2025 Wilkes Men's Soccer Season Preview
WILKES-BARRE - The Wilkes University men's soccer team gets set to take the field as they commence with their 2025 season.
The Colonels finished their 2024 campaign 4-15-1 overall with a 1-8 record in Landmark Conference play. Head coach Michael Piranian enters his ninth season with first-year assistant coach Xavier Guerriro '25.
"We're all excited," Pirianian exclaimed when asked about the upcoming season. "We just came off an exciting practice and preseason in general…I'm very excited."
The team welcomes back twenty-one players, while adding thirteen new Colonels to the roster for the upcoming season.
"Lots of leadership and leaders on the field…we expect freshmen to compete," says Piranian. "But they're gelling well."
Leading the attack for the Colonels this season are juniors Landon Kelly (Marcellus, NY/Marcellus Senior High School) and Kendall Heck (West Wyoming, PA/Wyoming Area High School) with a combined forty-seven career shots thus far. Sophomore Elijah Emedoh-Kaba (Gilbertsville, PA/Boyertown Area) and first-year Devon Nelson (Dallas, PA/Dallas) round out this year's group of forwards.
The Colonels feature a mix of returning players and first-year student-athletes making key contributions in the midfield. Seth Marsteller (Coplay, PA/Whitehall), Will Wagstaff (Allentown, PA/Parkland), Elhadji Kallo (Silver Spring, MD/Albert Einstein), Luke Ferrarese (Bel Air, MD/Calvert Hall College), Josey Williamson (Oley Valley, PA/Oley Valley), and Nick Romas (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) will lead the group, combining over 3,000 minutes for the last season. Juniors Owen Lewis (Ellicott City, MD/Howard High School), Ian Farbman (Marlboro, NJ/Marlboro High School), and Giovanni Mazzola (Whitehall, PA/Whitehall High School) and sophomore Lucas Saliani (Oakland, NJ/St. Joseph Regional) make up the returners. First-years Lorenzo Lici (), Julian Lee (Mullica Hill, NJ/Clearview Regional), and Diego Almieda (Bethlehem, PA/Liberty) join them to take the field.
In defense, lone senior Brett Sanders (Goshen, NY/Goshen) is joined by juniors Kevin Henris (Commack, NY/Commack High School), Joseph Jackson (West Chester, PA/Bayard Ruston), and Grant Gerstner (Carlisle, PA/Cumberland Valley High School) who started in all nineteen games and recorded 1332 minutes on the field last season. Rounding out the back line are sophomores Charles Floyd (Woodbury, NJ/Woodbury), Garran Roth (Macungie, PA/Emmaus), Garrett Luijpers (Manhattan, NY/Beacon), and Daniel Bend (Sheffield, UK/Wath Academy) adding first-years Jack Considine (Forked River, NJ/Lacey Township), Nicholas Bisconti (Malboro, NJ/Malboro), Bryce Hannings (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy), Patrick Kopacz (Dunmore, PA/Dunmore), Timmy Roberts (Lake Ariel, PA/Western Wayne), and Ian Balisalisa (North Wales, PA/North Penn).
The Colonels welcome back junior Matthew Conti (Florence, NJ/Florence Township Memorial High School) in net, who totaled 1431 minutes and 119 saves last season. Conti is joined by first-years Landon Keller (Provo, UT/Timpview) and Tyler Tarnalicki (Plains, PA/Holy Redeemer).
The Colonels will begin their 2025 campaign Friday, August 29, at 7:00 p.m. where they will host Marywood University in their season opener on Bruggeworth Field.
"It will be an exciting start of the season for the both of us," Piranian states.
Wilkes starts its third year of Landmark play against Elizabethtown College, where the Colonels and Bluejays will face off on Bruggeworth field on Saturday, September 27, at 3:30 p.m.
