y./Bethlehem Central), who is making the move from forward to outside back, and senior midfielder/forward Shanshe Khosroshvili (Brooklyn, N.Y./Edward R. Murrow), whom Ventriglia believes is primed to have his best season with the Hawks.

Among the younger returnees that made an impact last year are sophomore midfielders Brian Spina (Delmar, N.Y./Bethlehem Central) and Alec Johnson (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) both of whom played over 700 minutes and contributed on the offensive attack in 2011. Also returning after gaining experience in each of their first years in the blue and orange are sophomores goalkeeper Andres Montoya (Levittown, N.Y./Division Avenue), midfielder Matt Rubinstein (Bronx, N.Y./Fordham Prep), forward Michael Levko (Hicksville, N.Y./Hicksville. Junior defender Robert Vandy (Ballston Spa, N.Y./Ballston Spa) makes the switch from midfielder to back in his third year. Coach Ventriglia believes the mix of his returners and new players are a big step in the right direction for his team.

"My goal when I came here was to rebuild this program; bring it to a level where it would stay there for a while," said Ventriglia. "I think we're almost there."

Another reason for Ventriglia's excitement is his new assistant coach, former New Paltz soccer and basketball player, and longtime friend of Ventriglia, Jamal Lis-Simmons. Lis-Simmons was named team MVP for the Hawks last year, and returns to bring guidance and leadership to the team beyond his playing years.

"He's one of the reasons why I think we're going to be better," said Ventriglia. "I trust him implicitly with the game and with supervision. He's a coach. He's a born coach."

Ventriglia sees this as a dream come true for both himself and his former student. He compares this opportunity to when his son was his assistant coach for Army women's soccer.

Overall, Ventriglia sees his team going into this year as a very underrated program. He said that with all of the team's losses, the average coach would not be concerned with New Paltz. The coach is not worried about winning games right away. He said his biggest concern is the conference tournament.

"By the time we get to tournament time, I think we're going to be a team that's going to be dangerous," said Ventriglia. "We need to win more games than we lose in the conference and we need to get into the tournament, because once you get in the tournament, things happen."