Men's Soccer

Men's Soccer 2008 Season Outlook

The 2008 season begins with very high expectations for the Wilmington University Men’s Soccer Program. Head Coach Nick Papanicolas has added Greg Cope as a goalkeeper coach to join his other assistants, Jeff Zoyac, Miles Dean, and Musa Kaba. Recruiting has brought a crop of new talented players to this years’ roster. Coach Papanicolas is coming off his best season as a head coach in 2007, finishing with a record of 12-5-2 and claiming the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship. Last season brought many first time honors for the Wildcats and Coach Papanicolas, including his first CACC Championship. He also placed three players on All-Region teams and four players were voted to the All-CACC teams..

Leading the cast of returning players are the three seniors, Agustin Aguilera (Yesleta/El Paso, TX), who was a 2007 2nd Team All-CACC selection and second leading scorer from the midfield position. Probyn Allen (Woodstown/Woodstown, NJ) returns after having season ending ACL Surgery along with defender Mark Pagano (Camden Catholic/Merchantville, NJ). The twelve remaining returnees include a talented group of juniors starting with CACC 1st Team and NSCAA 2nd Team All-New England Region selection, Sargbah Tarpeh (Overbrook/Philadelphia, PA). Tarpeh led the team in points and goals in 2007, and is joined by fellow standouts Selekie Kamara (Bartram/Philadelphia, PA) and Billy Curran (Salesianum/Chadds Ford, PA). Kamara and Curran are the backbone of the Wildcat defense, and both earned 2nd Team Daktronics All-New England Region honors last season. The strong returning junior class also includes defender Dave Dease (Delsea/Newfield, NJ), along with midfielders Fatoma Turay (Bartram/Philadelphia, PA) and Jose Coronado (Washington Lee/Falls Church, VA).

The sophomore class is led by midfielders Anthony Randazzo (Cumberland/Bridgeton, NJ) and Joe Stant (Caesar Rodney/Dover, DE), who was the team’s third leading scorer last season. Midfielder Josh Harman (Caesar Rodney/Dover, DE), and forwards Socrates Joachim (Caesar Rodney/Dover, DE) and Mohamed Camara (South Philadelphia/Philadelphia, PA) look to contribute, while goalkeeper Chris Ashiotes (Hammonton/Atco, NJ) will be fighting for the starting keeper position.

Coach Papanicolas has added many new faces to the program, including five transfers. Leading this new ensemble are two defenders from Genessee Community College, Mario Yepes (St. Thomas de Villanueva/ Caracas, Venezuela) and Lynton Pompey (Vessigny/Aripero, Trinidad). Also joining the team is defender Tony DiVirgilio (A.I. DuPont/Wilmington, DE) from Wesley College, forward Ryan Zuvic (Middletown/Middletown, DE) from Del Tech Community College, and finally forward Ryan McClain (Archbishop Ryan/Philadelphia, PA) from Holy Family University.

This year’s freshmen class, which includes two true freshmen and five players coming off their red-shirt years, will solidify the program’s future. Leading the freshmen class are the dynamic forwards Nickalus McDonald (Martin Luther King/Philadelphia, PA) & C.J. Prettyman (Nottingham/Mercerville, NJ). Rounding out the group is midfielder Alex MacCready (Central/Philadelphia, PA), and defenders Nick Smith (Washington Township/Sewell, NJ) and Melvin Tarpeh (Bartram, Philadelphia, PA). The two true freshmen are goalkeeper Ethan Kavanagh (Woodstown/Woodstown, NJ) and midfielder Carsten Wagner (Hofecker-Germany/Carney’s Point, NJ).

Coach Papanicolas has high hopes for the season and he knows the pressure will be on his squad, as they begin defense of their CACC Championship.