College Men's Soccer: Hilbert looking for surge of offense
By Michael J. Petro
Tim Kronenwetter believes he’s got the type of offensive punch that will result in a vast improvement this season for his Hilbert squad.
After a lack of offensive production cost Hilbert so many close games last season, the Hawks head coach is banking on it if his team is to better a last place finish in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.
“When you’re scoring 13 goals in 18 games, you’re not going to be in for many wins,” Kronenwetter said. “I expect us to score more this season.”
His higher expectations are the result of the return of sophomore midfielder James Knapp and junior midfielder Eric Russell, both captains, the recruiting of freshman midfielder Shawn Colvin and the transfer of Eden native Eddie Sarcione, a sophomore who will start at forward.
Kronenwetter believes the combination of the four will relieve some of last season’s woes, which included losing six games by a 2-1 score, a pair of those games were in overtime.
Russell joins defensive-minded junior midfielder David Walkow to create what may be the team’s greatest strength in the middle of the field. Knapp will take to one of two outside flank spots in the midfield.
“Our midfield play should also be vastly improved,” Kronenwetter noted.
Up front, Colvin comes to Hilbert after scoring 21 goals in his senior year for Iroquois, while Sarcione, a 20-goal scorer himself as a senior at Eden, transferred from Penn State Allegheny. Both will help create some excitement up front for Hilbert.
The Hawks should once again be solid in net as Buffalo State transfer Kamil Cislak takes to the starting role, while freshmen Jeremy Kraska continues to push for playing time.
In front of them leading the defense will be returning starters Ed Heffron, a junior who was a candidate for all-conference honors last year, and sophomores Scott Cvetkovski, also a team captain, and Tom Chaney. Freshmen contending for playing time as fullbacks include Josh Walsh-Steines and Sean Manning.
A combination of freshmen Mo Ahmed, Andy D’Amico and Lucas Maslach, a Derby resident and Lake Shore High School graduate, will be used at the outside midfield spot, while sophomore returner Greg Zitnik of Blasdell, a Frontier graduate who scored three times last season, and freshmen newcomer Yonis Osman should also be contributors at forward.
The Hawks began a slate of eight consecutive out-of-conference games Sept. 1 at Wells College. They open at home on Tuesday, Sept. 7 4 p.m. against Morrisville. Hilbert begins AMCC play Sept. 25 at the University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, then doesn’t host a conference game until Oct. 2 against Franciscan.
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