The College of Staten Island Men's and Women's Soccer programs will kick off the 2023 regular season at home on Thursday. The women will open a doubleheader with a matchup against Saint Michael's College and the men will face the Bloomfield College Bears in the second of the two games. Both teams missed the playoffs last season, but each team enters 2023 with plenty of reasons for optimism ahead of their season-opener later this week. For the women, their roster has grown in size since the conclusion of the 2022 season, and they return several key players from last year. The team also named Alex Mendolia the new head coach in March, and he quickly went to work recruiting a host of new talent to the roster. As for the men, they are led by second-year head coach Alex Cuba who has also increased his team's roster size with the addition of many new players. Anchoring a solid group of returners are captains Daniel Angulo, Leandro Angulo and Amari Thompson. Despite missing the postseason in 2022, both teams will benefit from an increase in the playoff field from four teams to six, a change that will take effect for the first time this year. This means that each team will have to move up just one spot in the standings to qualify for the playoffs as both the men and women finished seventh in the conference last season. A postseason berth for either team would be the first Division II playoff appearance in program history.
MEN'S SOCCER - KEY RETURNERS
*500+ minutes or > 15 games played in 2022
DEFENSE
Luis Ascencio Cueva, Steven Flores & Leandro Angulo
Though the Dolphins were outscored by a wide margin last season, the goals disparity was not the fault of their defense. The trio of Ascencio Cueva, Flores and Angulo consistently made goal-saving defensive plays in the back, and cut off other scoring chances before they happened. Their impact on the game also extends onto the attack with both Ascencio Cueva and Angulo tallying an assist during the 2022 season. Angulo will also serve as a team captain this season, his third with the Dolphins.
MIDFIELD
Steven Branco, Yousef Dardeir & Daniel Angulo
This trio of returning CSI midfielders combined to produce five goals last season, and Angulo is the team's leading goal-scorer among returning players with three last season. Angulo has logged over 3000 minutes in his CSI career, scored 7 goals and dished out 6 assists totaling 20 career points. Branco will enter his third season with the Dolphins and Dardeir will begin his second in 2023. Each scored once in 2022 and Branco served as a team captain late in the season when players missed games for yellow card suspensions down the stretch. This year, Angulo will return as one of the three CSI captains.
FORWARDS
Jahmali Peterson, Steven Adebisi & Brendan Maguire
Adebisi and Maguire each found the back of the net twice last season from the forward position while Peterson added an assist in limited action. This season will be the second with the Dolphins for Adebisi, the third for Maguire, and the fourth for Peterson. Peterson joins Daniel Angulo as the two longest tenured Dolphins with each joining the program in the 2019. That year, Peterson scored a career-high four goals to go along with an assist.
GOALKEEPER
Amari Thompson
Thompson made quite the impression in his freshman season last year. He saved 70% of the 177 shots he faced allowing less than two goals per game in 15 starts. He earned an ECC Defensive Player of the Week award for his efforts near the midway point of the 2022 season and was the only Dolphins goalkeeper to register a win last year. Thompson will join Leandro Angulo and Daniel Angulo as a team captain in 2023 as he assumes a larger leadership role in addition to his work in goal.
WOMEN'S SOCCER - KEY RETURNERS
*500+ minutes in 2022
DEFENSE
Arielle Uy & Megan Meagher
Uy and Meagher are the only returning backers who appeared in more than five games for the Dolphins last season. Meagher logged huge minutes for the Dolphins last year as well surpassing the 1100 minute mark for the 2022 season. Though Uy only appeared in nine games, she did not miss a single game following her debut in late-September. She then proceeded to secure a larger role as the season progressed and should expect to factor in this season as well.
MIDFIELD
Emily Albano, Jacquelyn D'Amico & Adriana Melgar
Aside from Meagher and goalkeeper Sara Villacres, no returning Dolphins played more minutes than any of these three midfielders last season. Albano led the team in minutes last year playing 1238 of a possible 1260 minutes in 2022. Melgar also surpassed 1000 minutes-played during her freshman campaign last year and scored her first career goal. D'Amico was tied for the team lead in goals scored with 3 and in points with 6, and she is back for a third season with CSI as she continues her education as a graduate student.
Nadia Evola, Kolleen Rodriguez & Isabela Castro
Evola, Rodriguez, and Castro all appeared in 10 games or fewer last season, but each made an impact during their time on the pitch. In just six games, Evola tallied 2 points on a pair of assists, and Rodriguez picked up an assist on one of the team's 10 goals last season. Castro started six times in 2022 and played 80 minutes or more five times in 9 games, but she did not play in any CSI's last three contests.
GOALKEEPERS
Brianna Dore and Sara Villacres
The Dolphins return both of their 2022 goalkeepers this season. Dore started two games and appeared in eight saving just shy of 69% of the shots she faced. Villacres started the other 12 games and saved nearly 75% of the shots she faced earning both CSI wins. Villacres also earned an ECC Honor Roll mention early in the season following a 12-save performance against Goldey-Beacom and a 5-save shutout win against D'Youville.