EASTON, Mass. (August 12, 2022)- The Stonehill men's soccer team has brought in a class of 12 new student-athletes that features two transfer student-athletes and 10 incoming freshmen who look to make an impact on Skyhawks men's soccer in the 2022 season.
Stonehill's first transfer is Carlos Dias Neto who joins the purple and white from Massasoit Community College where he showed he was one of the top goalies in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCCA). In over 1,200 minutes of action (1, 295:00) in 15 games started, he posted a minuscule 1.04 Goals Against Average that included four shutouts. Neto posted 74 saves for an 83 percent save percentage and finished the year with a record of 10-3-0.
Nicholas Vitti is a midfielder who previously played at Bryant University where he appeared in six games where Bryant went 3-2-1. Prior to Bryant, Prior to Bryant, he attended Notre Dame West Haven where he was a four-year letter winner and was the first freshman to start on the varsity team in five years. As a sophomore, Vitti tallied six goals and six assists and was an All-SCC nominee and in his junior season, he recorded nine goals and five assists and was an All-SCC nominee for the second straight season. In his senior year, he was named team captain. He also made two appearances in the state tournament as a freshman and junior.
As for the incoming freshmen, seven of the student-athletes played in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL). Outside of the Massachusetts area, two come from Colorado and Ontario, Canada.
Colin Hargraves, Jarod Rapoza, Alexander Kuzmich, and Benjamin Mazza-Bergeron were teammates at New England Futobol Club (NEFC). Hargraves is an elite level defender and was named team captain his senior year while being named the 2021 Team MVP. He also was named to the Eastern Massachusetts All-star team. Rapoza is a forward from Somerset Mass, where he led his team in scoring for three seasons which lead to his two-time selection to the conference all-star team. Kuzmich comes from Abington, Mass., and went to Cardinal Spellman High School. During his time at Cardinal Spellman, he was named the MVP of the Central Catholic League (CCL) and was a two-time CCL All-Star. He currently holds the scoring record for the Cardinal Spellman soccer program. Mazza-Bergeron arrives from South Burlington, Vt. where he attended South Burlington High School before transferring to Worcester Academy. At Worcester Academy, he started on the NEPSAC Class A Championship team in 2019 as a sophomore and then was named team captain in his junior and senior seasons.
Owen Burke and Terrance O'Neill were FC Stars teammates. Burke resides in Holliston, Mass, where he attended Holliston High School. In high school, he was named a Boston Globe and Boston Herald All-Scholastic Team member and was placed on the All-Region Team. He has also earned Tri-Valley League MVP honors twice and was a two-time All-Star in the Tri-Valley League. Blake also was named a two-time All-Star for both the Metrowest Daily News and Eastern Mass. O'Neil is a two-time all-star from the Hockomock league and was also named to the Metrowest Sports All-star Team. O'Neill was also recognized as the hockomorcksports.com Underclassmen Of The Year and in his freshman season, was voted the Team Rookie Of The Year.
Although not teammates, Aidan Doyle and Shane Fonseca arrive from the Boston Bolts. Doyle is from Kingston, Mass., and went to Thayer Academy. At Thayer, Doyle was named to the All-ISL First Team and was an honorable mention for Class B of the NEPSAC. Fonseca comes to Stonehill from Framingham, Mass. where he attended Saint John's where he was named a team captain his senior year and was also a four-year captain for the Bolts. Also in his senior year, Fonseca was the team's leading scorer which earned him a spot on the Catholic Conference All-Star team.
Leading the out-of-state newcomers is Andrew DeBerardinis from Highlands Ranch, Colo. where he attended Mullen High School. During his time at Mullen, he was named to the Centennial Leauge First Team All-Conference and has also received second-team honors. DeBeradinis was also a two-time Colorado Academic All-State First Team honoree and also earned a spot on the 2021 Colorado Boys Soccer 4A First Team. Finally, Christian Giancola comes to Stonehill from Thorold, Ontario, and played at Denis Morris High School, and was named Soccer Player of the Year in his freshman season.
The Skyhawks begin the year with a season-long eight-game out-of-conference road trip starting out with Atlantic-10 member, LaSalle University on Friday, August 26 at 6 p.m. and on September 29, the purple and white host their first Northeast Conference matchup in their home opener versus Saint Francis College-Brooklyn on Thursday, September 29 at 3 p.m.
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