2015 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's soccer team

The 2015 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's soccer team represented St. Francis College during the 2015 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 ninth year at the helm of the Terriers. In 2014, St. Francis Brooklyn won the NEC Tournament Championship and played in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. For 2015, St. Francis Brooklyn was voted as the NEC preseason favorite by the league's head coaches. The Terriers, which have won six NEC Tournament titles in their history, received five first place votes in the annual poll.[1]

2015 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's soccer
Brooklyn Bridge Cup Champions
Conference	Northeast Conference
2015 record	10–4–4 (3–2–2 NEC)
Head coach	Tom Giovatto (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Sinan Selmani (9th season) Christopher Helms (2nd season) Andy Cormack (1st season)
Home stadium	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5

2015 Northeast Conference men's soccer standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
LIU Brooklyn ‡	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	5	–	5
Saint Francis (PA)	5	–	2	–	0			11	–	5	–	4
Robert Morris	4	–	2	–	1			10	–	8	–	1
St. Francis Brooklyn	3	–	2	–	2			10	–	3	–	5
Central Connecticut	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	9	–	2
Bryant	1	–	3	–	3			3	–	8	–	5
Sacred Heart	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	12	–	1
Fairleigh Dickinson	0	–	5	–	2			2	–	12	–	3
‡-Tournament champion + - Invited to the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship As of November 20, 2015; Rankings from NSCAA

The Terriers ended their season at 10–4–4 overall and 3–2–2 in conference play. The Terriers qualified for the NEC Tournament with the 4th seed and lost to LIU Brooklyn in the semifinals on penalty kicks after two overtime periods. Of note, the Terriers ended the season first in the country in Shutout Percentage and were nationally ranked after winning their first nine games.[2][3]

Regular season

The Terriers started the season unbeaten in their first 9 games and as a result were ranked at 22nd Nationally by the NSCAA Top 25 Coaches Poll for the first time in the Tom Giovatto era.[3] After the national ranking, the Terriers were stunned by a double-overtime loss to NJIT. The loss brought St. Francis Brooklyn to a 7–1–2 record and marked the end of their non-conference schedule. Between their rise and fall in national rankings St. Francis Brooklyn and LIU Brooklyn co-hosted the first annual Brooklyn Bridge Cup.[4] The field included UMass Lowell, St. Bonaventure and both Brooklyn teams. St. Francis went on to win the inaugural Brooklyn Bridge Cup.

In Northeast Conference play the Terriers finished at 3–2–2 and 10–3–4 overall. Throughout conference play the Terriers received votes from coaches for the NSCAA Top 25 in the nation ranking. Yet, with the final loss of the season to LIU Brooklyn (0–1), they stopped receiving votes. With the loss St. Francis Brooklyn cemented its 4th seed and faced 1st seed LIU Brooklyn in the opening round of the 2015 Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Tournament. At the end of the regular season St. Francis Brooklyn still led the nation with a minuscule 0.38 goals against average and .71 shutout percentage, they were also second in save percentage (.863).[5] Also of note, the Terriers have outscored their opponents 30–7 in the regular season, and their 31-team goals have come from 15 different players.[6]

Prior to the start of the NEC Tournament, Senior goalkeeper Jack Binks, senior midfielders Harry Odell and Vincent Bezecourt, along with senior defender Cyril Coisne were selected to the All-NEC's First Team.[7] Junior defender Paul Galimi was named to the Second Team and freshman Tomas De Andrade was named to the All-Rookie Team.[7]

NEC Tournament

The Terriers had won two consecutive NEC Tournament Championships (2013–14) and were looking for a third. The Terriers qualified for the Tournament with the 4th seed and faced 1st seed LIU Brooklyn on November 13. LIU Brooklyn went a perfect 7–0–0 in conference play. The last time St. Francis and LIU Brooklyn met in the NEC tournament was in 1997, the Blackbirds won 2–0. The Terriers lost to LIU Brooklyn on penalty kicks 3–4 after being tied 1–1 for two overtime periods.

2015 squad

As of September 2, 2015.[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 00 GK  GUY Andrew Nestor 1 GK  GBR Jack Binks 2 MF  USA Leo Folla 3 DF  USA Dominick Falanga 4 DF  AUS Paul Galimi 6 FW  GER Lukas Hauer 7 MF  FRA Vincent Bezecourt 8 DF  GER Fabian Suele 9 MF  ESP John Makaya 10 MF  GBR Harry Odell 11 FW  USA Yussuf Olajide

No. Pos. Nation Player 12 DF  FRA Collyns Laokandi 14 MF  USA Carvel Crossman 15 MF  USA Kiriakos Papanikolaou 17 MF  USA Federico Curbelo 19 MF  FRA Cyril Coisne 20 MF  USA Adrian Cosovic 21 FW  GER Leonard Kirschner 22 MF  USA Salvatore Barone 23 MF  VEN Tommy De Andrade 33 DF  USA Nadim Saqui 91 GK  USA Seth Erdman

Captains in bold

Schedule

Date Time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site City, State
Non-Conference Regular Season
August 28, 2015* 7:00 pm		at Connecticut	T 0–0 ^2OT	0–0–1	Morrone Stadium (3,618) Storrs, CT
September 4, 2015* 7:00 pm		UMass Lowell Brooklyn Bridge Cup	W 3–0	1–0–1	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (125) Brooklyn, NY
September 6, 2015* 1:00 pm		St. Bonaventure Brooklyn Bridge Cup	W 3–0	2–0–1	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (147) Brooklyn, NY
September 9, 2015* 7:00 pm		Lafayette	W 1–0 ^2OT	3–0–1	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (405) Brooklyn, NY
September 12, 2015* 2:00 pm		at Saint Peter's	T 1–1 ^2OT	3–0–2	Joseph J. Jaroschak Field (0) Jersey City, NJ
September 16, 2015* 7:00 pm		Saint Joseph's	W 2–0	4–0–2	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (275) Brooklyn, NY
September 20, 2015* 2:00 pm		at Howard	W 5–0	5–0–2	William H. Greene Stadium (57) Washington, D.C.
September 23, 2015* 7:00 pm		at Rhode Island	W 2–0	6–0–2	URI Soccer Complex (215) Kingston, RI
September 26, 2015* 1:00 pm		Albany	W 1–0 ^2OT	7–0–2	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (225) Brooklyn, NY
October 3, 2015* 5:00 pm	No. 22	at NJIT	L 2–3 ^2OT	7–1–2	J. Malcolm Simon Stadium (350) Newark, NJ
Northeast Conference Regular Season
October 9, 2015 7:00 pm		Bryant	T 0–0 ^2OT	7–1–3 (0–0–1)	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (150) Brooklyn, NY
October 11, 2015 1:00 pm		at Central Connecticut	W 1–0 ^OT	8–1–3 (1–0–1)	CCSU Soccer Field (373) New Britain, CT
October 16, 2015 7:00 pm		Saint Francis (PA)	W 5–0	9–1–3 (2–0–1)	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (250) Brooklyn, NY
October 18, 2015 2:00 pm		Robert Morris	L 0–1 ^2OT	9–2–3 (2–1–1)	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (215) Brooklyn, NY
October 25, 2015 1:00 pm		Sacred Heart	W 3–0	10–2–3 (3–1–1)	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (307) Brooklyn, NY
October 30, 2015 7:00 pm		at Fairleigh Dickinson	T 1–1 ^2OT	10–2–4 (3–1–2)	FDU Soccer Field Teaneck, NJ
November 8, 2015 1:00 pm		at LIU Brooklyn Battle of Brooklyn	L 1–0	10–3–4 (3–2–2)	LIU Field Brooklyn, NY
Northeast Conference Tournament
November 13, 2015 3:00 pm		at LIU Brooklyn Semifinals	L 1–1 (PK, 3–4) ^2OT	10–4–4	LIU Field Brooklyn, NY
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

2015 NSCAA/Continental Tire college rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	Pre	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	Final
National[9]				RV	RV	22	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked. RV=Others receiving votes.

Poll	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	10th	11th	Final
North East Region[10]	6	3	2	2	1	1	1	3	3	4	7	9

Awards

• Vincent Bezecourt, NCAA Division I All-Northeast Regional First team and Third Team All-American[11][12]
• Cyril Coisne, NCAA Division I All-Northeast Regional First team
• Jack Binks, NCAA Division I All-Northeast Regional Third team

See also

• St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's soccer
• 2015 NCAA Division I men's soccer season
• Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Tournament
• 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship

References

1. "Two-Time Defending Champion St. Francis Brooklyn Installed As NEC Men's Soccer Preseason Favorite". NortheastConference.org. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
2. "Shutout Percentage". National Collegiate Athletic Association. NCAA.com. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
3. "Ranked and ready, Terriers soccer chases title three". brooklyneagle.com. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
4. "Men's Soccer Hosts First Annual Astroturf Brooklyn Bridge Cup". liuathletics.com. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
5. "College Soccer Update: Conference tourney time!". nbcsports.com. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
6. "Men's Soccer Looks For NEC Championship Three-Peat This Weekend". SFCAthletics.com. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
7. "RMU Striker Neco Brett Becomes First-Ever Three-Time NEC Men's Soccer Player of the Year". NortheastConference.org. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
8. "2015 Men's Soccer Roster". sfcathletics.com. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
9. "NSCAA NCAA Division I Men - National - Poll 5 - September 29, 2015". nscaa.com. Archived from the original on 2 October 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
10. "2015 NSCAA/Continental Tire College Rankings". nscaatv.com. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
11. "Senior Midfielder Vincent Bezecourt Named Third Team All-American". SFCAthletics.com. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
12. "New York Red Bulls II Sign Vincent Bezecourt". newyorkredbulls.com. Retrieved 26 June 2017.