2016 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's soccer team

2016 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's soccer
NEC Regular Season Champions NEC Tournament Champions
NCAA Tournament, First Round
Conference	Northeast Conference
2016 record	12–5–3 (6–0–1 NEC)
Head coach	Tom Giovatto (10th season)
Assistant coaches	Christopher Helms (3rd season) Andy Cormack (2nd season)
Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

The 2016 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's soccer team represented St. Francis College during the 2016 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Terrier's home games were played at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5. The team has been a member of the Northeast Conference since 1981 and was coached by Tom Giovatto, who was in his tenth year at the helm of the Terriers.

The Terriers ended their season at 12–5–3 overall and 6–0–1 in conference play. The Terriers won the NEC Regular season championship and the Tournament Championship. Of note, the Terriers ended the season seventh in the country in goals against average (0.60) and shutout percentage (0.55).^[1]

Regular season[]

The Terriers opened their season at Lafayette, winning in double-overtime 1–0 on a goal by sophomore Djiby Sarr.^[2] Due to his golden goal, Sarr was named NEC Soccer Player of the Week.^[3] The Terriers then proceeded to lose three games in a row to Rhode Island, UMass Lowell, and Hartford. The Terriers then tied Hartwick 1–1, defeated NJIT, 2–1, in double overtime and came up with a 1–1 draw versus Army. St. Francis Brooklyn defender Faouzi Taieb scored his first goal as a Terrier in the 66th minute of their 2–1 win over NJIT, and was named the Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week.^[4] With a 2–3–2 record, the Terriers then went on to defeat Saint Peter's and Howard. Since going undefeated in their last five games and winning two in a row, the Terriers were ranked 10th in the NSCAA North East Region week 5 rankings.^[5] In their last non-conference match-up, the Terriers lost to George Washington to snap their five-game undefeated streak and bring their record to 4–4–2. For their non-conference games the Terriers displayed a clear home-field advantage by posting a 3–1–1 record, while posting a 1–3–1 record on the road.

The Terriers started league play by defeating Sacred Heart on the road 2–0. The Terriers then proceeded to go undefeated through conference play and finished 6–0–1. During their seven-game undefeated streak, the Terriers also shutout every team faced, by not allowing a goal. Going into their last game of the season the Terriers were leading the conference standings and faced a winner-take-all match against LIU Brooklyn, as they did in 2015. If the Terriers lost they would tie LIU Brooklyn in the standings, but LIU would have the tie-breaker in the win. Instead the St. Francis men’s soccer team won 1–0 over rival LIU at home, wrapping up the program’s first regular-season conference title since 1997.^[6] By virtue of the win, the top-seeded Terriers (10–4–3, 6–0–1) will host the conference tournament, opening with a match against No. 4 Sacred Heart on Nov. 11. St. Francis has a shot at its third Northeast Conference title in four years.

After the regular season ended, St. Francis Brooklyn set a program record by having eight different players awarded NEC men's soccer honors.^[7] St. Francis Brooklyn claimed three of the four major awards presented by the NEC. Senior defender Collyns Laokandi was named the NEC Defensive Player of the Year and freshman defender Faouzi Taieb collected NEC Rookie of the Year honors. Head coach Tom Giovatto was named the NEC Coach of the Year after leading the Terriers to their first NEC regular season title in 18 years.

NEC Tournament[]

For the third time in four seasons, the St. Francis Terriers' men's soccer team is returning to the Northeast Conference Championship, thanks to NEC First Team All-Conference forward Salvatore Barone who scored in the 78th minute on an assist by fellow First Teamer Dominick Falanga. The Terriers held on to defeat third seed Sacred Heart at home, 1–0, in the semifinal game. In the championship game, the Terriers won 1–0 against Saint Francis (PA) in double overtime on a Lukas Hauer penalty kick.

NCAA tournament[]

The Terriers traveled to Hanover, New Hampshire to face the Dartmouth Big Green in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Terriers have played against Dartmouth on two other occasions, with the all-time record at 1–1. St. Francis Brooklyn lost in the 104 minute on a golden goal by Dartmouth. Goalie Seth Erdman had a game high eight saves, as he held off the Big Green through the two regulation periods and one overtime period, but gave up the game-winner in double overtime. For the Terriers, it was the first goal they've surrendered in 982 minutes.

2016 squad[]

As of August 24, 2016.^[8] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 0 GK  GUY Andrew Nestor 1 GK  ITA Roberto Bazzichetto 2 MF  USA Leo Folla 3 DF  USA Dominick Falanga 4 MF  SCO Kieran Young 5 DF  FRA Faouzi Taieb 6 MF  FRA Jules Paillard 7 MF  FRA Djiby Sarr 8 DF  GER Fabian Suele 10 MF  USA Federico Curbelo 11 FW  USA Yussuf Olajide 12 DF  FRA Collyns Laokandi

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  USA Amir Islami 15 MF  USA Kiriakos Papanikolaou 17 FW  ALB Grei Mujko 18 DF  USA Nicholas Koenig 19 FW  GER Lukas Hauer 20 FW  ALB Kledis Capollari 21 FW  GER Leonard Kirschner 22 MF  USA Salvatore Barone 23 MF  VEN Tommy De Andrade 25 DF  SCO Jack Cook 33 DF  USA Nadim Saqui 91 GK  USA Seth Erdman