LAKEWOOD, NJ (Sept. 9, 2024) - Georgian Court Men's Soccer had an interesting weekend to start the 2025 season. They played their first game against Saint Michael's, but had their second cut short due to thunderstorms early in the second half. GCU gets back on the field this week in a nonconference tilt at St. Thomas Aquinas.
Opponent
Saint Thomas Aquinas Spartans (1-1)
Where
Sparkill, NY - Spartan Field
When
Wednesday, Sept. 10 - 3 pm
How to Watch
• Wednesday's game is available to watch on a pay-per-view broadcast on the St. Thomas Aquinas portal of the ECC Network. Live stats are available on the Georgian Court schedule page.
Previously vs. Saint Thomas Aquinas
• This is the third straight year that Georgian Court and St. Thomas Aquinas have met and fifth overall.
• Georgian Court won the first ever match in 2015, but since then, the Spartans have won three straight.
• GCU is 0-2 playing in Sparkill.
• A year ago, GCU got off to a really fast start, as
Alessandro Cavallini scored just 34 seconds into the game.
• That lead didn't last long as the Spartans tied the game right before the three minute mark, and took the lead in the 10th minute.
• STAC added a goal in the second half for a 3-1 win.
Last Time Out
• Georgian Court and Bentley were tied at one after both teams converted on a penalty kick when lightning near the 50th minute caused a delay and eventually cancelation of the game.
• The game was not yet official, having failed to reach 70 minutes, which has left it a no contest.
• That means their last official time out was the season opener against St. Michael's.
• After a scoreless first half, a turnover in the defensive zone led to the Purple Knights first goal. They added a second with just 1:07 left for a 2-0 win.
Individual Milestones
•
Mikey Mallon will get to 40 starts with two more. He's also two points away from 20. One more assist will bring him to a tie for second all-time in career assists.
•
Jack Pollintine-Smith is two points away from reaching 10.
• Gijs van Eif is two goals away from 20 in his career.
• One more games played will bring
David Tuschmann to 50 at Georgian Court. His next goal scored will be his 10th and he'd be the 11th Lion to reach double-figure career goals.
CACC Stat Leaders
•
Ayendi Batista is leading the CACC in saves per game with eight.
• As a team, the Lions five corner kicks per game rank third in the league.
• Gijs van Eif sits third in the CACC in shots per game.
Brand New Starters
• Georgian Court graduated a lot of experience after 2024.
• Of the 200 starts from field players in 2024, they get only 94 back from eight players who made starts in the field.
• The Lions are bringing back leading goal scorer Gijs van Eif and leading assist-man
Mikey Mallon who were both named to the All-CACC Team.
• The defense will be helped out by the returns of
Oscar Jannesson and
Alessandro Cavallini.
• In net, GCU has experience on their side with both
Sotirios Gkosdis and
Ayendi Batista back in the fold who have a combined 37 career starts in goal.
• The season opener saw
Leo Elder,
Anthony Ryan,
Sander Rynning and
Bryan Sanchez all make their first career starts.
Scheduling Quirk
• All season long the Lions don't play more than two straight games at home or more than two straight on the road.
About Saint Thomas Aquinas
• The Spartans were able to get two games in last week, going 1-1.
• They won at home against fellow CACC opponent, Dominican, 2-0.
• Kevon Evans, who scored twice last year against the Lions is back once again. He's picked up a goal and an assist this year on 10 shots. In 2024, Evans scored 11 goals and 29 points.
• All four Spartan goals have been scored by different players. They also have an assist on three of their four.
• Dante Muntane has started both games in goal, making 11 saves with a 2.00 GAA and .733 save percentage with a shutout win over Dominican.
• The Spartans are all about getting shots up. Their eight shots on goal per game ranks 14th in Division II.
• STAC can also be aggressive at times, as indicated by their six yellow cards in two games.
