2017 WPI Engineers football team

The 2017 WPI Engineers football team represented Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the 2017 NCAA Division III football season.[1][2] It marked the Engineers' 128th overall season. The team played its home games at Alumni Stadium in Worcester, Massachusetts. They were led by eighth-year head coach Chris Robertson. This was the first season that WPI competed in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) for football.

2017 WPI Engineers football
New England Bowl, W, 17–3
Conference	New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference
2017 record	9–2 (6–1 NEWMAC)
Head coach	Chris Robertson (8th season)
Offensive coordinator	Matt Kelly (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Scott Sperone (1st season)
Captain	Lou Garcia Derek Pacheco Black Rice Brendan Hart Sam Malafronte
Home stadium	Alumni Stadium (Capacity: 2,000)

2017 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Springfield $^		7	–	0					10	–	1
WPI		6	–	1					9	–	2
MIT		5	–	2					7	–	3
Merchant Marine		4	–	3					6	–	4
Catholic University		3	–	4					5	–	5
Coast Guard		1	–	6					3	–	7
Maine Maritime		1	–	6					1	–	8
Norwich		1	–	6					1	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division III playoff participant

The Engineers finished the regular season with eight victories and two losses. The eight wins is the second most in school history (the Engineers posted nine wins in 1992), tying the 1983, 1989, and 1990 seasons.[3] WPI was selected to host a bowl game making it their third postseason appearance in school history. The Engineers defeated the SUNY Maritime Privateers 17-3 to win their first bowl game in school history.[4]

Personnel

Coaching Staff

Name	Position	Joined Staff
Chris Robertson	Head Coach	2010
Matt Kelly	Offensive Coordinator	2014
Scott Sperone	Defensive Coordinator	2017
Brian Wehler	Offensive Line	2016
Galen Holmes	Defensive Line / Special Teams Coordinator	2007
Dan Ross	Running Backs	2016
Zach Besaw	Outside Linebackers	2016
Kyle Bernard	Wide receivers	2017
Howard Bradley	Assistant Defensive Backs	2017
Mike Kelly	Assistant Offensive Line	2017
Brian Murtagh	Defensive Assistant	2017

Roster

2017 WPI Engineers Roster
Quarterback  3 Chris Hartford – Freshman 10 Stuart Campbell – Sophomore 12 Blake Rice – Senior 14 Jack Hughes – Sophomore 16 Eric Cosmopulos – Senior 20 Julian Nyland – Sophomore Running Back  4 Sean McAllen – Sophomore  7 Connor Field – Sophomore 26 Zach Uglevich – Sophomore 35 Jackson Brandin – Sophomore 42 Stephen Peterson – Sophomore 44 Connor Sakowich – Junior 48 Lain Zembek – Junior Fullback 45 Greg Stanton – Sophomore Receiver  3 Alex Domond – Junior  5 Mike Montano – Sophomore  8 Spencer Hoagland – Freshman 10 Jake Vanscoy – Freshman 11 Mitjon Celaj – Senior 13 William Kopellas – Sophomore 15 Matt Nicholson – Junior 21 Clark Ewen – Sophomore 22 Romelle Jack – Junior 23 Ben Emrick – Sophomore 24 Skip Scott – Freshman 25 Nate Grunbeck – Sophomore 28 Tristan Carlton – Junior 30 Corey Coogan – Senior 39 Justin Coppolino – Senior 80 Brendan Chipman – Sophomore 81 Eric Fryer – Junior 82 Billy Mitchell – Sophomore 83 Zach Bellion – Junior 85 Matt Bressette – Sophomore 86 Nic Rossi – Sophomore 88 Austin Pesce – Sophomore Tight End 19 Jacob Steinman – Freshman 31 Marcus Pritchard – Junior 87 Keeghan O'Leary – Junior		Offensive Lineman 53 Connor Murphy – Sophomore 56 Steven Dentato – Sophomore 60 Kevin Moore – Freshman 61 Ryan Michaud – Freshman 62 Brendan Harty – Senior 63 Anthony Wilkens – Senior 65 Nick Day – Junior 66 Reid Bailey – Sophomroe 67 Paul DeMarco – Senior 68 James Bonner – Sophomore 69 Vince Lucca – Sophomore 70 Peter Rakauskas – Sophomore 71 Isaac Patry – Sophomore 72 Troy Sullivan – Sophomore 76 TJ Cooper – Freshman 77 Jordan Hartely – Sophomore 78 Sullivan Boyd – Freshman Defensive Lineman 48 Diego Gonzalez Villalobos – Freshman 52 Max Murphy – Sophomore 56 Matt Finn - Freshman 75 Joe Kerkach – Sophomore 79 Michael Laks – Freshman 89 Tommy Feraco – Freshman 90 Jack Gerulskis – Freshman 92 Mike McGoff – Sophomore 94 Dereck Pacheco – Senior 95 Nabeel Tokatli – Senior 97 Lou Duh – Freshman 98 Brandon Malarney – Sophomore 99 Luca Cerasani – Junior		Linebacker  1 Blayne Merchant – Junior  9 Larry Cafaro – Junior 18 Nick Samuelson – Sophomore 28 Zach Sasso – Freshman 32 Mason Ocasio – Freshman 34 Dan Hoag – Sophomore 36 Michael Bahnan – Senior 40 Francis Lubega – Junior 41 Tim Bill – Senior 46 Isaac Stilwell – Freshman 47 Anthony Fusco – Sophomore 50 Sam Malafronte – Junior 51 Nick Ostrowski – Sophomore 54 Carter McLellan – Sophomore 55 Caleb Holmberg – Sophomore 57 Brent Whitlock – Sophomore 58 Greg Kaleshian – Freshman 59 Stephen Lauro – Sophomore 60 Jim Zickl – Freshman 74 Sean Dandeneau – Freshman 93 Matthew Elliott – Sophomore Defensive Back  2 Kyle Havey – Junior  5 Adam Klosner – Freshman  6 Collin Saunders – Junior  8 Sam Casey – Sophomore 10 Jordan Rosenfeld – Freshman 14 Brian Mahan – Junior 17 Lou Garcia – Senior 19 Dominick Timpanaro – Sophomore 20 Aaron Whitehouse – Freshman 21 Chris Ferrari - Freshman 24 Tim McQuade – Sophomore 26 Hunter Lutte – Freshman 27 Aaron Hartford - Senior 29 Zach Ahrens – Sophomore 33 David Barber - Sophomore 37 Grant Gilbert – Sophomore 38 Tim Ryan – Freshman 43 Steven Mey – Sophomore 45 Johann Bradley – Freshman Kicker/Punter 16 Bruce Wade – Freshman 84 Spencer Herrington – Junior
Sources:

Schedule

The 2017 schedule was officially released on June 29, 2017. WPI faced all seven NEWMAC opponents: Catholic, Coast Guard, Maine Maritime, MIT, Merchant Marine, Norwich, and Springfield. They also scheduled three non-conference games: Anna Maria of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC), Becker of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), and RPI of the Liberty League.

On November 13, 2017, the Engineers were selected to host SUNY Maritime of the Eastern Collegiate Football Conference (ECFC) as part of the 2017 New England Bowl Series.[5]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 1	7:30 p.m.	Anna Maria*	Alumni Stadium Worcester, Massachusetts	W 48–0	2,504
September 9	1:00 p.m.	RPI*	Alumni Stadium Worcester, Massachusetts (Transit Trophy Game)	L 14–36	2,645
September 16	6:00 p.m.	Becker*	Alumni Stadium Worcester, Massachusetts	W 38–0	1,640
September 23	2:30 p.m.	at Springfield	Stagg Field Springfield, Massachusetts	L 10–42	3,574
September 30	12:00 p.m.	Maine Maritime	Alumni Stadium Worcester, Massachusetts	W 45–0	694
October 7	1:00 p.m.	at Catholic	Cardinal Stadium Washington, D.C.	W 31–14	1,217
October 21	2:30 p.m.	Merchant Marine	Alumni Stadium Worcester, Massachusetts	W 41–7	786
October 28	12:00 p.m.	at MIT	Henry G. Steinbrenner '27 Stadium Cambridge, Massachusetts	W 24–21	1,310
November 4	12:00 p.m.	Coast Guard	Alumni Stadium Worcester, Massachusetts	W 44–16	1,211
November 11	1:00 p.m.	at Norwich	Sabine Field Northfield, Vermont	W 42–7	1,000
November 18	6:00 p.m.	SUNY Maritime	Alumni Stadium Worcester, MA (2017 New England Bowl Series Game)	W 17–3	1,199
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Eastern time

• On August 29, the Engineers placed third in the inaugural NEWMAC Preseason Coaches Poll[6]

Awards and honors

Weekly awards

NEWMAC Football Offensive Athlete of the Week

• Blake Rice, QB - Week of October 9, 2017
• Sean McAllen, RB - Week of October 30, 2017

NEWMAC Football Defensive Athlete of the Week

• Dereck Pacheco, DL – Week of September 3, 2017
• Brian Mahan, DB - Week of October 9, 2017
• Nick Ostrowski, LB - Week of October 30, 2017
• Dereck Pacheco, DL – Week of November 6, 2017

NEWMAC Football Special Teams Athlete of the Week

• Spencer Herrington, K/P – Week of September 3, 2017
• Spencer Herrington, K/P – Week of October 23, 2017
• Spencer Herrington, K/P - Week of October 30, 2017
• Spencer Herrington, K/P - Week of November 6, 2017

D3football.com Team of the Week

• Brian Mahan, DB - Week of October 9, 2017

D3football.com Play of the Week

• Lou Garcia, DB - Week of October 9, 2017

Postseason awards

NEWMAC Special Teams Athlete of the Year[7]

• Spencer Herrington, K/P

NEWMAC All-Conference First Team[7]

• Luca Cerasani, DL
• Corey Coogan, WR
• Lou Garcia, DB
• Brendan Harty, OL
• Spencer Herrington, K/P
• Sean McAllen, RB
• Sam Malafronte, LB
• Dereck Pacheco, DL
• Austin Pesce, PR

NEWMAC All Conference Second Team[7]

• Sam Casey, DB
• Nick Day, OL
• Erik Fyrer, WR
• Nick Ostrowski, LB
• Blake Rice, QB

NEWMAC All-Sportsmanship Team[7]

• Aaron Hartford, DB

D3football.com All-East Region First Team[8]

• Spencer Herrington, K/P

Worcester Area Football Association Co-Offensive Player of the Year[9]

• Sean McAllen, RB

Worcester Area Football Association Steve “Merc” Morris All-Star Team[9]

• Sam Casey, DB
• Luca Cerasani, DL
• Corey Coogan, WR
• Nick Day, OL
• Lou Garcia, DB
• Brendan Harty, OL
• Spencer Herrington, K/P
• Sean McAllen, RB
• Sam Malafronte, LB
• Dereck Pacheco, DL
• Austin Pesce, PR
• Lain Zembek, FB

New England Football Writers Division II/III All‐New England Team[10]

• Sean McAllen, RB

CoSIDA Academic All-District Football Team (DIII)[11]

• Nick Day, OL
• Dereck Pacheco, DL

References

1. http://www.d3football.com/teams/WPI/2017/index
2. http://athletics.wpi.edu/sports/fball/2017-18/schedule
3. "McAllen and Garcia Help Send Football to 42-7 Victory in Regular Season Finale at Norwich - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics". athletics.wpi.edu. 2017-11-12. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
4. "Football Earns First Postseason Win, Defeats Maritime (NY) in New England Bowl Series - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics". athletics.wpi.edu. 2017-11-18. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
5. "Football to Host SUNY Maritime Saturday Night in New England Bowl Series Matchup - WPI Athletics - WPI Athletics". athletics.wpi.edu. 2017-11-13. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
6. "Springfield Tabbed as Football Preseason Favorites for Inaugural Season". NEWMAC. 29 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
7. "NEWMAC Announces 2017 Football Postseason Awards After Successful Inaugural Season". NEWMAC. 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-11-20.
8. "D3football.com 2017 All-East Region Team". D3football. 2017-12-05. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
9. Toland, Jennifer (2017-11-28). "Jennifer Toland: Holy Cross men's basketball team excited for trip to Northern Ireland". telegram.com. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
10. Crosley, Roger. "2017 All-New England College Division Release" (PDF). New England Football Writers. Retrieved 2017-12-09.
11. "Academic Football 2017" (PDF). 2017-11-16. Retrieved 2017-12-09.