St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's soccer

The St. Francis Terriers men's soccer team represented St. Francis College, which is located in Brooklyn Heights, New York. The team was a member of the Division I Northeast Conference (NEC). The Terriers played their home games at Brooklyn Bridge Park on Pier 5, which is also located in Brooklyn Heights. The field is located on the East River and has the Manhattan Skyline as a backdrop.^[2]  

St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers
Founded	1968
Folded	2023
University	St. Francis College
Location	Brooklyn, New York
Stadium	Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pier 5 (Capacity: 1,200)
Nickname	Terriers
Colors	Royal blue and red[1]
Home Away
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
1978
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
1976
NCAA Tournament appearances
1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020
Conference Tournament championships
1991, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020
Conference Regular Season championships
1991, 1997, 1998, 2016, 2017, 2020

From 1968 to 2019, the Terriers have compiled a 455–365–88 record and have won five NEC regular season championships and eight NEC tournament championships.^[3] Since joining the NEC in 1985, the Terriers have compiled a 137–117–26 record in conference play and have won the most tournament championships in the conference. The Terriers have also participated in nine National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournaments, their best showing came in 1978 when they made it to the Elite Eight. Since joining the NEC, the Terriers have made it to four NCAA tournaments and they have been one game away on three previous occasions ('95, '96 and '98).^[4]  

Their last head coach, Tom Giovatto, joined the Terriers in 2007 and led the team to a 120–85–32 record. From 2013 to 2019, Giovatto's squads won two NEC regular season championship, four NEC tournament championships and participated in four NCAA Tournaments.

History

View of Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 5, home of the Terriers, from the East River. The field is located on the lower right portion of the image.

The Terriers played their home games at Brooklyn Bridge Park on Pier 5, which is also located in Brooklyn Heights. The field is located on the East River and has the Manhattan Skyline as a backdrop. The Terriers began hosting games on Pier 5 in 2013, they previously hosted home games at the Aviator Sports Complex located at Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn from 2007 to 2012.^[2] Prior to 2007, the Terriers played their home games at Belson Stadium, on the St. John's University campus in Queens. The Terriers first game at Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 5 was against the St. Peter's University Peacocks on September 13, 2013, and resulted in a 3–1 victory for the home team.^[5]

Carlo Tramontozzi era (1968–1988)

The St. Francis Terriers men's soccer team was founded in 1968 by Carlo Tramontozzi with the help of Brother Roger Nagle and then athletic director Daniel Lynch.^[6] Tramontozzi was a recent graduate of Long Island University where he had helped lead the Blackbirds men's soccer team to the NCAA tournament (1965 and 1966) and garnered various national and regional awards as a player. As the head coach of the Terriers, Tramontozzi led them to a 190–116–30 record and to 5 NCAA tournament appearances over 21 seasons. The most successful team in program history was the 1978 Terriers squad that was ranked sixth nationally and made it to the quarterfinals in the NCAA tournament.^[7][8] His 1981 squad was also nationally ranked in the top 20.^[9] The 1985 season marked the beginning of conference play as the Terriers joined the Northeast Conference.

Sam Carrington era (1989–2001)

Carrington is an alumnus and played on Carlo Tramontozzi's 1982 NCAA Tournament qualifying team. He coached the Terriers for 13 seasons and led them to a 127–106–16 overall record and 62–37–7 in conference play. During his tenure the Terriers won 3 regular season championships and 4 conference tournament championships.

Tom Giovatto era (2007–2023)

Current head coach, Tom Giovatto, joined the Terriers in 2007 and has led the team to a 120–85–32 record. During his tenure as head coach, the Terriers have won 2 NEC regular season championships, 4 NEC tournament championships and have appeared in 4 NCAA Tournaments.

In his first six years at the helm, Giovatto had three winning seasons and three losing seasons. He failed to reach the NEC Tournament in 5 of those first 6 years. Then Giovatto proceeded to lead the Terriers to four NEC tournament championships in five years, from 2013 to 2017.^[10] The Terriers also participated in 4 NCAA tournaments, receiving the NEC's automatic bid for the conference tournament champion. The 2015 team went unbeaten in their first 9 games and were ranked 22nd Nationally by the NSCAA Top 25 Coaches Poll for the first time in the Tom Giovatto era.^[11] Giovatto has won two NEC Coach of the Year awards, first in 2016 and again in 2017- they coincide with the Terriers winning conference regular season championships those years. Also during this time, the Terriers have placed four players in professional leagues: Vincent Bezecourt (New York Red Bulls), Salvatore Barone (New York Cosmos), Dominick Falanga (New York Cosmos), and Leo Folla (Chattanooga Red Wolves SC).

After the 2017 season, Giovatto has had to rebuild his team due to losing high impact players to graduation. In 2018 and 2019, the Terriers failed to qualify for the NEC Tournament.

Elimination of Athletic Program (2023)

On March 20, 2023, St Francis announced that their athletics programs would be eliminated following the Spring 2023 semester, with the college citing tight financial issues. In a statement, the college noted that the COVID-19 pandemic “left an indelible impact on St. Francis College, and as a result, Terrier athletics.”

Seasons

St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers annual win percentage from 1968 to 2018. Bars specify the win percentage per year, with blue bars indicating above 50% win seasons and red bars indicating at or below 50%.

St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers
Season	Head coach	Season results			Tournament results
		Overall[12]	Conference[12]		Conference[12]	NCAA[13]
		Record	Record	Finish
1968	Carlo Tramontozzi	2–8–1	—	—	—	—
1969		5–6–0	—	—	—	—
1970		7–5–2	—	—	—	—
1971		8–5–2	—	—	—	—
1972		8–5–1	—	—	—	—
1973		10–4–1	—	—	—	—
1974		12–2–1	—	—	—	First round (0–1)
1975		9–4–1	—	—	—	—
1976		12–2–1	—	—	—	Round of 16 (1–1)
1977		10–2–2	—	—	—	First round (0–1)
1978		14–4–0	—	—	—	Quarterfinal (2–1)
1979		11–3–2	—	—	—	—
1980		7–6–3	—	—	—	—
1981		12–4–2	—	—	—	—
1982		11–4–4	—	—	—	First round (0–1)
1983		13–5–1	—	—	—	—
1984		6–11–1	—	—	—	—
1985		6–10–1	3–3–0	4th	—	—
1986		9–7–1	4–2–0	3rd	—	—
1987		8–11–1	2–4–0	6th	—	—
1988		10–8–2	—	—	—	—
1989	Sam Carrington	9–8–1	4–2–1	3rd	Semi-final (0–1)	—
1990		8–10–2	4–2–1	3rd	Semi-final (0–1)	—
1991		14–4–2	6–1–0	1st	Champion (2–0)	—
1992		7–10–1	4–3–1	5th	DNQ	—
1993		8–7–1	4–4–0	6th	DNQ	—
1994		5–11–2	3–5–0	T-5th	DNQ	—
1995		14–7–1	4–3–1	3rd	Champion (2–0)	Play-In
1996		13–8–0	6–2–0	2nd	Champion (2–0)	Play-In
1997		14–6–1	5–1–0	1st	Semi-final (0–1)	—
1998		15–6–1	7–1–1	1st	Champion (2–0)	Play-In
1999		5–13–2	4–5–1	5th	Semi-final (0–1)	—
2000		10–6–1	7–2–1	2nd	Semi-final (0–1)	—
2001		5–10–1	4–6–0	7th	DNQ	—
2002	Carlo Acquista	3–11–3	3–5–2	7th	DNQ	—
2003		1–14–2	0–9–0	10th	DNQ	—
2004		8–9–1	5–4–0	5th	DNQ	—
2005		4–11–2	1–8–0	10th	DNQ	—
2006		2–13–2	2–5–2	7th	DNQ	—
2007	Tom Giovatto	4–9–5	2–5–2	8th	DNQ	—
2008		11–4–3	4–3–2	5th	DNQ	—
2009		10–6–2	7–2–1	2nd	Semi-final (0–1)	—
2010		5–9–3	3–6–1	8th	DNQ	—
2011		10–5–3	5–3–2	6th	DNQ	—
2012		7–10–1	4–6–0	8th	DNQ	—
2013		12–6–1	4–3–0	4th	Champion (2–0)	First round (0–1)
2014		11–6–4	4–1–2	3rd	Champion (2–0)	First round (0–1)
2015		10–4–4	3–2–2	4th	Semi-final (0–1)	—
2016		12–5–3	6–0–1	1st	Champion (2–0)	First round (0–1)
2017		14–5–1	6–0–1	1st	Champion (2–0)	First round (0–1)
2018		7–10–0	4–4–0	T-5th	DNQ	—
2019		7–6–2	3–5–1	T-6th	DNQ	—
2020		7–2–1	5–1–1	1st	Champion (1–0)	Second round (1–1)
2021		12–5–4	7–2–0	T-1st	Runner-Up (1–1)	—
2022		8–5–6	4–1–3	3rd	Runner-Up (2–1)	—
55 Seasons		472–377–99	153–121–30	7 NEC titles (Regular Season)	20–9 in NEC Tournament 9 NEC tournament titles	4–10 in NCAA Tournament 10 bids
Legend
Conference regular season champion          Conference tournament champion   Conference regular season and conference tournament champion   Post-season tournament invitation               Post-season tournament champion   NCAA national champion

See also: Northeast Conference Men's Soccer Tournament

Players

2019 roster

As of May 3, 2021.^[14] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 00 GK  RUS Ruslan Nigmatullin 0 GK  USA Mateo Green 1 GK  WAL Callum James 3 DF  USA Mamadou Diallo 4 DF  NOR Harald Sollund 5 DF  USA Vicente Gallardo 6 MF  CAN Xavier Laneuville 7 MF  SRB Ivan Tapuskovic 8 MF  USA Dennis Coke, Jr. 9 FW  USA Khaled Abdella 10 FW  MAR El Mahdi Youssoufi 11 FW  ARG Nicolas Molina 12 DF  SUI Michael Nwokeabia 14 DF  AUS Ridwan Hannan

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 DF  USA Domenico Pugliese 17 FW  USA Corrado Carbone 18 MF  ENG Jaydon Humphries 19 MF  USA Ramchwy Saint Vil 20 MF  ALB Sokol Ymeraj 21 MF  MAR Badr Mesrar 22 MF  USA Omar Gawish 23 MF  USA Andrew Adelhardt 24 DF  USA Derek Martinez 25 MF  USA Austin Rafter 27 DF  USA Johan Grande-Rojas 28 MF  USA Tyler Swaby 30 GK  ESP David Alcalà

Captains in bold

Coaching staff

Position	Staff
Head Coach	Tom Giovatto (2007–present)
Asst. Coach	Andy Cormack (2015–present)
Asst. Coach	Jason Orban (2019–present)

Last updated: August 26, 2019
Source: St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers Athletics Website

Terriers in professional leagues

• Leo Folla '17, signed with the Chattanooga Red Wolves SC of USL League One.^[15]
• Dominick Falanga '17, signed with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League.^[16]
• Salvatore Barone '17, signed with the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League.^[17]
• Vincent Bezecourt '16, signed with the New York Red Bulls of the Major League Soccer.^[18]
• Javier Gonzalez '09, former player with Club Deportivo Ñublense of Chile's Primera Division^[19]
• Joseph Afful '02, playing for Brooklyn Knights of the USL Premier Development League.
• Mersim Beskovic, former professional player
• Germain Iglesias, former professional player.

NCAA tournament results

The Terriers have appeared in 10 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championships and in 3 play-ins. Their NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship record is 4–10, while their Play-In record is 0–3 and does not count towards the tally. Their best finish was in 1978, when they reached the Elight Eight.

Year Round Opponent Result/score 1974 First round Cornell L 2–4 1976 First round Sweet Sixteen Adelphi Hartwick W 2–0 L 0–3 1977 First round Hartwick L 1–5 1978 First round Sweet Sixteen Elight Eight Adelphi Columbia Clemson W 1–0 W 2–0 L 0–4 1982 First round Columbia L 1–4 1995 Play-In Rhode Island L 0–4

Year Round Opponent Result/score 1996 Play-In Army L 0–3 1998 Play-In Jacksonville L 0–3 2013 First round Penn State L 0–1 2014 First round Old Dominion L 0–3 2016 First round Dartmouth L 0–12OT 2017 First round Fordham L 2–3OT 2020 First round Second round Milwaukee (3)Indiana W 2–1OT L 1–12OT PK 1-3

Coaching history

		Overall		Conference
Name	Years	Win–loss–tie	Pct.	Win–loss–tie	Pct.	Notes
Carlo Tramontozzi	1968–88 (21yrs)	190–116–30	61.0%	9–9–0	50.0%	5 NCAA Tournament appearances
Sam Carrington	1989–2001 (13yrs)	127–106–16	54.2%	62–37–7	61.8%	3 NEC regular season championships 4 NEC tournament championships
Carlo Acquista	2002–2006 (5yrs)	18–58–10	26.7%	11–31–4	28.3%
Tom Giovatto	2007–present	127–87–33	58.1%	60–41–16	58.1%	3 NEC Regular Season Championship 5 NEC tournament championships 5 NCAA Tournament appearances

Terrier records

	St. Francis College records
	Season[20]	Career[20]
Goals	22 Bernard Celestin (1983)	48 Dimitri Petrouniak (1995–1998)
Points	46 Bernard Celestin (1983)	124 Dimitri Petrouniak (1995–1998)
Assists	22 Daniel Benoit (1974)	28 Dimitri Petrouniak (1995–1998)
Saves	189 Mark Woseley (1990)	532 Dragan Radovich (1975–1978)
Shutouts	11 Dragan Radovich (1978) 11 Mario Flava (1988)	30 Dragan Radovich (1975–1978)

Record vs. NEC opponents

St. Francis Brooklyn vs.	Overall conference record
Bryant	SFBK, 12–1–2
Central Connecticut	SFBK, 18–7–4
Fairleigh Dickinson	SFBK, 20–23–6
LIU	SFBK, 22–25–4
Merrimack	SFBK, 0–2–0
Mount St. Mary's	SFBK, 2–1–0
Robert Morris	SFBK, 21–13–2
Sacred Heart	SFBK, 10–7–4
Saint Francis (PA)	SFBK, 17–15
*As of May 3, 2021. Does not count NEC Tournament games.

Conference rivalry

The fiercest rival of the Terriers are the Long Island University Blackbirds. Starting in 2013, the winner of the annual Battle of Brooklyn match is awarded the Ramirez/Tramontozzi trophy. The Trophy recognizes former coaches Arnie Ramirez and Carlos Tramontozzi, from LIU and St. Francis respectively. Both coaches were life-long friends and greatly influenced their respective programs.^[21] St. Francis Brooklyn captured the inaugural trophy on LIU's field on November 10, 2013, behind a 4–0 performance. The formal Battle of Brooklyn ended after the 2018 season, when LIU Brooklyn merged with LIU Post to form LIU and host their games on Long Island, rather than Brooklyn. Their rivalry continues, but for soccer matches the Battle of Brooklyn moniker is no longer used.

Accolades

NCAA Division I men's soccer First-Team All-Americans

• Dragan Radovich, 1976,^[22] 1977,^[23] 1978^[24]
• Clyde O'Garro, 1979^[25]

NCAA Division I men's soccer Second-Team All-Americans

• Miro Urlic, 1979^[25]
• Duke Shamo, 1998^[26]

NCAA Division I men's soccer Third-Team All-Americans

• Kevin Correa, 2013^[27]
• Vincent Bezecourt, 2015^[28]
• Faouzi Taieb, 2017 (College Soccer News- Third team All-American)^[29]

NCAA Division I men's soccer Honorable Mention

• Philip Laspisa, 1974^[26]
• Gregory Kourtesis, 1976^[26]
• Flavio Vozila, 1976^[26]
• Gaetano Messina, 1978^[26]
• Philip Klah, 1979^[26]

NEC men's soccer

Year	NEC Player of the Year[30][31]	NEC Defender of the Year	NEC Coach of the Year[30][31]	First Team All-NEC[30][31]	Second Team ALL-NEC[30][31]	NEC Rookie of the Year[30][31]
1986				Clint Marcelle, Lenny Leggard, Kurt Barrington, Mario Fava
1987				Clint Marcelle, Kurt Barrington, Mario Fava
1988	Clint Marcelle			Clint Marcelle, Kurt Barrington, Mario Fava	Andy Haynes
1989				Irvin Ellison, Andy Haynes	Chiwale DaSilva, Leroi Wilson
1990				Chiawale DaSilva, Andy Haynes	Irvin Ellison, Sherwin Besson
1991			Sam Carrington	Chiawale DaSilva, Andy Haynes, Steve Mason	Irvin Ellison, Sherwyn Besson	Steve Mason
1992				Chiwale DaSilva, Sherwyn Besson	Ron Mitchell	Ron Mitchell
1993				Marlon Morris, Ron Mitchell
1994				Marlon Morris, Ron Mitchell
1995				Ron Mitchell		Dmitri Petrouniak
1996	Duke Shamo			Dmitri Petrouniak, Kevin Mooyoung
1997	Duke Shamo		Sam Carrington	Duke Shamo, Dmitri Petrouniak, Troy Mohney, Augustus Pokoo-Aikens
1998	Duke Shamo		Sam Carrington	Duke Shamo, Dmitri Petrouniak, Victor Avwontom, Agard Radoncic, Mersim Beskovic	Jared Diehl, Michel Peters	Agard Radoncic
1999				Agard Radoncic
2000				Agard Radoncic, Mersim Beskovic, Marcus Maurice	Prince Ogodo, Agron Sokolki
2001				Joseph Afful	Ricardo Ordain, Ron Azinge
2002				Joseph Afful
2003					Alessandro Acquista
2004					Alessandro Acquista, Jarron Brooks
2005					Carlos Moncaleano
2006					Anthony Matos
2007				Semso Nikocevic	John Sallhag	John Sallhag
2008				John Sallhag, Semso Nikocevic
2009				Semso Nikocevic, Anthony Matos	Javier Gonzalez, John Sallhag
2010					John Sallhag
2011				Gabriel Bagot	Adam Maabdi, Aldo Toma
2012				Kevin Correa	Adam Maabdi, Gabriel Bagot	Kevin Correa
2013				Kevin Correa, John Johansson	Andy Cormack, Gabriel Bagot
2014				Riccardo Milano, Jack Binks	Andy Cormack, John Makaya, Vincent Bezecourt
2015				Vincent Bezecourt, Harry Odell, Jack Binks, Cyril Coisne	Paul Galimi
2016		Collyns Laokandi	Tom Giovatto	Salvatore Barone, Dominick Falanga, Collyns Laokandi, Robert Bazzichetto	Yussuf Olajide, Fabian Suele	Faouzi Taieb
2017		Faouzi Taieb	Tom Giovatto	Faouzi Taieb, Dominick Falanga, Collyns Laokandi, Robert Bazzichetto	Federico Curbelo, Leo Folla
2018				Julien Remiti	Anthony Gimenes
2019				Yoann Assoumin	El Mahdi Youssoufi
2020	Nicolás Molina	Harald Sollund	Tom Giovatto	Nicolás Molina, Dennis Coke, Harald Sollund, Callum James	Ivan Tapuskovic
2021	El Mahdi Youssoufi	Harald Sollund	Tom Giovatto	El Mahdi Youssoufi, Sokol Ymeraj, Harald Sollund	David Santiago
2022				Sokol Ymeraj, Jaydon Humphires	Khaled Abdella