Brockport, NY – The SUNY Brockport men's soccer team opens the new year at home under the lights on Friday, September 1^st at 7pm. The Golden Eagles will play host to the RIT Tigers to get the new season underway.
 
Recap of Last Season: The 2022 campaign for the Green and Gold saw a highly competitive team make a deep postseason run. The squad finished 9-3-7 overall with a 6-2-1 mark in the SUNYAC to claim the fourth seed for the conference tournament. Brockport hosted Geneseo in the first round, advancing due to a 5-4 advantage in penalty kicks after remaining tied at 2-2 following overtime. In the semifinals, the Golden Eagles upset the top-seeded Cortland Red Dragons, 3-2, with a last-minute goal in regulation. However, the postseason run came to an end in the SUNYAC Finals. Tied at 0-0 with Oneonta after overtime, the Red Dragons took the trophy by winning, 2-1, in the penalty kick shootout. The program was recognized with a pair of All-Region nods, four All-Conference selections, and by winning SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year.
 
LaPietra's Winning Tradition: Brockport men soccer's all-time leader in wins, Gary LaPietra continues to keep the team in winning form. Back for a 26^th year at the helm, he is looking for a third SUNYAC Title to go with his trophies from 2009 and 2018. A conference championship would result in LaPietra's seventh NCAA Tournament berth. After collecting SUNYAC Coaching Staff of the Year last season, he has now won the honor four times in his career (2002, 2009, 2018, 2023). Gary has kept both Dan Lynd and David LaPietra on his staff from last year as well as adding Vince Correa and former player Ryan Gall.
 
All-Region Forward: Russ Domm's first year with the Golden Eagles concluded with a First-Team All-Region selection. He was also named First-Team All-Conference last season as a sophomore. Despite playing in just 12 of the team's 19 matches he was second for Brockport with 13 points on six goals and an assist. Domm led the team and ranked fourth in the SUNYAC with three game-winning goals in 2022. He is back for another go around this year looking to pick up where he left off.
 
All-Conference Returners: The Golden Eagles are fortunate to return two other All-Conference players along with Domm this season. 2^nd-Team All-Conference goalkeeper, Andrew Taylor is back after an outstanding junior year. He led the SUNYAC with 78 total saves, a .821 saves percentage, and seven clean sheets. Taylor's goals against average of .88 ranked third in the conference this year. He allowed just 17 goals after facing 178 shots on the way to a 9-3-7 record in net. Captain and starting defender, Josh Fitzpatrick resumes his role on the backline which resulted in a 3^rd-Team All-Conference nod last year. Josh was one of just two players for the Golden Eagles to play and start all 19 games last season. From his spot in the back line he scored one goal on the year, coming in a draw against Medaille.
 
Veteran Presence: Along with the few all-conference returners, the program is bringing back plenty of veteran experience to the pitch. DJ Taylor, Seamus Parker, and Dylan Rippe are all with the team again for one more go as graduate students. The junior class returns Brendan Hill, Andy Cespedes, Giovanni Cardona, Malcolm Phillips, Warren Banks, and Dylan Lopez. Brady Reinagel, Max Voyer, Jayden Green, Josh Bird, and Alex Rivara are all back as sophomores in 2023.
 
Welcome to Brockport: The new season means a collection of new faces at Brockport, including the 2023 freshman class. The first year players consist of Reiley Pappaeliou, Jadin Lyle, Sean Lee, Ryan Constable, Ryan Menno, Kelvin Rodriguez, Drew Fajardo, and Ben Cronk. Other newcomers to the program include sophomore Peter Tinaj, juniors Evan Stevely, Chuck Domm, and Omid Ghulami, as well as senior Trevor Clark.
 
Opening Weekend: Brockport is fortunate to have two home games this weekend to begin the season. The first matchup of the set is against RIT on Friday night. The Tigers completed the 2022 season with an overall mark of 8-5-5 and a 4-3-2 record in the Liberty League. They fell to St. Lawrence, 1-0, in the conference semifinals after a, 2-1, overtime win against RPI in the first round.
 
The action continues in Brockport on Sunday, as Elmira comes to town for a 1pm matchup on the turf. Last year the Soaring Eagles went 9-6-3 overall with a 3-5-1 conference record in the Empire 8. Fighting for a spot in the postseason in the final week of the regular season, Elmira missed out on the conference tournament after losses to Houghton and Hartwick to end the year.
 
Last season the Green and Gold also took on RIT and Elmira for the first two matches. The team tied RIT, 1-1, and tied Elmira, 2-2, on the road. Brockport will aim to turn those into wins to start 2023.
 
Coming Up: Following the opening weekend on their home turf, the Golden Eagles will hit the road in the middle of next week for some more action under the lights. They will head to St. John Fisher on Wednesday, September 6^th for a 7pm start.