Game #1 vs. Canisius (MAAC)
Info: Thursday, August 22
Syracuse, N.Y., Ted Grant Field, 4 p.m.
Watch: NEC Front Row .... Live Stats: lemoynedolphins.com
Canisius Links: Schedule | Roster | News 

Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College men's soccer team will kickoff the 2024 season at home Thursday against Canisius University, with the match set to start at 4:00 p.m. following the Le Moyne women's soccer team's game against Niagara University, which is slated for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff at Ted Grant Field.

Matchup History:
Le Moyne holds a 9-0-2 all-time record against Canisius, with the first 10 meetings occurring between 1967 and 1977. The matchup was renewed last season, during Le Moyne's debut Division I campaign. The Dolphins traveled to Buffalo and erased two different deficits to record a 2-2 draw against the Golden Griffins, with the help of a goal from Noah Sperduto and assists from Felix Ludemann and Cameron Stuart.

Le Moyne outshot the Griffs by a tally of 16-12, and held an 8-3 advantage in corner kicks.

Previewing the Dolphins:
Le Moyne head coach Callum Donnelly '17, M '21 enters his second season leading the program after guiding the Dolphins to an NEC Tournament appearance in 2023 during the team's first season in the conference. The Dolphins return 15 players from the 2023 squad, including six of the team's top-seven points leaders.

Senior defender Jack Goodrich (Kelsall, England/King's School Chester) is set to begin his fourth campaign with the Dolphins after registering a team-high 15 points last season via four goals and seven assists (t-8^th most in a single season in program history) on his way to receiving All-NEC First Team honors.

Midfielder Ziad Abdul-Malak (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) tied Goodrich for most goals on the team with four and recorded an assist, while forward Felix Ludemann (Wrestedt, Germany/Herzog-Ernst-Gymnasium Uelzen) also tallied nine points with three goals and three assists in his first collegiate campaign to earn NEC All-Rookie recognition.

As a sophomore in 2023, Cameron Stuart (Fulton, N.Y./G. Ray Bodley) provided two goals and two assists, while forwards Noah Sperduto (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira) and Jakob Priestman (Leek, England/Westwood) contributed two goals and an assist each. Priestman was named to the NEC All-Rookie Team along with Ludemann.

Le Moyne also returns sophomore defender Maximilian Huss (Karben, Germany/Elly-Heuss-Schule), who was the only Dolphin to play every minute of every game in 2023, as well as goalkeepers Wyatt Dupell (Cicero, N.Y./Cicero-North Syracuse) and Matthew Gera (Jamesville, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt).

Donnelly has added five transfers to the team in Victor Boje Henriksen (Saint Rose), Vito Kreuzpaintner (UNC Wilmington), Michael Krzeminski (St. Petersburg), Brady McNulty (Niagara) and Justin Pham (Dayton), along with eight freshmen.

After earning the sixth seed in the 2023 NEC Tournament, which extended the program's conference postseason appearance streak to 22 consecutive seasons, Le Moyne was picked to finish fourth in the 2024 NEC Preseason Coaches Poll. Ahead of the Dolphins were preseason favorite and reigning regular season champion Saint Francis, followed by the reigning NEC tournament champion LIU and FDU. New member Mercyhurst was picked fifth, followed by Stonehill, Chicago State, Central Connecticut State and Howard.

Assistant coaches Casey Murphy and Anton Mullen return from Donnelly's inaugural staff, and will be joined on the sideline by new assistant coach Connor McGoldrick.

After playing seven of their eight non-conference games on the road in 2023, the Dolphins will play five non-conference games at home this season against Canisius, Delaware (Sep. 7), Saint Peter's (Sep. 11), Niagara (Sep. 21) and Lafayette (Oct. 15).

Scouting Canisius:
The Griffs are led by third-year head coach Michael Tanke and compiled a 2-11-5 record in 2023, including a 1-6-3 resume against MAAC opponents.

Canisius returns seven of its top eight points leaders, including senior forward Ely Sidibe (3g, 4a), junior forward Glodie Mata (4g, 1a), junior midfielder Michael Switala (4g, 1a), sophomore forward Mason Petrucci (2g, 3a), and senior midfielder Dylan Rice (3g, 1a).

During the 2-2 draw against Le Moyne, Switala scored in the 27^th minute on an assist from Rice to put the Griffs in front, 2-1, but the Dolphins equalized in the 66^th minute.

Goalkepeer Jack Petrie is set to begin his senior season with the Griffs after starting 10 matches in 2023.

Up Next:
Following Thursday's match against Canisius, the Dolphins will travel to Binghamton University on Sunday for their first road contest of the season, then will clash with Syracuse University at the SU Soccer Stadium on Monday, September 2.