WILKES-BARRE -- The Wilkes University men's soccer team returns to Bruggeworth Field for the first time since 2019 for their 2021 season.  They finished the 2019 season with a 9-8-3 record, good for sixth in the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom), and made it to the second round of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference playoffs.  Head coach Michael Piranian enters his fifth year of coaching the Navy and Gold.
 
"My goal is to continue to lift the standards and expectations we have for the program and for each other," said Piranian.  "We have had gradual progressive growth and feel that our team is ready to challenge for the top of our conference with more consistent competitive play."
 
The Colonels upperclassmen feature several key contributors to the 2019 squad.  Senior goalkeepers Russell Rauh (Poughkeepsie, NY/Arlington Senior) and Zach Tone (Easton, PA/Easton Area) look set to anchor the Colonels defense by the net, while junior midfielder Matthew Horwedel (Delanson, NY/Schalmont Senior) is set to build on his All-Conference Honorable Mention season from 2019.  Rauh posted a .889 save percentage in his sophomore campaign with a .84 goals against average (GAA), while he and Tone combined for 96 saves in the season.   Senior midfielders Gabriel Nieves (Yorktown Heights, NY/Lakeland Senior) and Danny McGinley (Brodheadsville, PA/Pleasant Valley) are the key offensive returning players from the 2019 squad.  Nieves was second on the squad with 12 points and first with six assists, while McGinley tied for third with 10 points in the 2019 edition of the Colonels.  Horwedel finished fifth on the squad with nine points.
 
"I am very excited for this group," said Piranian when asked about his returning players.  "We have a solid core of returners that are ambitious and have been working hard. It is also the biggest graduating class of my time and I feel like we will embrace our underdog status very well."   
 
Luke Betancourt (Easton, PA/Easton Area), Gabriel Crowley (Cape May, NJ/Lower Cape May Regional), Andrew Reichard (Easton, PA/Easton Area), Jacob Bausher (Hamburg, PA/Hamburg Area), and Jeffrey Eager-Heffner (Blandon, PA/Fleetwood Area) round out the senior class of midfielders.  Betancourt hit a game-winning goal in his last season with the Navy and Gold in 2018, while Crowley has started in 21 of 33 games in his career.  Eager-Hefner has 23 points in his career for Wilkes with a .519 shot on goal (SOG) percentage, while Bausher posted six points while starting 15 of 20 games for the Colonels in 2019.  Reichard has made appearances for the Navy and Gold in 28 games in two seasons of play so far.  Ryan Marr (Taneytown, MD/Francis Scott Key) is the lone senior forward for the Colonels, while Christopher Weed (Levittown, PA/Bucks County Technical), Nicholas Surgent (Wall. NJ/Wall), and Brian Gallagher (Easton, PA/Notre Dame Green Pond) make up the senior defender trio.  Surgent has started in 17 of 21 games in his career for Wilkes.
 
Junior midfielders Owen Breisch (Fleetwood, PA/Fleetwood Area) and Cameron Fiester (Muncy Valley, PA/Sullivan County) join Horwedel on the squad this season.  Fiester played in 12 games in the 2019 season for the Colonels.  Defender Vincent Ippolito (Park Ridge, NJ/Park Ridge) and goalkeeper Nick Kinzler (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) round out the junior class for the Navy and Gold.  Kinzler started a pair of games in goal in 2019 and recorded 12 saves for Wilkes.
 
The Colonels bring on seven sophomores looking to contribute in their first full season of play for the Navy and Gold.  Michael Buckholtz (Huntingtown, MD/Northern) makes a return to the squad after playing in 2018, while Eli Gordon (Jacksonville, FL/The Bolles School) joins him as the sophomore midfielders. Conner Maciejczyk (Allamunchy, NJ/Hackettstown) is the lone second year forward, while Caleb Temple (Orangeville, PA/Millville), Andrew Slusser (Fleetwood, PA/Fleetwood Area), and Zachary Dudak (Stroudsburg, PA/Stroudsburg) make up the sophomore defenders looking to contribute.

The Colonels bring in a sizable class of first year players for their return to the playing field.  The midfield core is made up of Xavier Guerreiro (Newtown, PA/Council Rock North), Herbert Ramirez (Highstown, NJ/Highstown), Lucas Mueller (Dusseldorf, Germany/Quirinus- Gynasium), Nic Romas (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley), Park Scott (Burnt Hills, NY/Burnt Hills), Connor Thier (Ballmore. NY/JFC), and Jacob Welsh (Beacon, NY/Beacon).  Mueller joins Kevin Doran (Cream Ridge, NJ/New Egypt), Blake Evans (Millville, PA/Millville), Joseph Kpakah (Monrovia, Liberia/Pennwood), Jesse Lippner (Mt. Olive, NJ/Mt. Olive), and Matthew Meagher (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) in this class of defenders, while Guerreiro and Ramirez also play forward alongside Scott Rea (Sayville, NY/Sayville).  The class is set to contribute to the Colonels efforts in this 2021 season. 
 
"We have a large group of freshmen that have joined the program this year," said Piranian.  "I expect a handful of them to make an immediate impact with all of them lifting the overall level of competition in our training."
 
Lycoming and Arcadia both join the MAC Freedom this season.  Both squads made the MAC Commonwealth postseason in their last outing in 2019.  While Eastern departed the MAC Freedom, Stevens, Misericordia, and King's round out the remaining MAC Freedom playoff squads from 2019. 
 
When asked about the MAC Freedom, Piranian said "The conference looks competitive as-always, the additions of Lycoming and Arcadia will certainly lift the level of competition and we look forward to playing them."  He continued by talking about his additions to the out of conference slate as well. "Our non-conference games have changed a bit with a few more Landmark Conference programs being added.  We are now slated to play Juniata, Drew, Susquehanna, Scranton, and Moravian, which will all certainly be great games."
 
The Colonels open their season with a trip to Reading, Pa. to face PSU-Berks on September 1st at 7:00 p.m.  They open play at Bruggeworth Field with Juniata on September 7th at 7:00 p.m., before opening conference play by hosting FDU-Florham on October 2nd at 3:00 p.m. for homecoming weekend.