Fall is slowly approaching, which means back to school. However, the Stony Brook Men’s Soccer team has already been getting back into the swing of things as its 2016 season has started.
The Seawolves are looking to redeem themselves after their first round playoff loss ended their season earlier than expected. However, head coach Ryan Anatol has already seen major improvements from last season and knows that his team means business this year.
“You look at last year, and we were a very young team,” coach Anatol said. “We started a lot of young guys last season. But when looking [at] our the team this year, it’s not an old group, but it’s not a young group. It’s a group that has now played college soccer games and they have a year or two of experience under their belts.”
However, the Seawolves will have a tough challenge this year — not just in their opponents, but in location.
The team has flip-flopped from the 2015-2016 season, in which they had nine home games, to having nine away games this season. However, sophomore midfielder Serge Gamwanya doesn’t think that it will be too difficult a task.
“In the spring season, we had three of our five games away,” Gamwanya said. “Coach was preparing us for this fall, to go on the road often and get the points we need. It really helped us preparing the road game mentality.”
Another challenge Stony Brook faces is in leadership. The team’s offensive leader of the last four years, Martin Giordano, graduated last spring and it seemed that there would be a lack of leadership without him. Both Anatol and Gamwanya don’t think that’s the case.
“He was here for four years, was a team leader, but he graduated, and that’s college soccer,” coach Anatol said. “We have guys who I think will fill in that hole from a play standpoint. I think junior forward Vince (Erdei) will take a larger role in the attack and we have guys who can play next to him and perform well. From a leadership point, we have plenty of guys from last year and years past who will fill the role easily.”
“Martin was a big leader for us last year,” Gamwanya said about his former teammate. “Last year, we got guys who were able to build off of his leadership, like Vince, (sophomore) Martieon Watson, me and junior Danny Espinoza. Those guys come in with their leadership and it’s different. Last year, we had one kind of leader and this year it feels like there is at least six leaders.”
With three games under their belt so far, the Seawolves will look to build on their 1-2-0 record to achieve the goal Gamwanya has set for himself and the team, which is for the team to be in the top two of its conference.
Player to Watch: Serge Gamwanya
Sophomore Serge Gamwanya was a standout player last season, winning Rookie of the Year with a total of 11 points on three goals and five assists. Four games in, and he’s picking up right where he left off last season, already having scored a goal.
“With time, he continues to get better,” Anatol said. “He’s had an entire fall and spring college soccer season to become more comfortable, get better and more settled. I think the weight room has been good for him, where he’s been able to get stronger. He’s also been able to take on more of a leadership role. He had an excellent freshman year, but he’s got a lot more time ahead of him and we can’t wait to see how he does.”
The weight room was the best decision Gamwanya could have made this off-season, as he stayed here at Stony Brook during the winter. He worked out the entire winter break instead of going home to relax. Between the work he put in over the summer and how he’s been performing this season so far, you can’t help but wonder if the sky is his limit.
