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Marcantonio garners first-team All-CAA; Coach West faces one of nation's toughest schedules in first year

December 20, 2000

Under direction of new head coach Todd West, the 2000 AU Men's Soccer team (7-9-2, 5-2-1 CAA) battled through one of the toughest schedules in the country. In the process, the Eagles upset then-#21 VCU, 1-0, and earned a tough 1-1 tie with then-#3 St. John's while also staging hard fought battles against perennial powerhouses Georgetown, Maryland, James Madison (#19), Rutgers, Duke and Virginia (#8).

The team finished its last season in the conference in third place in the CAA with a record of 5-2-1, concluding its season winning three straight games. Due to their departure to the Patriot League, AU, as well as UR and ECU, were not eligible for this season's CAA Tournament in Virginia Beach. In addition to team success, Eagle players were awarded with individual honors. Nino Marcantonio (So., Bethesda, MD/ Churchill) earned all-conference and region honors, Melvin Espinal (Fr., Houston, TX/ Lamar) and Mike Behonick (So., Bohemia, NY/ Connotqout) captured CAA Player of the Week honors for October 23rd and October 9th respectively, and co-captain Stephen Pedicini (Sr., East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) and Larry McDonald (So., Waddel Village, Trinidad) were named to the Rutgers Classic All-Tournament team in October.

Just two games into the season, the Eagles lost their most experienced player, co-captain Bob Brennan (Sr., D, Northport, NY/Northport). Brennan had started in all 61 of his career games and was the only remaining Eagle starter from the 1997 NCAA Elite 8 team but received a medical red-shirt this season after a shoulder injury. He will return next season for AU.

Marcantonio, coming off of a Soccer America All-Freshman team and CAA Soccer Rookie of the Year performance the previous season, scored 6 goals and had 6 assists for 18 points this year. In addition to earning CAA First-Team honors, he was also selected to the 2000 National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA)/ adidas All-South Atlantic All-Regional Third-Team and will continue to compete for the U.S. Soccer Under-20 National team.

The Eagles used a number of talented and dangerous forwards to round out a potent offense. Adam Rosen (Jr., Millburn, NJ/ Millburn) had 4 goals and 3 assists in 17 games for the year, giving him a total of 47 points for his career. Newcomers Naoufal Tajini (Jr.-T, Casablanca, Morocco/ Lycee (University of Maryland)) and Melvin Espinal each saw significant playing time up-top with Tajini registering an assist in nine games played and Espinal finishing with 3 goals in 16 games played. For his two-goal performance in AU's 4-1 win at UNC Wilmington, Espinal was awarded the CAA Player of the Week for October 23.

Midfielder Kris Bertsch (So., Clinton, NJ/ Pingry) led the Eagles with 8 goals in addition to 2 assists (18 points) this season. Bertsch's offensive power was timely as he finished the season strong, tallying at least one point in each of team's final six games and recording 4 game-winning goals. Among those heroics included the game-winning goal in the team's 1-0 finale against Richmond at home on November 4th.

Jon Colton (Jr., Springfield, VA/West Springfield) and Pedicini anchored the midfield with experience and spark. Colton registered 4 goals and 4 assists in 18 contests while Pedicini tallied one goal and 2 assists, starting in all 18 games.

The midfield also featured a young contingent of Matt Kopacka (Jr., Kenvil, NJ/ Roxbury), Kris Kuykendall (So. Fairfax, VA/ Madison), Brendan Kobus (So., West Simsbury, CT/Simsbury) and Michael Grinsfelder (So, Houston, TX/ Cypress Falls ). Kopacka had 15 starts and posted one goal and two assists, Kuykendall made all 18 starts and had one assist and Kobus netted one goal.

This season saw the goalkeeping duties split between Michael Gorsegner (Sr., Redbank, NJ/ Middletown North) and Mike Behonick. Gorsegner started 8 games, posting a 4-3-1 record including shutouts against George Mason and Richmond en route to 43 saves in 750 minutes (1.32 GAA). Behonick made 10 starts recording 44 saves in 968 minutes (1.76 GAA) for a 3-6-1 record and was selected as the CAA Player of the Week for November after 4 saves in 1-0 win at #21 VCU, 6 saves in 1-1 tie at #3 St. John's and 5 saves in a 0-1 loss at Rutgers.

Without Brennan in the lineup, the defense relied on the core of returning players in David Pryor (So., Lawrenceville, NJ/ Lawrenceville), Brett Colton (Jr., Springfield, VA/West Springfield) and McDonald to anchor the back. Colton started 17 games and finished with 3 assists, Pryor started 14 contests and McDonald started all 18 games.

The Eagles will look to build on this year's experience as they return the core of their team, including 9 starters, for their first-ever season in the Patriot League.