Staten Island, NY - The College of Staten Island Men's Soccer team will open their season, Wednesday, September 8, against non-conference East Stroudsburg University (ESU) in Pennsylvania. Game time is set to start at 4:00pm. This will be the first ever meeting between both squads. The Dolphins have been practicing for nearly a month now and are more than ready to get back on the field of play. The men's team is one of the youngest to step foot on the grass in CSI men's soccer history, boosting 19 freshmen this year, to go along with six sophomores (some have not yet played a single game for the Dolphins) and two seniors.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Dolphins last played a game in 2019, where they finished with a record of, 10-5-1, against a mostly Division III schedule as they entered their first year as a provisional Division II school. Fast-forward to today, CSI is now in their third and final year of provisional status with only a few players returning from the 2019 men's soccer roster and will play and exclusive Division II schedule for the first time. The Warriors of ESU, have played two games thus far this season, having beaten Felician University, 6-0, and then losing to Molloy College, 1-0, two days later; both were away games for the Warriors as they will host their home opener against the Dolphins later today.
 
DOLPHINS TO WATCH
The lone two seniors on the team, Breny Salas and Bryant Navarro, both have played over 50 games for the Dolphins under head coach John Tardy since 2017. Tardy will look to his seniors this year to mold the freshmen on the team to his style of play on the field. CSI Freshmen goalie, Omer Hamzacebi will be in the net for the Dolphins, coming off a four-year career at Susan E. Wagner, where he saved 117 shots during his High School playing days for the Falcons. CSI Sophomore, Daniel Angulo, who was recently named captain for the 2021 season, will be looking to lead the charge on the field for the Dolphins having played 16 games (starting 14) in 2019 where he shot a .450% on shots-on-goal. For the Warriors, CSI will need to put pressure on ESU's goalie, Evan Miele, who in 2019 played in 18 games allowing a hair under one goal per game; currently, he is coming off a, 1-0, loss where he allowed one goal and saved one against Molloy College.
 

 SOCIAL MEDIA
Instagram Accounts:                 Twitter:
@CSIDolphins                         @CSIDolphins
@CSIMensSoccer