Contact: Sam Fretto, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant, sjfretto@noctrl.edu
Aug. 27, 2025- In the wake of a fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the North Central College men’s soccer team faces a unique challenge this season ahead, replacing the seven starters lost from last season.
“Recruiting was a main target for us,” said head coach Enzo Fuschino, who enters his sixth season leading the program.
The latest recruiting class from Fuschino includes 22 newcomers, including 21 freshmen.
“We have a pretty strong recruiting class coming in this year. We have high expectations, and it all depends on how fast they get used to the college game. We lost seven starters from last year’s team, but these men should be able to fill in quite nicely,” said Fuschino.
The Cardinals are looking to replace the team's leading goal scorer, Jared Ureta, who scored seven goals for the Cardinals, and the team's leading playmaker, Luis Aviles, who accounted for four assists last year.
Help could come in the form of junior midfielder and forward Will Mayer, who had a breakout 2024 season, netting three goals and three assists across 21 games. The Cardinals will also look in the direction of sophomore forward Gege Nikiema, who scored a goal and an assist in 17 games.
The Cardinals touted the second-best defense in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) in 2024, allowing just .81 goals per game and 10 shutouts.
Sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Szalai was the anchor of the defense, saving 28 shots in 10 games while allowing just four goals, for a .038 goals against average. Szalai was also credited with six shutouts last season. His efforts in the 2024 season put him on the United Soccer Coaches’ All-Region Fourth Team.
Fuschino is confident in the freshmen’s ability to come in and contribute right away but has high expectations for seniors Joris Rijnja and Jack Bonavia.
“I expect the seniors to be leaders on and off the field. They have the hunger and they know what it takes to compete. They have been at the NCAA Tournament every year of their collegiate career.”
Rijnja is a returning defender for the Cardinals, who started in 18 games last season, and will look to continue the excellent defensive prowess North Central has shown in previous seasons.
Despite finishing the 2024 campaign with a 10-5-6 record as well as winning the conference tournament and making the NCAA Tournament, the Cardinals are picked to finish third in the CCIW preseason coaches' poll.
North Park University was picked to win the conference with 64 points and eight of the possible nine first-place votes, with Wheaton College in second with 55 points and North Central in third with 48 points. Carroll University, which received the final first-place vote, placed fourth in the poll at 45 points. Illinois Wesleyan University was voted fifth (31), followed by Carthage College (28), Millikin University (25), and Augustana College and Elmhurst University tied with 18 points to round out the poll.
“I don’t believe in preseason polls,” says Fuschino. “It’s the poll at the end of the season that matters and we want to prove the polls wrong.”
The message from Fuschino to his players this year is a very simple one: “Don’t take anything for granted. Take it each game at a time and be exceptional all the time.” Fuschino continues, “It’s a tough conference top to bottom, but expectations are as high as they have always been.”
The Cardinals begin the 2025 season on the road as they travel to Galesburg, Ill., on Friday, Aug. 29 for a 4 p.m. kickoff against Knox College.
Credits:
Mark Black, Maya DiGiammarino, Chris Kohley