Season Preview: Men's Soccer
The Hilbert College men's soccer team opens their 2021 season tonight when they travel for a non-conference match at SUNY Poly.
They are eager and ready to compete after working through the COVID-19 pandemic last year.
The Hawks will be tested road warriors before they host their first home game - Saturday, September 18th.
THE 2021 SCHEDULE
Hilbert's schedule features eight Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) games
which is more than 50% of their 15 regular season matches.
The Hawks will host four conference opponents in Hamburg:
Penn State Altoona (9/18), Medaille (10/6), Pitt-Greensburg (10/16) and Alfred State (10/26).
Hilbert rounds out the home portion of their schedule against SUNY power Geneseo but have tacked on a few other tough road non-conference opponents in 2021. The Hawks will face Cazenovia (9/3), and Elmira (9/4) this weekend before they make day-trips
to Morrisville (9/9), Nazareth (9/21) and Wells (10/1).
The top six teams in the conference advance to the AMCC post-season tournament.
No. 3 seed will host No. 6 and No. 4 seed will host No.5 in the First Round Game October 30.
The No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, who earned a First Round bye, will host the two semifinal games on Wednesday, November 3.
The highest-seeded team remaining will host the Championship Title Game Saturday, November 6.
The AMCC Champion will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
SEASONS IN REVIEW: 2019 and 2020
It's been over a calendar year since the Hawks last took the field at the conclusion of the fall 2019 season.
The last Hilbert men's soccer game was October 29, 2019, a 7-1 loss to AMCC-league leaders, Penn State Behrend.
The Hawks went 1-13-1 overall in 2019 with a 0-10 mark in conference play and took Thiel College to a scoreless draw in double overtime.
The 2020 fall season and the NCAA Championship Tournament was canceled due to the world-wide COVID-19 pandemic.
Hilbert competed in four, spring-2021 exhibition games, battling Niagara County Community College, D'Youville, Alfred State
and Erie Community College on the turf in April.
THE 2021 ROSTER
Head coach Jeff Hallenbeck's squad is young and ready this fall.
It features six players from the 2019 squad which is the last time the Hawks competed in official NCAA contests in 2019.
That means the coaching staff has a chance to develop a new winning culture blending seven, Covid-19, first-year players
from the spring 2021 season along with eleven rookies who joined the squad this fall.
Hallenbeck will be leaning on the leadership of his three captains.
NCAA juniors (graduating seniors) Sebastian Flewellyn, and Stephen Wetherell will work side-by-side with
NCAA freshmen (academic junior) Hunter Holler as they push the team towards a play-off spot at the end of October.
Stand-out goalkeeper Logan Peck will see his first NCAA season and
strikers, junior Hector Harris and NCAA freshman Solomon Bonane are looking to make a large impact on the pitch.
Newcomers, midfielders John Schroth, and Joseph Jerge, in addition to defender Connor Dispense
have proven themselves this preseason to be valuable assets to the men's program.
The Hawks will look to three graduating teammates who they are competing in their final season of competition this fall.
Sebastian Flewellyn, Benjamin Vogt and Stephen Wetherell have seen it all in their four years in Hamburg.
It is a given that they will continue to display pure hustle and good sportsmanship on and off the field
since they have been doing it since they stepped on campus in August 2018.
#3 Stephen Wetherell
#7 Benjamin Vogt
#32 Logan Peck
#24 Sebastian Flewellyn
COACHING / SUPPORT STAFF
Head coach
Jeff Hallenbeck will guide the Hawks in his second fall season in 2021.
The third-year head coach loaded his roster with 18 new athletes since taking over in 2019, and he is
excited to see the progress in the program this fall.
Also returning on the sidelines are coaches
Tim Jordan and
David Cappuccio.
Jordan, '07, begins his third season assisting Hallenbeck while
Cappuccio will see his first NCAA season after joining the program during the 2020 COVID season.
John D'Amico continues to support the men's soccer program by serving as the team's Faculty Team Advisor.
He is an additional source of academic support and serves as a resource regarding academic issues
for the men's soccer student-athletes and coaches. D'Amico's association with the department also
creates a communication link between faculty, student-athletes, and coaches.
Coaches Hallenbeck, Cappuccio and Jordan (left to right)
