PREVIEW: Veteran Group Leads Men's Soccer Into New Era
Regis Athletics Fall Previews
Men's Cross Country: Pride Looks To Youth Movement For Success in 2017
Women's Cross Country: Expectations High for Experienced Women's Cross Country
Men's Soccer: Veteran Group Leads Men's Soccer Into New Era
WESTON, Mass. – The Regis men's soccer team enters the 2017 season with a veteran and seasoned group, a huge plus as the program shifts over to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference. The Pride advanced to the NECC championship game last season and will need every bit of that effort in the GNAC where Regis was picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll.
"The GNAC will be a tremendous challenge," said head coach Renato Capobianco who enters his sixth season at the helm of the Pride. "There will not be any weak games and I think it will be exciting for the players to know that every game will be a battle." The team should enter the league season with a level of confidence having gone 3-2 last season against GNAC teams.
The Pride returns five all-conference selections, three from the 10-man senior class in Collin Thurston (Temecula, Calif.), David Venegas (Escondido, Calif.) and Emiky Pires (Boston, Mass.) but it will be a pair of underclassmen in Derek Triana (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) and Jefferson Lorimer (Lynn, Mass.) that will need to champion the goal scoring effort.
Triana was the Pride's top goal scoring threat last season. Finding the back of the net 12 times, he became the all-time leading goal scorer in program history (20) and was just one goal shy (12) of equaling the single season record as well. "I'm sure all the GNAC schools will do their due diligence and know who Derek is," said Capobianco of his all-conference returnee, "which is why it is important everyone else contribute to scoring."
Triana hopes to continue his success in the midfield and Lorimer will look to continue his solid play up top. Along with outgoing seniors Zach Sindoni and and Don Gomez, Lorimer's five goals last season tied him for second on the team. Despite that success, both Triana and Lorimer will have something to prove. Outside of Triana setting up Lorimer for the gamewinner in a 1-0 win at Lasell, no goals or assists came from either last season against the team's other four GNAC opponents.
Capobianco mentions several other names the team will need contributions from. "Scoring has to come from a lot of places, you look at a guy like Grayson Owens who is capable of scoring, you look at a guy like Ken Niyonzima (Burlington, Mass.) who's capable of scoring, you look at Litchie Barbosa (Boston, Mass.), Daniel Calderone (Wellesley, Mass.), really all the forwards, that's why you're a forward." Barbosa joined Triana in the midfield last season where the tandem recorded 10 assists between them. Barbosa's team-high six assists helped ignite much of the Pride attack.
Regis kicks off the season at Eastern Nazarene (Sept. 2) before playing its home opener against former NECC foe Lesley (Sept. 6). The team dives into conference play at Anna Maria (Sept. 9), then visits 2016 MASCAC Tournament finalist Fitchburg State (Sept. 13). The Pride plays its GNAC home opener on Sept. 20 vs Mount Ida.
October ushers in a slew of matches against conference heavyweights when the Pride plays the top three teams from this season's preseason poll including a home match against defending champion Johnson & Wales (RI) on Oct. 11.
Regis closes the regular season on the road against Emerson on Oct. 23.
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