2017 SLIAC Men's Soccer Tournament Preview

FONTBONNE UNIVERSITY 'GRIFFINS'

Fontbonne comes into the tournament as the hottest team in the league, having won seven straight contests. The Griffins secured the league's best record, going 8-1 during the regular season, and capturing the program's first SLIAC regular season title since 2013. Fontbonne led the conference in shots per game this season (17.7) and finished 3rd in goals scored (26) during conference play. Nick Wolf (7 goals) and Blake Smugala (6 goals) are the team's top offensive players while defenseman Greg Ferry (7 goals) is dangerous from the backline. Corey Schmidt led the conference with nine assists. In net, Fontbonne has a senior duo in Jordan Alberici (0.56 G.A.A.) and Tony Pitaro (1.56 G.A.A.). 

Coach: Donnie Alberty
Overall Record: 13-4-1
SLIAC Record: 8-1
Tourn.Appearances:22
Tourn. Titles: 4
Last: 2006

Coaches Corner with Donny Alberti

PRINCIPIA COLLEGE 'PANTHERS'

Welcome back to the SLIAC Tournament! Principia is making their first trip to the postseason since 2010 after going 5-2-2 in conference play this year. Picked 6th in the preseason poll the Panthers won their first four conference games this fall en route to winning five SLIAC games overall, tied for their most conference wins in a season since 2007. The Panthers offense is led by freshman Kaleb Keller. Keller leads the SLIAC with 17 goals, adding two assists, and has accounted for 68-percent of his team's goals. Davi McLeod-Warrick (3 goals) is the only other Panther to find the back of the net multiple times this year. Senior goalkeeper Matt Jones has played in over 1200 minutes this season and holds a 1.53 goals-against average with 48 saves. 

Coach: Jess Semnacher
Overall Record: 6-8-2
SLIAC Record: 5-2-2
Tourn. Appearances:16
Tourn. Titles: 2
Last: 2007

Coaches Corner with Jess Semnacher

WEBSTER UNIVERSITY 'GORLOKS'

Webster wrapped up an undefeated conference season, going 7-0-2 this year, the 5th time in program history they have accomplished that feat. The Gorloks come into the tournament having won 10 straight games at home and feature the best defense in the league this year with five conference shutouts. The Gorloks use a balanced scoring attack with eight players notching three or more goals. Dino Music led the team with four goals and 11 total points while David Allred has a team-best four assists. Tucker Hively helps transition the team from defense to offense and has totaled three goals and three assists. Defensively the backline of Justin Schmidt, Juan Garcia, Cameron Killian, and Eric Tate lead a group that held opponents to just five goals during conference play. The final piece of the defense is goalkeeper Kyle Hertel, who holds a 1.34 goals-against average with 35 saves in over 1000 minutes of action.

Coach: Mike Siener
Overall Record: 12-4-3
SLIAC Record: 7-0-2
Tourn.Appearances:21
Tourn. Titles: 3
Last: 2012

Coaches Corner with Mike Siener

WESTMINSTER COLLEGE 'BLUE JAYS'

It took until the final day of the regular season but the four-time defending SLIAC Tournament Champion, Westminster College, clinched a spot in this year's tournament to defend their title. Facing a challenging early season schedule the Blue Jays began conference play with just one win. But they find their stride and closed the regular season with a 2-0-1 record in their final three games. A young team, Westminster led all teams with 29 goals in conference play. Senior midfielder Daniel Barone paces the Blue Jays attack with nine goals and 21 total points this season, including three game-winning goals. Freshmen Patrick Wisnewski and Brandon Rettke have each tallied five goals on the year with Wisnewski also leading the team with five assists. The Blue Jays have an experienced keeper in Raul Belman in net but sophomore Connor Bandre has actually logged more minutes. 

Coach: Adam Galla
Overall Record: 6-9-2
SLIAC Record: 5-3-1
Tourn.Appearances:18
Tourn. Titles: 4
Last: 2016

Coaches Corner with Adam Galla