SJU Athletics Photos

PHILADELPHIA (08/16/03) -- This is the season that Saint Joseph's University men's soccer coach Tom Turner has been looking forward to since a bumper crop of recruits first walked onto the Finnesey Field turf in the late summer of 1999. Now, after three years of seasoning, which include 18 wins over the last two campaigns, Turner and the Hawks look to 2003 with great anticipation. "The Class of 2003 is clearly a special group," states Turner, who enters the season one win shy of a milestone 100th victory in his tenure on Hawk Hill. "We knew from the start that we had the makings of something good with this group. They way they bonded together from the start, and their ‘team-first' mentality. Hopefully they are able to realize their dreams of an Atlantic 10 Tournament berth in their final year together." The Hawks' A-10 Tournament dreams almost came to fruition in 2002, if not for injuries. The year started off well as SJU won its first four matches, and then upped its record to 6-2 with wins over city rivals Philadelphia and Temple. Then a four-match skid, coupled with a season-ending injury to leading scorer Adam Duffy, put a halt to the Hawks' chances at a tournament bid. Duffy, who tallied five goals and three assists for a team-high 13 points, is fully recovered and leads a corps of 14 returning letterwinners, including nine starters. The second team all-Atlantic 10 Conference and first team all-Soccer Seven pick is joined by two of his classmates, Matt Foster-Moore and Matt James, on the projected starting midfield line. Both starters last season, Foster-Moore (3 goals, 2 assists) and James (4 goals, 1 assist) will help SJU control the all-important middle of the field. Sophomore Matt Filewicz, who started the final eight matches as a freshman, gives SJU a fourth returning starter at midfield. Sophomores Kevin Boyle and Alexander Smallen both saw significant action in their first year on Hawk Hill and will provide depth to the position as will sophomore Pete Paradiso. A three-time first team all-Soccer Seven selection, Andrew Kulinski will look to cap a fine career at St. Joe's with a solid senior season. The team's lone starting forward last season, Kulinski, who is fourth on the SJU all-time assist list (16), led the Hawks with five assists. After scoring 16 goals his first two seasons he will look to regain his "finishing" touch this year after finding the back of the net just once in 2002. Defense, the strength of 2002, will again be spearheaded by senior Kevin Dougher. Returning for his fifth season on Hawk Hill, Dougher started all but one game over the past two seasons, recording seven shutouts and a 1.54 goals against average over that time span. Senior Chris DiStefano and sophomore walk-ons Brian Dwyer and Rob Lavoreno will serve as veteran back-ups. All but graduated seniors Kevin Schmidt and Chris Haas return in the Hawk starting backfield. Senior Nick Pittaoulis will again serve as the team's sweeper while classmates Adam Petit and Tom Brislin will again man the starting backfield. Sophomore Scott Cunningham, who started at both midfield and back, will vie for a starting slot while senior Pat Mondile and sophomore Lateef Turral give the team two returnees with experience. SJU also welcomes a strong group of freshmen that will be looking to make an impact in 2003. Heading up the freshmen class is goalkeeper Trevor Lyman (Univ. of Detroit Jesuit/Birmingham, MI), defender Joe Grayauskie (Shawnee/Medford, NJ) and midfielder Dean Niedosik (North Catholic/Philadelphia). Incoming freshman forward Chris Powell, a 50-goal scorer for Philadelphia's St. Joseph's Prep, will miss the season due to injury. The Hawks chances of making the A-10 Tournament for the first time since 1994 were buoyed by the expansion of the field from four to six teams this past spring. The Hawks will also host six league games this season whereas the team hosted only four of 11 league tilts in 2002.