Sparkill, N.Y. - The St. Thomas Aquinas College Men's Soccer team returns to action for the 2024 season with a seasoned and immensely talented lineup, which is poised to make a statement within the region and a deep postseason run. The Spartans were selected to finish third in the annual conference preseason coaches poll released in late August.
In 2023, STAC earned an overall record of 10-2-5 and a 7-0-1 mark in ECC play, securing the program's second ECC regular season title in the last three seasons. However, the top-seeded Spartans were upset by the University of the District of Columbia in a penalty kick shootout at Spartan Field to decide one of the semifinal rounds of the conference tournament.
STAC returns 15 players from a season ago, as Joshua Ashie (17 GP, 1A), George Stephenson (3 GP), Dwyant Suazo (17 GP), Yahir Hernandez (15 GP, 1G, 2A), Uhunoma Fredrick-Ilekhuoba (17 GP, 5G, 2A), ECC Offensive Player of the Year Kevon Evans (16 GP, 12G, 8A), Jalen Moni (16 GP, 3G), Jerry Tagliavia (5 GP, 1G), Cole Allen (2022 - 11 GP, 1A), Christian Ferlisi (16 GP, 1A), Angel Catalan Hernandez (7 GP, 1G), Tabor McDaniels (2 GP, 0-1, 3.69 GAA, .333 SV%), Gino Gandzior (3 GP, 0-1, 1.22 GAA, .750 SV%), Leandro Casar Useche (7 GP, 1A) and Joseph Sullivan (1 GP) will all make their way back to Sparkill.
A mix of freshman and transfers were brought in to help bolster the Spartans roster and replenish depth in several positions. Johan Morales (Goalkeeper/Norristown, Pa.), Franco Israel (Back/Buenos Aires, Argentina), Christopher Adadevoh (Back/Hillside, N.J.), Francisco Degiorgi (Back & Midfield/Lisbon, Portugal), Zaire Wharton (Midfield/Queens, N.Y.), James Ray (Forward & Midfield/Auckland, New Zealand), Maziko Jiya (Midfield/Blantyre, Malawi), Elias Ait Bouali (Midfield/Paris, France), Mika Leue (Midfield/Osnabrueck, Germany), Sebastian Ortega (Midfield/Ridgefield Park, N.J.), Erik Wikan (Forward/Norway), Rafael Capella (Back/Sao Paulo, Brazil), Nicolas Pavlou (Back/Limassol, Cyprus), Saurav Singh (Back/Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Adrian Castillo (Midfield/Panama), Joel Jaime (Back & Midfield/Cortland, N.Y.), Corleone Plaiun (Midfield/Albion, N.Y.) and Dalton Houser (Goalkeeper/Lakeland, Fla.)
The biggest change to the STAC Men's Soccer program in 2024 will be on the sideline, as Edison Sanchez Aviles takes over as the team's head coach, following the retirement of Graham Brown after 22 seasons at the helm of the Spartans. Sanchez Aviles is highly regarded within the soccer community, having trained many talented soccer athletes over the last four years with the World Class Football Club, which is just down the road from the college in nearby Orangeburg, N.Y.
The Pearl River, New York native's college coaching experience includes a stop at Division I Seton Hall University (2021-2024), where he helped support the recruitment of elite international and domestic student-athletes while also assisting with the scouting of opponents, game day preparations and on-field coaching as an assistant. Sanches Aviles was part of the Pirates 2022 and 2023 Big East Conference Tournament appearances and their 2022 NCAA Tournament run. He also directed several of the university's soccer ID clinics and summer camps.
Prior to his term in South Orange, Sanchez Aviles spent two years (2018-2020) in New York City at Division I Manhattan College, where he served as an assistant coach and helped improve not only the Jaspers' win totals, but also their academic success. Edison was also a part of the program's 2019 MAAC Tournament Conference appearance.
Sanchez Aviles' collegiate coaching resume began in 2014 with Monroe College of New Rochelle. In his five seasons with the Mustangs, he served as both the Head Coach of the women's team and the first assistant coach for the men's program. During that time, Edison led the Monroe women to a top-20 national ranking and the regional final in 2018 and helped the Mustangs men to four NJCAA National Tournament appearances (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018) and a pair of NJCAA National Finals in 2014 and 2016.
Sanchez Aviles' staff includes new comers Anthony Contreras and former Spartans midfielder Andres Gonzalez, while George Prepis, Oscar Galvis, Andres Gomez, Mark Rajovic and Patrick McAvoy all return in their familiar roles as Assistant Coaches.
St. Thomas Aquinas College will open their new season at Spartan Field, hosting Goldey-Beacom College on Thursday, September 5, with a 3:30 p.m. scheduled kickoff.
2024 ECC Men's Soccer Preseason Poll
1. Queens (72 points, 4 first-place votes)
2023 Record – 12-8-2, 5-3 ECC
2. Mercy (69 points, 2 first-place votes)
2023 Record – 9-4-5, 5-0-3 ECC
3. St. Thomas Aquinas (67 points, 1 first-place vote)
2023 Record – 10-2-5, 7-0-1 ECC
4. District of Columbia (50 points, 1 first-place vote)
2023 Record – 6-7-7, 3-1-4 ECC
5. Roberts Wesleyan (46 points)
2023 Record – 5-6-4, 3-3-2 ECC
6. Staten Island (34 points, 1 first-place vote)
2023 Record – 5-8-4, 2-3-3 ECC
7. Molloy (28 points)
2023 Record – 3-11-3, 2-5-1 ECC
8. D’Youville (22 points)
2023 Record – 0-13, 0-8 ECC
9. Daemen (17 points)
2023 Record – 3-11-1, 2-6 ECC