ACC Conference Preview - 2024
I’ve written somewhat extensively about the ACC over the past several months, so some of this information might be a little repetitive, but across the NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer landscape there are quite a few difficult conferences that can be characterized with competitiveness and parody from year-to-year, and for me, there’s just nothing quite like the ACC.
For potential new fans of college soccer, I sometimes describe this conference as the English Premier League of the college world because it’s highly competitive and each team has star power. If you don’t show up focused and ready, you could find yourself dropping points against anybody, and finding wins is as difficult as it is valuable.
The conference has the respect of the NCAA as well because 9 of the 12 teams in the ACC were invited to the 2023 NCAA Division I National Championship Tournament. Clemson, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Louisville, Virginia, Syracuse and Duke all made last year’s tournament.
From an individual player perspective, it’s a proving ground for some of the best young players in the country.
In this preview, in order of which they appear below, I’ve covered Clemson University, University of Notre Dame, University of North Carolina, Wake Forest University, University of Virginia, Duke University, Syracuse University, University of Louisville and North Carolina State University. Each section ends with their potential starting eleven. Note: The formation on the left side of each of these graphics are the most likely. Additional formations are just a view of what’s possible.
Clemson University
It’s an obvious start to this preview because how could I not begin with the reigning NCAA Division I National Champion?
On their way towards a trophy lifting season, Clemson led the nation in total goals (60) and goal differential (41) while also finishing top 20 in goals against average and shutout percentage. With all the turnover following the ACC Championship and National Championship winning season, just as you may have thought that Mike Noonan and his staff wouldn’t be able to reload, they’ve done it yet again.
The 2024 signing class includes a Gatorade National Player of the Year recipient in Ransford Gyan as they attempt to replace their MAC Hermann Trophy winner from last season. Then there’s Ghanaian forward Abdul Wahabu Musah, who joins as a freshman from Montverde Academy. I haven’t seen him play yet, but I’ve heard he’s one of the best forwards to hit the college game in a while… He will hope to follow the path of former SIMA Gold teammates turned ACC top performers Stephen Annor Gyamfi and Pape Mar Boye. If you mention the three freshmen with MLS experience and a former ACC All-Freshman transfer from Virginia Tech who is also originally from Montverde, you’re still not done listing off this year’s collection from the recruiting trail.
Noonan’s relationship with Montverde Academy is special. He recruited Pape Mar Boye from that early 2023 SIMA Gold team where Penn State’s Momo Cisset also played, and Cisset was just selected to go to the 2024 Summer Olympics with his home country of Mali. Alfred Baafi (High Point), Seydou Diop (Xavier), Malang Mandiang and Mouhamed Pouye (UCF) and other Division I players also featured on that incredible roster.
It's a lot to ask of freshmen to step in immediately and make a championship level impact, but it’s happened before, so time will tell if the praise matches the play. Ousmane Sylla is the biggest loss as the “best college soccer player” from last season. He’s now with Houston Dynamo and playing in MLS NEXT Pro after having made his first team debut in a Concacaf Champions Cup match against Columbus Crew. He led the Tigers with 13 goals and 10 assists last year.
Despite Sylla, Seye and Parrish leaving for the pros, and Elton Chifamba having transferred, the midfield and attack will be in good hands. It’s not easy to tell exactly who will take over the bulk of the workload, but Jackson Wrobel will be one of them to see his minutes rise. In 2022 with Wofford, he contributed 6 goals and 7 assists in 1,453 minutes, and in his limited 401 minutes across 16 appearances with Clemson last year, he maintained that goal contribution ratio. Misei Yoshizama played as more of an attacking midfielder for Virginia Tech over the past two seasons, but he could realistically line up as an eight as well with the way he can drive the ball forward from deeper areas of the field. Joran Gerbet can hold more as the 6 in the event he partners with Yoshizama rather than Wrobel. With a few other midfielders to choose from though, Noonan has a lot to work with in 2024. Captain starter Brandon Parrish is one of the main members of the midfield to be replaced. He’s now with Crown Legacy after having been originally drafted by D.C. United. If there’s a certainty in the Clemson midfield, it’s Joran Gerbet. In his first season with the Tigers, he finished third on the team in minutes played (1,869) behind Gaël Gibert and Joseph Andema, and contributed 3 goals and 3 assists on his way to an ACC All-Conference Third Team honor. The Frenchman came into Noonan’s team after two seasons at Oregon State where he started every match and you couldn’t drag him off the field with the amount of minutes he racked up. For his efforts, he won a bunch of Pac-12 awards. He was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Year as a Conference Champion, and then became the Pac-12 Player of the Year during his sophomore year. As an underclassman, he won back-to-back All-Conference First Team awards as well. If he can help Clemson repeat their success of 2024, Gerbet might need a bigger trophy case.
As Seye’s exit freed up the number 9 shirt, Tyler Trimnal picked up the iconic number after being a great service to the team over the course of last season's tournament campaigns. The do-it-all forward can play anywhere in a front three and provides a variety of attributes to complement the rest of the forward players. To use a cycling term, I often describe him as a domestique because of the work he puts in for the benefit of his teammates. He started every match since November, and in his first start during that stretch, he scored 2 goals against Duke in the ACC tournament semifinal match. He finished the season with 5 goals after also scoring against Stanford in the NCAA tournament. Nathan Richmond also returns after being drafted by Charlotte FC in last December’s MLS SuperDraft. Richmond was an All-Conference Third Team selection along with Gerbet.
Isaiah Easley left for the University of San Francisco, so that opens potential opportunities up for freshman forwards Wahabu Musah and Duncan Wilson, and there are other attacking players that will hope to find opportunities to showcase their ability and contribute to the machine that Clemson has become.
The defense was also affected by departures as outfield minutes leader Gaël Gibert made his way to FC Cincinnati and Shawn Smart found a home in Las Vegas. Pape Mar Boye left after his freshman year, famously turning down a Generation Adidas opportunity in the MLS to sign with Phoenix Rising in the USL Championship. Left wing back Arthur Duquenne and center back Adam Lundegard will retain their starting positions as Noonan identifies new starters on the right side of the defense. He won’t have to worry about the goalkeeping situation as first choice shot stopper Joseph Andema will take his place between the posts as a junior. Former Orlando City center back Mason Lamb has transferred into the team after two seasons with Cal State Fullerton, and there may be another international center back addition from Iceland coming. Whoever ends up joining Lundegard will be joining one of the best U.S. domestic center backs in NCAA Division I. Before signing with Clemson, he played at the USL Championship level with Loudoun United in 2019-2020, making his professional level debut at 15 years and 10 months.
The right back position is another question mark, but it’ll likely come down to returning sophomore Remi Okunlola or incoming transfer redshirt junior Galen Flynn. Okunlola developed within the Atlanta United academy, and during his freshman season with Clemson, he made 4 starts and 16 appearances worth 633 minutes, contributing 2 goals and 4 assists. Flynn joins after four years in the Atlantic 10 Conference, having played three seasons with Fordham and one with Saint Louis.
Like any team that has won two National Championship titles in the past three seasons, the biggest question for an emerging dynasty is how long can they keep this run of success going? They’ll continue to have a target on their back, but it’s something they’ve probably grown used to lately. With the strength of the conference, any team that wants a shot at the national championship must go through the ACC one way or another, so Clemson has been forged by the fiery competition.
In – Ransford Gyan (--), Galen Flynn (Saint Louis), Wahabu Musah (Montverde), Mason Lamb (Cal State Fullerton), Misei Yoshizawa (Virginia Tech), Charlie Reed (Austin FC), Duncan Wilson (Charlotte FC), Vitor Geromel (Sporting Kansas City), Paulino Paz (Bolívar La Paz)
Out – Ousmane Sylla (Houston Dynamo), Pape Mar Boye (Phoenix Rising), Mohamed Seye (Greenville Triumph), Gaël Gibert (FC Cincinnati 2), Shawn Smart (Las Vegas Lights), Brandon Parrish (Crown Legacy), Enrique Montana III (--)
Transferred – Isaiah Easley (San Francisco), Elton Chifamba (Syracuse), Dawson Malcolm (Old Dominion)
University of Notre Dame
Notre Dame were right on the doorstep of a National Championship as they met Clemson in the final, but the Fighting Irish couldn’t follow up their earlier season win against the Tigers as they lost the match 2-1 in regulation.
2023 ACC Coach of the Year Chad Riley has created a top contender over the past few years after securing their school’s first ACC Championship in 2021. Last season in conference play, they finished with the highest winning percentage (.875), scored the most goals (19) and allowed the least (6). Each of those two seasons, the Irish made the College Cup.
Two of the biggest contributors on either end of the goal differential won’t be returning, so that kicks off the questions surrounding South Bend. After putting on a clinic of one touch finishing all season long, leading scorer Eno Nto ended up heading back to England to sign with Derby County but is now looking for his next opportunity at the professional level. Goalkeeper Bryan Dowd was a poster child of the MLS SuperDraft and went 6th overall to his hometown Chicago Fire. At the end of June, he’s been loaned to Nashville’s MLS NEXT Pro affiliate Huntsville City for the remainder of the season.
Even without Eno Nto and Daniel Russo in their 2024 attack, they retain their starting group for the most part and it’s hard not to like what they have to offer in terms of their dynamic movements and speed of attack. I’m not sure if there are plans to adapt to a slightly different formation from the 4-4-2 of last season now that Nto won’t be teaming up with Roou, but it worked well, so maybe it’ll be Wyatt Borso or Nicholas Legendre that step into a more full-time role. Returners Michael Rossi and Jack Flanagan are also in the mix. Borso played over 900 minutes in his freshman season after coming into South Bend from USL Championship competition with Pittsburgh Riverhounds. His sophomore season was marred by injuries, so he’ll be back for action as a junior number 9. Of these four forwards, Nicholas Legendre had the most goals (6) over the summer season in USL League Two, so the Albuquerque native was making a case for himself down at New Mexico United. He also played for Colorado Rapids 2 in MLS NEXT Pro back in 2022, so he has that experience as well in his work history.
Rossi is more of the target type forward at 6’5” 225 lbs. while Flanagan fits the profile I’d expect for the style of play, but unfortunately, neither of these players have really seen the field much for the Irish. They both spent their summers with league newcomer River Light FC.
With a bunch of talent in the advanced areas of the midfield between KK Baffour, Nolan Spicer and Bryce Boneau, I’m not sure how you keep one of those guys off the field unless there’s a forward that can score over 7 goals in tandem with Roou. Admittedly, I don’t like the idea of Roou as a lone striker, so I expect that Coach Riley will figure out a sidekick for him, whether it’s one of the returners or an incoming freshman.
Josh Ramsey and Mitch Ferguson look to pick up where they left off, but they’ll be protecting a new goalkeeper. I didn’t spend much time looking into who that might be, but given the profile of North Carolina transfer Collin Travasos, he’d probably be first choice on paper. There will inevitably be a competition throughout preseason though because there are 5 goalkeepers on the roster. The left back position is open due to Paddy Burns going back to Northern Ireland to become a professional with NIFL Premiership side Cliftonville FC. He brought his tournament experience home and most recently helped lead his team to an Irish Cup winning campaign and now they’re competing in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
This team has a couple of my personal favorite players in the college ranks with Mitch Ferguson and KK Baffour. Ferguson was the youngest starter in Portland Timbers 2 history and built a lot of experience within the Timbers organization before college. He’s now showcasing his ability while having contributed to one of the best defensive seasons in program history. The 6’4” center back has been captaining St. Charles FC in USL League Two over the summer. In preparation for the fall season, I was able to get to know KK Baffour’s game a little more deeply over the summer with his time at Manhattan SC. He especially impressed me during his 4 assist performance against Cedar Stars Rush. His ability to receive, turn, accelerate and drive was a catalyst for success all match long in a 7-3 win. I always talk about the importance of being able to break the lines of the opposition and Baffour has that master key type ability while serving as an advanced playmaker. He’s a great outlet on the breakout and can cause issues for defenders both in attack with his speed and vision, and in defense with a high press.
Going back to their 2021 College Cup run, Notre Dame came back down to earth a little bit during the following 2022 season with a 8-7-2 record. They didn’t make an NCAA tournament appearance that year either. As I mentioned, they bounced back in remarkable fashion in 2023, making the College Cup final. Can Chad Riley prevent a similar College Cup hangover and go for it all once again in 2024?
Mitch Ferguson 2023 Highlights
In – Will Schroeder (Sockers), Ian Shaul (Hartford Athletic), Jacob Bartlett (Sporting Kansas City), Brady Hilden (Shattuck-St. Mary’s), Blake Kelly (Real Salt Lake), Collin Travasos (North Carolina), Stevie Dunphy (San Diego Surf)
Out – Bryan Dowd (Chicago Fire), Ethan O’Brien (Indy Eleven), Matthew Radivojsa (--), Eno Nto (--), Daniel Russo (Atlanta United 2), Mo Williams (--)
Transferred – Lukas Kamrath (High Point), Matthew McLaughlin (Marquette), Alex Salvino (Chicago)
North Carolina
Third to be mentioned is Clemson’s opponent in the ACC Championship game, the University of North Carolina. They were nearly able to see out a 1-0 win if not for Ousmane Sylla’s 83rd minute equalizer but ended up pushing the ACC giants to a penalty shootout before ultimately losing with two unconverted spot kicks.
They even made a respectable run into the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament where they exited the competition after a controversial loss to Oregon State, who played an ineligible Javier Armas. The center back leader of the Beavers should have been suspended for yellow card accumulation, but ended up contributing to a full match performance that held the Tar Heels to only one shot on goal. Either way, they’ll probably feel as though they could’ve done better.
The only updated roster I have is a print out from the Spring Soccer Cup, so this might be a section I’ll need to circle back on, but here’s what I do know…
The Tar Heel defense is great. They matched the defensive performance of Notre Dame as they only allowed 15 goals in their 22 outings. Again, like any of these ACC teams, there will be turnover in key positions year after year, so heading into 2024, Carlos Somoano will introduce new starters to fill the voids left by Matt Edwards and Til Zinnhardt. Whether Kevin Gorbell gets promoted to the right center back position to keep Riley Thomas at right full back, or Riley Thomas moves to Zinnhardt’s vacancy and Tate Johnson becomes the right back, there are plenty of solid options. Gorbell is a 19 year old who joined the team in 2023 after a summer with Inter Miami II in MLS NEXT Pro.
Full back Tate Johnson can play on either side of defense and after seeing him in the spring season, he’s been one of my favorites to watch. Against Wake Forest on March 2nd, he was subbed on and immediately matched the intensity of the match, so his performance jumped off the page to me. Johnson’s definitely not afraid of a challenge and can bring some solid physicality if required. His movements are well identified and he makes himself available by joining the midfield or overlapping into the wide areas. He’s also a good possessor, passer and crosser of the ball, so simply put, he has everything you’d expect from a modern wing back with some added grit to his game. The recently turned 19 year old is another player who gathered plenty of professional level experience throughout his teenage years. USL Championship side Tampa Bay Rowdies offered him an academy contract in 2022 and he made his debut during a U.S. Open Cup match as a 16 year old before making his USL Championship debut 5 months later against Las Vegas Lights FC in a 6-1 win. After he spent the first half of the 2023 season with the Rowdies, he ended up making the move up to Charlotte FC’s NEXT Pro team Crown Legacy where he appeared in 10 games between July and September. He’s a great addition as North Carolina continues to recruit the Tampa area well.
Not too far off Til Zinnhardt’s minutes was his center back partner Charlie Harper, who nearly eclipsed the 2,000 minute mark. He’s another one of my favorite center backs in the country as an accomplished passer with all kinds of range, a ball tracker and interceptor as well as being formidable in defensive duels. He turned down an opportunity to sign with EFL Championship side Birmingham City to come back to Chapel Hill, so clubs are interested in the Australian who grew up in Japan. Harper was also draft eligible for the recent MLS SuperDraft, but it was a surprise that no team took him because he’s worth an international slot in my opinion. For his first summer in USL League Two, he helped Asheville City SC go undefeated throughout the regular season while recording the second best goals against (6) and second best goal differential (31) in a league that has 128 teams. Like some of the other top college players over the summer, he was also invited to train with an MLS club ahead of rejoining his teammates on campus.
Parker O’Ferral got a lot of reps in with NCFC this summer as he’s solidified himself as a first choice full back with any team he’s played for in the past 10 months. Freshman don’t often start for the Tar Heels, so 2023 was his first real playing season. The Puerto Rican National Team call up quite a few players from college and O’Ferral has been one of them from the ACC to experience training camp.
If a team is very successful on the defensive side of the ball, I always look into the midfield as well because I often view them as the first line of defense. The engine behind North Carolina has been Sam Williams, a player that I wrote more about back in March this year. I won’t rehash a lot of the same information, but if you want to read more about my opinion of him, here’s the link:
Sam Williams Profile — March 25, 2024
Serving with Sam Williams last season was Andrew Czech, who was waiting in the wings for two seasons before finally getting his shot in 2023. It was a shot that he took full advantage of as he started in all 22 games totaling 1,892 minutes. There are a couple other midfielders in the roster that have been patiently waiting for their opportunities and it might be John McDowell’s time. I really liked McDowell with NCFC this summer as a consistent starter, so he’s coming back to Somoano’s squad with a lot of good minutes.
Their 2024 season will likely emphasize improving their goal scoring, especially with points leader Quenzi Huerman graduating and signing in the USL Championship. As a team, 34 goals scored isn’t necessarily a bad result, but if they want to challenge for championships again, they’ll need to get more production. They have the players to score the goals, so either the creativity needs to be improved upon, or they just need to go more direct with all the big bodies they have at the center forward position and force their opponents to defend more. Each of the four forwards that I’ll mention in the next paragraph are above 6 feet tall.
Martin Vician was the main man last season, and he notched 10 goals and 2 assists. In his 2nd year of graduate studies, it’ll be his 5th and final year of eligibility. Somoano brought in NC State transfer Luke Hille to help out the attack as well. He’s a good link up type of forward because he gets himself involved with the midfield and he can score in a variety of ways. He’s not just going to wander around up top and wait for things to happen. Danny Lugo comes back to Chapel Hill as a top 10 goal scorer in USL League Two with his 10 goals for Tampa Bay United.
During the spring game when they hosted Wake Forest, I wasn’t overly focused on the tactics of the teams, so I can’t report upon the exact formation, but Somoano seemingly paired Vician and Hille before swapping them out for Lugo and Kitch. Ahmad Al-Qaq was also on the field, so it could’ve just been a usual front three, but maybe he was trying to identify the right combination. The game ended 2-2 in regulation before immediately going to penalty kicks per the competition standard and North Carolina came out on top.
Here's an interesting stat for how the 2023 season unfolded… All but one of their draws were low scoring 1-1 or 0-0 results, and each of their losses were all 1-0 defeats, so it's more evidence that they just need more goals.
Two of the North Carolina youngsters that had good summer seasons included Tate Lorentz and Kai Tamashiro. Neither have had the opportunity to show their skills while wearing Carolina blue, but that might change this fall. Lorentz was a game changer for South Atlantic Division winner Salem City FC. As he was getting subbed on against Charlotte Independence later in the season, one young fan pointed out, “Every time Tate comes onto the field, something good happens.” Only 10 minutes later, Lorentz scored with his left foot from the top of the box to make it 1-0. After a wonder strike from Aidan Morrison tied up the game, Lorentz answered the call again with his right foot from the left side, securing the 2-1 win. Salem City also went undefeated through the regular season and Lorentz ended with 5 goals from the wing. Kai Tamashiro was an important piece towards winning a division title as well, as he similarly added 5 goals to the Sarasota Paradise’s campaign while also providing 4 assists from the wing.
After a 2-3-3 conference record last season, I expect North Carolina to move up the table and potentially challenge for the ACC Coastal division title contingent upon how well their offense performs.
Charlie Harper 2023 Highlights (Credit — Charlie Harper)
In – Luke Hille (NC State), Tate Johnson (Crown Legacy), Matthew Acosta (Rutgers), Hagen Wäsch (Dallas Texans), Michael Dunne (Portland Timbers), Martin Mai (AGF), Ali Al-Qaq (--)
Out – Matt Edwards (Atlanta United), Til Zinnardt (--), Vemund Hole Vik (--), Quenzi Huerman (Colorado Springs Switchbacks), David Bercado (--), Jonathan Sinclair (--)
Transferred – Ernest Bawa (Syracuse), Collin Travasos (Notre Dame), Brock Pope (SMU), Elliot Auderieth (Wofford)
Note: 4-4-2 formation in the middle image only includes U20 players.
Wake Forest University
Over the past several months, I’ve written a lot about Wake Forest University between their prospects heading into the MLS SuperDraft and their recent Spring Soccer Cup winning season. Last fall, on their way to an ACC Atlantic regular season division title, the Demon Deacons were one of the most fun teams to watch in all phases of the game.
Nationally, they were a top 15 team in goal differential (21) behind fellow ACC teams Duke, Notre Dame and Clemson. Despite losing top two attackers Roald Mitchell and Jahlane Forbes to MLS opportunities, I think Wake Forest can replicate the 38 team goals scored a season ago. It was a tally that saw them finishing tied for 20th in the nation, but also, it’s a number that is good enough to compete for a national championship. Without going too far back in time, the past four national champions had a goals per game ratio of 1.67 (Marshall), 2.22 (Clemson), 1.92 (Syracuse) and 2.61 (Clemson). Wake Forest had a goals per game of 2.00, so like I said, they have the offense to compete.
Everybody knows just because you can score goals doesn’t mean you’ll win championships. You have to be able to stop them too, which is what Wake Forest have done. The defense has been led by one of the top goalkeepers in the college game as far as I’m concerned, and recently, Trace Alphin showed even more of that between the 2023 fall season as well as the Spring Soccer Cup season from a few months ago. In the Spring Soccer Cup final, he made over 8 saves in regulation and then denied 2 penalty kicks in the shootout to help his team lift the trophy. In his 19 fall season appearances, he allowed 17 goals (0.90 GAA) while recording 7 clean sheets. More impressively, in 16 of those 19 appearances, he only conceded one goal or none at all.
Those statistics are a part of a collective effort though. They had a strong back line that was led by MAC Herman Trophy finalist Garrison Tubbs, but additionally, I feel as though their well-worked possession style also contributed to their good defensive record because it doesn’t give opponents as many opportunities to create chances if they aren’t on the ball in dangerous areas. I don't have possession statistics, but with the kind of passers throughout the line up last year, they must've had the advantage. As a potential indicator of that, Wake Forest had 119 shots on goal, which more than doubled their opponents over the course of the season.
It was arguably one of the most skilled midfields in the nation with the kind of players Bobby Muuss fielded. Midfield maestro Hosei Kijima and Jake Swallen are now MLS professionals. Kijima has been one of the stars of the recent draft with his first team appearances with St. Louis City SC while even though Swallen is a little lesser known to MLS fans, he was highly regarded among Wake Forest teammates and fans. Noted as one of the most technical players on last year's team, he's now with Sporting Kansas City II. ACC All-Freshman Team selection Liam O’Gara also impressed a lot of scouts and probably would’ve been approached with a Generation Adidas offer if not for an injury that he’s still in the process of working his way back from. The team will look to count on midfield mainstay Cooper Flax who was also a big component of the team last season.
The deep lying midfield role is important to this team and they’ve had a run of bad luck with injuries to Liam O’Gara and Pierce Bateson, who came in as a replacement for the position this spring from UConn. Jake Swallen bounced back from an injury in the past to have a great season, and now Ryan Fessler is back as well to give the midfield a boost, so when O’Gara and Bateson return, it’ll be great to see. But for this 2024 season, there will likely be a rotation for the job. Flax can play anywhere in the midfield, but I think his best role is more of a free moving eight who can help connect the team with his movement and passing combinations. I imagine the veteran Ryan Fessler will be the first choice. In case you forgot about him while he was out last season, he’s a former Sporting Kansas City academy midfielder who made appearances in the USL Championship before heading back to his home state to attend Wake Forest. He has the potential to be the much needed player who can impose his influence on the team in a crucial position. Former Shattuck-St. Mary’s graduate Jose Perez is another candidate. I don’t know much about incoming freshman Joel Torbic, Jojo Davila-Richardson and Dylan Borso, but Muuss hasn’t been afraid of featuring teenage newcomers. So far during preseason, Torbic and Borso have already received praise by some of the more seasoned players. It looks like incoming transfer Basit Umar will be the one taking over for Hosei Kijima though, and if he stays healthy, he can be a big time player for them. Many other schools appeared to have been interested in the Ghanaian midfielder from the University of Dayton.
Picking up where I left off on the back line, Wake Forest are nearly intact defensively from last season. Of course, they lost their captain center back to D.C. United, but Travis Smith Jr. has already stepped in to form a partnership with Prince Amponsah who has over 5,000 career college minutes. Danny Krueger arrived over the winter break and saw some action throughout the Spring Soccer Cup where he even started in the final against NC State. The18 year old defender joined from the Philadelphia Union academy. Wake Forest had success with another Union academy defender back in 2017 with Mark McKenzie. The Demon Deacons went 19-2-2 and won the ACC regular season and tournament championship before their 18 game unbeaten run ended in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals to Stanford, who went on to win their third straight national championship title that year. Another freshman center back option is 6’5” Revolution product Mason Sullivan who looks quite good in his MLS NEXT academy highlights, so if he can adapt to the speed and physicality, he might jump into some matches as well.
On the flanks are last year’s starters Cristian Escribano and Bo Cummins. Escribano has started all but a few matches in his three seasons so far, and as a graduate student, this might be his last even though he has another year of eligibility remaining. The captain is a dual citizen having been born in Madrid. Bo Cummins took ownership of the right full back position in 2023 after a couple seasons of limited appearances. He originally came to Winston-Salem from New York Red Bulls II, making nearly a dozen appearances in USL Championship competition in 2020. Sidney Paris has been getting more minutes lately as well, for both school and country. He’s added a little bit more of an attacking threat as a wing back and has been called up to the Puerto Rican National Team on several occasions. Over the summer, he played all 90 minutes during both World Cup Qualifiers against El Salvador and Anguilla. Paris has quite an eclectic resume. He’s played all over the world throughout his youth including the often-mentioned Vaughn SC and Toronto FC academy having been born in the area. Before Wake Forest, he played at the U.S. Naval Academy for two seasons earning an All-Conference First Team award with the Midshipmen.
Speaking of national team call ups, I have to mention goalkeeper Jonah Mednard as he’s been playing with the U20 Haitian National Team this year. During the Concacaf U20 Championship Qualifiers, he started all three games for an unbeaten 2-0-1 record and 2 goals against in that stretch. Before reuniting with the goalkeeping room in Winston-Salem, he’s back on international duty for the Concacaf U20 Championship after having successfully qualified for the tournament.
Lastly, the attacking group will have their work cut out for them as a replacement for Roald Mitchell will be needed. Mitchell had been tearing up MLS NEXT Pro with 8 goals in his first 5 games with New York Red Bulls II, but he unfortunately sustained an injury and won’t return for the foreseeable future. Leading the depth chart at the center forward spot are two former MLS affiliated attackers Pariss Mitchell and Julian Kennedy. Mitchell, with no relation to Roald, grew up in the Greater Toronto Area, but has spent time with the Colorado Rapids. Kennedy is a Florida native who played with Orlando City B in the past. FC Cincinnati freshman forward Ryan Belal joins the Deacs after getting experience in MLS NEXT Pro, making his debut at 17 years old and scoring his first professional goal a couple weeks later. We’ll see which MLS product can become Mr. Reliable in front of goal and not only lead the line, but lead the goal scoring efforts.
There’s usually a rotation on the wings, but recent Minnesota United draftee Baba Niang has been adding some goals over the spring, having smashed home a goal against Georgetown in March and then had an absolute stunner in the Spring Soccer Cup final. Fans are hoping to see more of where that came from as Niang is coming back for one last season before eventually attending Minnesota’s January training camp. Jeffrey White made more of a case for himself over the spring as well. He also scored against Georgetown in the 3-1 win and started the Spring Soccer Cup final on the right wing. Vlad Walent rounds out the experienced group since he appeared in all 19 contests last fall, providing 2 goals and 3 assists.
There were a lot of high-profile players that needed replacing and it might’ve been a surprise to many that Wake Forest were able to pull out a Spring Soccer Cup title win despite the quick turnaround. It was slightly unlucky to draw Indiana in their first game in the NCAA tournament last season as the Hoosiers and Todd Yeagley are traditionally a tough team when it comes to tournaments. The Demon Deacons have to take care of business in the ACC first, but the goal will probably involve competing for a coveted ACC Championship title and then progressing further into the NCAA tournament this time around.
Travis Smith Jr. 2023 Highlights
In – Danny Krueger (Philadelphia Union), Dylan Borso (Chicago Fire), Ryan Belal (FC Cincinnati), Jojo Davila-Richardson (Chargers), Joel Torbic (Barça Residency), Pierce Bateson (Connecticut), Mason Sullivan (New England Revolution), Will Jackson (--), Owen Barnett (Atlanta United)
Out – Garrison Tubbs (D.C. United), Roald Mitchell (New York Red Bulls), Hosei Kijima (St. Louis City SC), Jahlane Forbes (Charlotte FC), Jake Swallen (Sporting Kansas City II), Aethan Yohannes (FC Den Bosch), Camilo Ponce (FC Tulsa)
Transferred/Unkown – Alec Kenison (Northeastern), Samuel Jones (--), Leo Guarino (Boston College), Mwinso Denkabe (--), Oscar Sears (--), Chase Oliver (Penn State), Devin Armstrong (NJIT), Pranav DuBroff (--)
University of Virginia
Before Clemson took back control of the NCAA National Championships for the ACC in 2021, the title evaded the ACC for 6 years after the University of Virginia won it in 2014. The Cavaliers nearly broke that hiatus in 2019 when they met Georgetown in the championship game but lost in a penalty shootout.
For MLS fans that might not know the history, Bruce Arena led Virginia to four straight national championships back in the 1991-1994 seasons before becoming the head coach of D.C. United. He went on to win two MLS Cups, a Supporters Shield and a U.S. Open Cup during the 1996 and 1997 seasons. Current head coach George Gelnovatch has had success as well with 2 National Championship titles and 5 College Cup appearances since 2006. I bring these examples up because Virginia has the potential to pop up as a legitimate contender.
Anyway, here’s what happened recently…
Virginia finished ahead of Duke and North Carolina in the ACC Coastal division standings but came in 2nd behind College Cup finalist Notre Dame with a 5-2-1 conference record. They also made another NCAA tournament appearance before being bounced out by Indiana who previously took down Wake Forest in the second round.
Two of the biggest departures were ACC Co-Midfielder of the Year Mouhameth Thiam and ACC Freshman of the Year Stephen Annor Gyamfi. Surprisingly, only Annor moved on to the professional level after being drafted in the first round to Houston Dynamo on a Generation Adidas offer. Thiam became the first player in over ten years to win the Midfielder of the Year award but didn’t get a professional opportunity.
Aidan O’Connor and Leo Afonso also made their way into the MLS as O’Connor was taken by New York Red Bulls as their only pick in the draft, and Afonso went back to a familiar Inter Miami organization. O’Connor started every match for defense that allowed less than one goal per game and is now with New York Red Bulls II. He ended up making his MLS debut back in June in a 1-0 win over Orlando City. After scoring 5 goals in his first 5 appearances in MLS NEXT Pro, Afonso was promoted to the first team where he’s made over 10 appearances since joining Messi’s Miami. There were 12 players from Virginia that made the eligible players list in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft.
Only one other player from Virginia was given an All-Conference award at the end of the season and that was Brendan Lambe who made the All-Freshman list. I was able to see more from Lambe at NCFC over the summer and his reputation matches his ability. He has already made his professional level debut at 15 years and 8 months with Atlanta United 2 back when they used to play in the USL Championship. He ended up playing the following two seasons there before attending college. Unfortunately for Lambe, the starting midfield group are all returning. Italian midfielder Umberto Pelà doubled the amount of minutes played by Lambe and started every one of the 18 matches. Albin Gashi served alongside Pelà and he’s been a consistent first choice center midfielder for George Gelnovatch since arriving from Sweden.
Unlike the midfield, restocking the forwards and center backs was an important requirement heading into 2024. I’m excited to see how the new forwards perform as Joaquín Brizuela looks like an interesting prospect from Godoy Cruz in Argentina. At an initial glance, the 6’2” striker looks like he’ll be a perfect fit for the team as they look to replace Annor’s 10 goals, and to be honest, they’ll probably need more than the 28 total goals from last season anyway. They’ve also added AJ Smith who dominated at the NJCAA level with Tyler Junior College. He scored 18 goals and assisted 6 times in 20 starts. If Virginia can get a combined 18 goals from these two, that’d already be an improvement from the highly regarded pair that they'll be asked to replace.
Wing backs Paul Wiese and Reese Miller return as near-permanent fixtures of the line up. Both have been starters ever since they were freshmen. Wiese enters the new season as the team's reigning assists leader and he should be happy with the new targets in attack given their size.
The Cavaliers found their new center back in Nick Dang, who transferred in from Lipscomb University. It was one of the most notable moves in the transfer portal because of what Dang was able to achieve over the past two years. As a redshirt freshman, he was named the ASUN Freshman of the Year after finishing second in minutes for outfield players and helping his team to an impressive 14 goals against record. He followed it up in 2023 with an All-Conference First Team while yet again playing nearly every minute. In those seasons, they made the NCAA tournament twice and had a combined record of 24-7-6. Will Citron started with Aidan O’Connor, but has since graduated. Austin Rome will be one of the more experienced defenders on the team to see his minutes potentially increase while another transfer Luc Mikula will also fight for a starting spot after upgrading from Coastal Carolina.
Don’t sleep on Virginia. Even with the offensive and defensive changes, they maintain a lot of strong pieces. If they can get the new forwards up and running, they could pose some problems for the ACC and NCAA alike.
Joaquín Brizuela Recent Highlights (Credit — DG Football Agency)
In – Nick Dang (Lipscomb), Hayes Wood (Virginia), Cameron Yriondo (Seattle Pacific), Drew Serafino (Boston College), Luc Mikula (Coastal Carolina), Tom Miles (Lubbock Christian), Anthony Faupel (St. Louis City), Alex Parvu (New England Revolution), Spencer Sanderson (Austin FC), AJ Smith (Tyler), Joaquín Brizuela (Godoy Cruz), Michael Howard (Atlanta United), Baka Kante (Kansas Rush), Jed Akwaboah (Cedar Stars Bergen), Grant Howard (Virginia Tech), Willem Ebbinge (Harvard)
Out – Stephen Annor Gyamfi (Houston Dynamo), Mouhameth Thiam (Free Agent), Leo Afonso (Inter Miami), Aidan O’Connor (New York Red Bulls), William Citron (--), Elias Norris (--), Jack Singer (--), Axel Ahlander (--)
Transferred – Michael Tsicoulias (New Hampshire), Holden Brown (Indiana)
Duke University
Duke University had one of the most star-studded teams in the country last season and six of their starters are now professional players. That’s a big overhaul on the hands of John Kerr and staff. Fortunately, they’re bringing back some top core components throughout the position groups.
But first, let’s look into the kind of year they had last season. First of all, they finished with the best scoring offense in the country with 50 goals in 18 games (2.78). Much of what took them from a good offensive team to a top offensive team were the 6-0, 7-0, and 7-1 wins over Furman, Howard and Virginia Tech. Even without those results being as high scoring as they were, the Blue Devils would’ve still finished in the top 20. In the ACC Championship quarterfinals, they lost in penalty kicks to eventual champion Clemson, and they ended up losing in their Second Round match up against Western Michigan in the National Championship tournament. It wasn’t an easy opponent by any means. The Broncos were 4th in the nation in goal differential and they had the NCAA Division I golden boot winner. Nonetheless, they’ll want to improve despite the turnover.
With all the departures, Duke ended up having the shortest roster in the Spring Soccer Cup season, so reinforcements were needed before the fall. Two of the most notable additions in my opinion are Colton Pleasants and Wessel Speel.
On that note, I’ll start with the defense first. Pleasants has been a standout all spring season, and after the Duke team returned from Australia, he was good to see with NCFC in the summer as well. He’ll take over the responsibilities left behind by right full back Amir Daley. After a couple seasons worth of injuries, it’s been great seeing him in such a good run of form, and hopefully that continues this fall. Serving with him in defense will be one of my favorite center backs Kamran Acito. In his two underclassman seasons, he nearly played every minute of every game. After receiving the ACC Freshman of the Year and All-Freshman Team awards in 2022, he got no love from the voters in the recent season. But he wasn’t the only one, so I guess that’s one of the challenges of being in such a talented conference. His spring season center back partner was also named to the ACC All-Freshman Team but missed last fall season due to injury. That would be Axel Gudbjornsson. Incoming transfer Jack Zugay or maybe even NYCFC freshman Alex Hauschild could also step into Antino Lopez’s vacancy and connect with Acito. Rounding out the back line is Ruben Mesalles, who could’ve probably been the 7th starter to go professional, but he ended up returning to Duke despite being selected 84th overall in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft.
Wessel Speel comes in as a replacement to Julian Eyestone, and given his experience, the defense might even improve. The 6’7” goalkeeper has had a lot of success since coming to the United States from FC Utrecht. At a high level, the wins speak for themselves. In his 75 game career at Hofstra University, he went an impressive 5-2-3, 18-2-2, 14-4-3 and 14-3-5 across each of the seasons. Among all Division I goalkeepers, in his last season in Hempstead, he finished 4th in Minutes Played (2,020), 18th in Goals Against Average (.802), 7th in Clean Sheets (9) and 22nd in Save Percentage (.788) nationally. Not counting the COVID-19 season, the Pride went to the NCAA Division I National Championship Tournament each of the years that Speel was in net, two of which were to the third round of the competition.
Sitting in front of the defensive unit in the line up will be another one of those core components in Kenny Hot. He shares a similar story to Kamran Acito, as he has been a consistent starter since joining the team in 2022. He was also named to the ACC All-Freshman Team with Acito and Gudbjornsson. Hot is kind of an unsung hero of the team because being the deep lying midfielder is often a thankless job and without advanced analytics, his name doesn’t show up on the obvious categories that many casual viewers tend to gravitate towards. But make no mistake, he’s an important player in an important position for any team. His attributes allowed for guys like Nick Pariano and Wayne Frederick to be more adventurous going forward and their performances have since earned them professional opportunities in MLS NEXT Pro. Before joining Duke, Hot played for New York City FC in MLS NEXT Pro, but New York Red Bulls have his rights from an earlier academy stint followed by a 2020 season in the USL Championship with New York Red Bulls II. In 2021, he made the switch to Hartford Athletic, making 7 appearances in the top division of USL. Despite all of this experience between the pro leagues and high level college, he’s still only 20 years old as he becomes a junior. His team will need his influence more than ever now that their roster has been stripped down for parts.
Hot will likely operate with Cameron Kerr, Bull Jorgensen and Felix Barajas in a diamond, or a similar central three with added wingers in Luke Thomas and Jose Ortega if they go to a 4-3-3 formation at times as well.
Despite the departure of ACC Offensive Player of the Year Forster Ajago, Duke retains his strike partner in Ulfur Bjornsson. The 6’3” Icelandic forward had 10 of Duke’s 50 goals and he’ll be the target yet again in 2024. He can play as a lone striker or in a partnership, as the formation seems to change every so often. Transfer forward Adam Luckhurst might get lucky if he pairs up with Bjornsson up top as he looks to improve upon his 6 goals with South Carolina last season. He was a Sun Belt Second Team selection as a captain in Columbia.
They’re a smart and talented group, so I’m sure they’ll figure out how to maintain their standing in the ACC. They’ll always be a dangerous team that won’t be taken lightly. I also think there will be late additions or announcements leading up to the season.
Ruben Mesalles 2023 Highlights
In – Adam Luckhurst (South Carolina), Colton Pleasants (UNC Wilmington), Wessel Speel (Hofstra), Caleb Donaldson (--), Emmanuel Petrov (UCSB), Hudson Hazelwood (Washington), Jack Zugay (Michigan State), Alex Hauschild (NYCFC), Trevor Burns (Georgetown), Jamie Kabussu (New England Revolution), Adrian Byasiima (--), Julius Suber (--), Niclas Wittur (Wingate), Caleb Donaldson (--), Sol Arbib (--)
Out – Julian Eyestone (Brentford FC), Amir Daley (FC Cincinnati 2), Antino Lopez (Seattle Sounders), Nick Pariano (Philadelphia Union II), Wayne Frederick (Colorado Rapids 2), Forster Ajago (Nashville SC), Lewis McGarvey (--), Cameron Fisher (--), Krew Verratti (--), Fahmi Ibrahim (--)
Transferred – Miguel Ramirez (Georgia State), Jai Bean (--), Bryce Barnum (--)
Syracuse University
Syracuse University are a recent NCAA Division I National Champion having summited the peak of college soccer in 2022 with a 19-2-4 record. They scored 48 goals and allowed 18 that season. In 2023, both of those categories slide in the wrong direction, resulting in 35 goals for and 26 goals against. Despite the dip in performance, they still only lost 5 games, and during the season, they went unbeaten against top opponents Penn State, Louisville, Wake Forest, North Carolina, Clemson and Virginia and made their way up to 18th in the country by the end of the ACC tournament. Given the results, and the ACC tournament run, I wouldn’t count them out.
A few of the top talents to leave the team include ACC Co-Midfielder of the Year Jeorgio Kocevski as he was drafted by Orlando City in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft. Buster Sjöberg was actually drafted in the prior year to the Vancouver Whitecaps, so after he went back to finish his college career in the 2023 fall season, he joined the Canadian organization for the MLS NEXT Pro side. Fellow defenders Josh Belluz and Gabriel Mikina also headed west for a opportunities with Colorado Rapids 2 and St. Louis City 2 at the conclusion of the season.
One of the highlighted names for a lot of people will be Nicholas Kaloukian as a potential prospect. The New Jersey native grew up within the Cedar Stars Academy and has been the go-to-guy for Cedar Stars Rush this summer. In the first four games of the season, he already had 5 goals. He can break the line as a direct threat from through balls, find spaces in the box to finish crosses, and square up defenders 1-v-1 and create opportunities as well. Kaloukian has also made 3 appearances for the Armenian U21 National Team, most recently during the UEFA European Under-21 Championship Qualifiers back in March. He even had an assist on his debut against Macedonia last summer. Looking at his time so far in college, he hit the ground running at the University of Michigan back in 2022 where he was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman Team. With the Orange, he was one of four players that started every match as he finished the season atop the stat sheet with 6 goals and 3 assists. I have a feeling that the overall attack will improve further in 2024 as Kaloukian looks to increase his direct goal involvements.
Pairing with Kaloukian will probably be the North Carolina transfer Ernest Bawa. Last season, he had 4 goals and an assist in only 4 starts as he wasn’t the preferred attacking option for Somoano. Many of us are probably hoping to see more of him in 2024 as his college career starts to come to a close. Norwegian forward Daniel Burko who lit up the NCAA Division II level with 20 goals in his 17 starts with Lincoln Memorial University will be another option as a more natural number 9. Burko spent a portion of the summer up with Ballard FC and scored a few goals in his abbreviated workload.
It’s a team that depends on transfers and Elton Chifamba will also be key. He started almost every game for Clemson as a sophomore but ended up seeing his minutes cut by more than half in 2023, which must have motivated the transfer. He came into Clemson in high regards, having developed within the Columbus Crew academy where he earned U.S. Youth National Team call ups, but things just didn’t seem to pan out. He won two national championships during his time down south and will hope to make a big impact with his new home. I imagine he’ll get plenty of opportunities as a result of the move. Sam Layton of SUIE also made his way to Upstate New York after making a summer pitstop in Burlington as a member of Vermont Green in USL League Two. He had 6 assists over the past fall season and won an All-Conference Second Team award before joining Syracuse over the spring, so he’s already gotten minutes with his new teammates. Unless more additions are made, I see Layton joining the back line given his size and overall ability.
Two of the big contributors over the past year are midfielder Nathan Scott and wing back Gabe Threadgold, and both are west coast born former MLS academy players. Scott started over 20 matches in MLS NEXT Pro with the San Jose Earthquakes second team back in 2022, playing over 1,800 minutes before his time at UC Riverside. He continued to crunch the minutes in his freshman year, starting every match in 2023. Leading into his first fall season with Syracuse, he served his second summer season with San Francisco Glens, appearing in every regular season game and helping the team finish third in a tightly contested division. Threadgold played nearly the same number of minutes as Scott over the summer with Vermont Green in preparation for the fall as the new right wing back in the line up. Also like Scott, Threadgold started every game in 2023 for his former school of Washington.
Spending time with Threadgold at Vermont Green was new teammate Carlos Zambrano. The junior attacking midfielder spent his underclassman seasons with Daytona State in the NJCAA level where he was consistent year-over-year. He had 7 goals and 7 assists in his 14 freshman starts and then repeated the production with 6 goals and 9 assists in 13 starts as a sophomore. If McIntyre’s men can get even half of that from Zambrano, he’d be on par with his predecessors.
There were only a handful of returners from the previous season and Ezra Widman is one of them. He made some appearances last year as the only freshman on the team and this coming year, the goal for him is to start getting more meaningful minutes and starts. If Ian McIntyre wants to control the midfield in any upcoming match this season, he could roll with Nathan Scott, Elton Chifamba and Ezra Widman as a three man core. Coming in to Syracuse a year ago, Widman notably won the 2023 U19 MLS NEXT Championship with New England Revolution prior to putting on the orange and blue. He another one that I want to see more from.
One of the up-and-coming midfielders is Tanzanian 18 year old Aboykye Bikyeombe who enrolled in Syracuse after being in the Real Salt Lake organization. He made his MLS NEXT Pro debut two months before his 16th birthday, so he might follow the recipe of Widman’s freshman season where he gets an occasional taste of ACC competition.
…and there could be some great news with the potential return of Giona Leibold, though I don’t know the timeline or expectations. The German was an important component of the 2022 National Championship winning team.
As I led off with, you can never really count Syracuse out, even with an almost fully overhauled roster. It’ll be fun to see what comes of their 2024.
Nicholas Kaloukian 2023 Highlights (Credit — Nicholas Kaloukian)
In – Ernest Bawa (North Carolina), Sam Layton (SIUE), Elton Chifamba (Clemson), Ben Rosenblatt (Elon), Nathan Scott (UC Riverside), Gabe Threadgold (Washington), Daniel Burko (Lincoln Memorial), Carlos Zambrano (Daytona State), Aboykye Bikyeombe (Real Salt Lake), Michael Acquah (Lindsey Wilson)
Out – Josh Belluz (Colorado Rapids 2), Pablo Pedregosa (--), Gabriel Mikina (St. Louis City 2), Stephen Hasse (--), Mateo Leveque (--), Jeorgio Kocevski (Orlando City), Julius Rauch (--), Lorenzo Boselli (--), Felipe D’Agostini (--), Rodrigo Almeida (--), Daniel Diaz Bonilla (--), Giona Leibold (--), Nate Edwards (Toronto FC II), Buster Sjöberg (Vancouver Whitecaps 2), Olu Oyegunle (--), Jackson Glenn (--), Tony Shaw (--), Francesco Pagano (--), Michael Suski (--)
Transferred – Stephen Betz (Marist), Andrea Di Blasio (Boston University), Aidan Arber (Marist), Antonino Pagano (Coastal Carolina)
University of Louisville
Finishing behind Syracuse in the ACC Atlantic division with a 2-4-2 conference record was the University of Louisville. With an overall record of 12-6-3 and ACC tournament wins over Pitt and Notre Dame, the Cardinals have the potential to compete with anybody. But they’ll have to do so without quite a few players from last time out.
Louisville had three players drafted in the 2024 MLS SuperDraft and Damien Barker John was the only one of them to commit to the professional route. The 19 year old recently made a loan move to Phoenix Rising after signing a contract with the Real Salt Lake organization. Josh Jones was also selected by them, but him and Gage Guerra have chosen to return. Guerra was drafted by Portland Timbers.
From last year’s 21 game season, only three players started every match and two of them have since left the program.
Center midfielder Bradley Sample ended up finishing his college career last season and was offered a professional opportunity with Pittsburgh Riverhounds in USL Championship. In his 5 seasons with Louisville, he started all but 5 games and appeared in 90 total. Those will be pretty big shoes to fill, but it looks like incoming transfer JP Jordan will take over the responsibilities. Jordan made a transfer after only appearing 580 minutes at Southern Methodist last season as a junior. In the back half of the season, he was limited to 23 minutes per game as it appears that he fell out of favor. He’s a ball winner, distributor and a good manager of the midfield. During his most successful season at SMU as a sophomore where he started every match, he was described as “one of the best ball-recovering midfielders in the country.” When his team are in the attacking third, he’s also capable of moving into a higher position to work in combination plays with the attackers, or hover around to provide slightly deeper support. But let’s see what Jordan can do in a new environment. He was going to be in the ACC one way or another, as SMU have also now joined the NCAA’s current top conference. Jordan will face his former school on the last game of the regular season when Louisville hosts the Mustangs in a conference showdown.
During the College Spring League season back in the spring semester, JP Jordan was named to the South Division All-League Team along with attacker Chase Vazquez, so things have already started off well.
The other staple of the line up over the past two seasons that has moved on is Quinton Elliot. Indiana University has enlisted the services of the highly regarded left wing back as they make another attempt towards the summit of college soccer. Todd Yeagley reunites Elliot with his fellow Columbus Crew affiliates JT Harms, Samuel Sarver and Jack Lindimore for his junior season, but it’s a tough loss in personnel for John Michael Hayden.
It doesn’t stop there though. Former Cyprus Youth National Team attacker Konstantinos Georgallides is headed down to UNC Greensboro where Chris Rich and staff are building a contender that looks capable of reclaiming the SoCon title. Georgallides had back-to-back identical 4 goal 3 assist seasons in his first two seasons in college soccer. Center midfielder David Boccuzzo returns home to Florida with a move to Florida International University after also playing two seasons with Louisville. He provided 6 assists in his 1,400 minutes in 2023. Bryce LeBel leaves Louisville after having graduated with his sports administration degree and will now pursue a master's program at Northwestern University. It's another school that has put together a noteworthy 2024 roster and the New York Red Bulls II defender should jump straight into the line up with Nigel Prince. LeBel started in 64 of 65 games in his four years with Louisville and was an important piece of the team throughout.
Time for the good news… There have been a bunch of new players announced that we’ll all be able to get to know more that they’ve entered ACC competition. They’re also bringing back key pieces of the program in Gage Guerra, Josh Jones and Alex Svetanoff.
Gage Guerra scored 7 goals in his 659 minutes last season and I anticipate that number will grow. He’s had quite the reputation after scoring 10 goals in 15 starts to become the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year during his 2022 season at Army West Point.
After becoming one of the big names of college soccer as a result of the draft, a lot of eyes will be on center back captain Josh Jones and the kind of season he’ll produce. The professional level awaits the 6’5” Philadelphia area native, so he’ll want to cap off his college career to the best of his ability. Soccer journalist and good friend José Núñez and I recently talked with Josh Jones about his experiences and the full article can be found here:
Goalkeeper Alex Svetanoff has had a great summer with FC Tucson, helping them clinch a playoff berth before heading back to Louisville. He’s been able to watch his club make it all the way to the USL League Two Western Conference Final.
Sander Røed should be back with the Cardinals for his senior season. He went back to Norway for the summer to play for Stoppen Herrer. The attacking midfielder was invited to the MLS College Showcase and was on the draft eligible players list after he made the All-Conference Second Team last fall.
There are certainly enough players on this roster to outperform last season. Their 2023 record was good enough to challenge for a national championship because Clemson won a title in 2021 with 5 losses and Maryland won it all in 2018 with 6 losses on their record, but it’s the goals conceded that’s the issue. Even though they were able to go goal-for-goal in some of the higher scoring games, they were also blown out against a couple of the ACC’s top contenders. The past ten national championship winning teams haven’t allowed more than a goal per game throughout their campaigns, so I doubt they’ll be okay with allowing 36 goals again in 2024.
As for the potential line ups, there are a lot of newcomers that I don’t know much about, so inevitably the team sheets might look different once the season arrives. They’ve added a couple Toronto FC products and a Leicester City U21 midfielder. I also thought Bilal Camara stood out in a spring season exhibition against Davidson College, so we’ll see how much he’s able to contribute.
In – Jack Boring (Tennessee SC), Harvey Sellers (Indian Hills), Noah De Blasis (Toronto FC), Ola Ogunleye (Sockers), Michael Lee (Toronto FC), Luca Hollenstein (USF), Ola Arntsen (Evansville), Leon Kondić (Triglav Kranj), Jack Lewis (Leicester City), Bilal Camara (Limestone)
Out – Ryan Troutman (Louisville City), Damien Barker John (Real Salt Lake), Bradley Sample (Pittsburgh Riverhounds)
Transferred – Bryce LeBel (Northwestern), Quinton Elliot (Indiana), Konstantinos Georgallides (UNC Greensboro), David Boccuzzo (Florida International)
North Carolina State University
When Marc Hubbard was hired by North Carolina State University to take over the program back in December, I wrote a breakdown of the kind of environment he and his staff will be attempting to turn around. My belief in the Raleigh revival ahead of the Spring Soccer Cup season was met with naysayers that questioned NC State’s ability to win along with the quality of their existing players. Only a few months later, they proved people wrong as they competed well in the Spring Soccer Cup contests, leading them to the final against Wake Forest.
Referencing some of my posts back in January this year, there are probably a few main objectives for the team as they head into the fall season. A point of consistent optimism has been their strength at home, holding a combined record of 18-9-5 over the past three years. It’s their away form that has been troubling. Last season, they went winless with a 0-6-1 record on the road. As stated, it’s a highly respected conference, so teams really only need to win a couple of conference games on top of having a decent out-of-conference record to have a shot at a national tournament invitation. NC State went 1-5-2 in-conference last season. Syracuse (2-1-5), Louisville (2-4-2), North Carolina (2-3-3) and Pitt (2-3-3) all made it to the national tournament.
Now to get into the roster and see what the players have been up to lately…
Quite a few of the Wolfpack stuck around the Raleigh area this summer as Hakim Karamoko, Drew Lovelace, Eitan Rosen, Lawson Abass, Jarvis Cleal and Calem Tommy played their summer ball with Wake FC, while Samuel Terranova, Ervin Cruz and Caden Tolentino were with NCFC. A little further down I-40, Santiago Hoyos and Yves Tcheuyap contributed to Salem City’s unbeaten regular season.
With the kind of USL League Two season that Drew Lovelace just had, scoring 10 goals to finish tied for 7th on the scorers list, he might be a bigger piece to Hubbard’s puzzle than people may have expected. It kind of makes you scratch your head about his lack of playing time under George Kiefer because during his underclassmen seasons, he only saw the field for 664 total minutes. We’ll have to see what Hubbard has in store for the hometown kid who’s now a junior. Colombian forward Santiago Hoyos joins from Gardner-Webb University and even though he’s not really known to play monster minutes, his goal contributions per minutes played is respectable, and he’s definitely a passionate player from what I saw over the summer, so he may also make an impact. Hakim Karamoko is a player that I continue to talk about as one of my favorite prospects at the college level and I’m excited to see him with an expanded role under new leadership. It’s still crazy to think he will play his sophomore season as an 18 year old after making the ACC All-Freshman Team in 2023. He still has a lot of untapped potential, and plenty of teams have his name highlighted to see what he does next.
Hakim Karamoko Profile Article
Donovan “Gusto” Phillip will be an interesting addition as well. The forward had 5 goals and 7 assists for Oakland University in his Horizon League Freshman of the Year accredited season. Another top award winner that transferred in was Eitan Rosen who scored 10 goals on his way to a Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year award. After a breakout season at Boston University as a senior, Wolfpack fans will hope that Rosen can replicate that kind of goal scoring in Raleigh.
Two of the surefire features of the Wolfpack are newcomers Taig Healy and Isaac Heffess, who followed their coach from New Hampshire over the winter. For the USL League Two fans out there, you’ll have heard of the Seacoast United Phantoms due to their reputation around the league, and Healy and Heffess are the star players of that summer club as well. I’ve talked about Taig Healy more in-depth within the Northeast Division Prospect Team report, but he’s a special player and he continues to show his ability as a raumdeuter type attacking midfielder. He’ll be a key component of the midfield and its translation into the attack for the ‘Pack.
2024 USL League Two Northeast Division Prospect Team Report
Anchoring the midfield on the defensive end will be Vusumzi Plamana as a classic defensive midfielder who has been around the team since 2021. Plamana has a rather unique life story, and a great heart and spirit as a result. As he enters his senior season, he’s the right guy for the job between his work rate and dedication to the team. I thought his spring season looked really strong as a single pivot. He’s made appearances for the South African National Team at the U17 and U20 levels as well. His stability allows for the box-to-box eights to get up into the attack more confidently. Henrique Santos and Junior Nare were previously listed as forwards in last year’s roster, but they’ve been better in the middle of the field where I’ve seen them lately and have been updated accordingly. Midfield veteran Will Buete is still with the team as well after starting every game he played in the past two years.
With the goals against being an issue last season, it’s important for NC State to figure out that aspect of their game. Like any sport in general, you can’t be giving up too many goals or points and expect to rise to the top of the competition. As a big fan of solid defensive work, one of my favorite sayings that I say to my teams is, “It’s pretty hard to lose games if you don’t concede goals.” It appears that was one of the objectives for Hubbard and his staff as they work to flip NC State’s script. They’ve done so by adding two starting transfers to the back line.
Isaac Heffess is somebody that Hubbard knew very well, having spent the 2023 season together at New Hampshire. In his first year of play, he was the team’s minutes leader while starting all 20 matches and was named to the America East All-Rookie Team. The other transfer that has made his way into the starting eleven is Canadian full back Yves Tcheuyap. He did the same thing as a freshman when he jumped straight into the starting line up down at East Tennessee State University last fall. He recorded 1,513 minutes while also starting every match and contributed to a 10th ranked defense in Goals Against Average (.755) nationally. Already this spring, he has shown himself to be an active member in the attack as well as maintaining his defensive duties. He scored in the Spring Soccer Cup final back in late April against Wake Forest.
There will likely be a goalkeeping competition this preseason because of how Samuel Terranova, Lucas Hatsios and Ben Voase shared the workload in 2023, so there wasn’t a clear favorite among the previous coaching staff. Maddux Francis didn’t make an appearance as a freshman, but he’s back for 2024. Voase has recently signed to play in the Northern Premier League with Bridlington Town AFC and Lucas Hatsios is no longer listed on the roster, so he might be out of the equation as well. I imagine it’ll just come down to incoming transfer Logan Erb and returning sophomore Samuel Terranova. Erb moves out east with quite the resume attached. He was the starter for San Diego State last season, making 17 appearances, and he allowed 18 goals on his way to a Pac-12 All-Conference Second Team award. But that’s not all. Prior to his freshman season with the Aztecs, Erb was a member of the Houston Dynamo organization where he trained with the first team and also registered a clean sheet in his debut at the MLS NEXT Pro level on May 25, 2022. This summer, he helped the AHFC Royals achieve an undefeated regular season. Only three other teams in the 128 team league accomplished that feat. Despite splitting the season with Hatsios and Voase, Terranova led the group in GAA (1.80) and Saves (27) despite having the least amount of minutes (450). He was thrown into the action after watching the first 13 games to face Clemson, Duke, High Point and Syracuse twice at the end of the season. Though they didn’t manage a win against some of the most challenging teams in the country, Terranova helped earn three draws across the contests. The NCFC product also had a good summer season with his boyhood club in a difficult South Atlantic division of USL League Two, so it’ll be quite the goalkeeping room in Raleigh.
With the stylistic changes to enhance the existing group of players combined with the mindfully identified additions, these guys want to have a positive start to the rebuild. Despite some success in the spring season, they all know the job isn’t done by a long shot. They know the tall task ahead of them, but who can count them out when you consider all the pieces they have in place now?
I’ll be updating the potential line ups once the roster is updated on their website. I expect at least a couple more player announcements as well.
Hakim Karamoko 2023 Highlights
Vusumzi Plamana 2023 Highlights
In – Taig Healy (New Hampshire), Isaac Heffess (New Hampshire), Yves Tcheuyap (East Tennessee State), John Pottle (Seacoast United), Adam Fam (Colgate), Gusto Phillip (Oakland), Eitan Rosen (Boston University), Logan Erb (San Diego State), Santiago Hoyos (Gardner-Webb), Liam Bennett (New Hampshire), Enzo Carvalho (MidAmerica Nazarene), Nakai Antoine (Port Washington SC), Belmar Joseph (Villanova), Will Noecker (Binghamton)
Out – Ben Voase (Bridlington Town), Kendall Edwards (--), Parker Underwood (--), Jeremiah Luoma (--), Scotty Taylor (--), Cam Murray (--)
Transferred – Luke Hille (North Carolina), Yuta Toya (Seattle), Gio Ceja (Sacramento State), Gabi Velez (UCF), Emil Thyregod (Charleston), Lucas Hatsios (--), Jonathan Cisneros (--), Brendan Peeples (--), Lazaro Gonzalez Jr. (--), Andrew Fox (--)
