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Introduction: The College of Saint Rose comes into this fall aiming to improve on its successful 2013 campaign when the Golden Knights advanced to the Northeast-10 Conference Championship for the first time in their 14 years as a league member. Stephen Hogan has taken over as the head coach as serving as an assistant to Matt Jones the previous three years.
 
Seven starters are among 14 returning letterwinners from last year's team that finished 8-10 overall, and in eighth place in the NE-10 with a 5-8 league record. Thirteen newcomers are also in the mix, including several that should have an immediate impact. All told, the roster has a nice mix with 11 upperclassmen and 16 underclassmen, 11 of which are freshmen.
 
Returnees (14): The returning starters include senior midfielder Drew Wingate, senior forward Jeff Kozlowski, senior back Spencer Franks, junior midfielders Massimo Smiroldo and Nick Iuorno; along with junior keeper Colan Balkwell, junior midfielder/back Tyler Pomakoy and sophomore back Justyn Verbraska.
 
Balkwell posted a 1.62 goals-against-average and finished second in the NE-10 with 84 saves a year ago. Wingate and Iuorno form the nucleus of a strong midfield group. Massimo could see time up front along with Kozlowski while Pomakoy is expected to initially play as a central back.
 
Also returning is senior forward Ercan Kilic, sophomore keeper Christian Esposito, sophomore midfielders Tyler Casavant, Blake Snyder and Nick Menozzi, and junior back Sam Crocker. Casavant scored three goals and Esposito recorded a 0.56 GAA throughout four starts last season.
 
Newcomers (13): The group of newcomers includes six midfielders, three backs and a pair of forwards.
 
Junior Marco Pavlin, a transfer from Belhaven University in Mississippi, and freshmen Nathan Brown and Keagan Ciaschetti should solidify the midfield, sophomore Joshua Hanif, who arrives via Cedarville University in Ohio, is expected to have a prominent role up front, while freshman Chris Connolly and junior Pablo Lajeunesse should figure in the back configuration.
 
The latter arrives from Georgia Southwestern State. Brown and Hanif, along with fellow freshmen Kyle Wright, Juan Felipe Lozada, and Jeffrey Roche, were with the team, but did not dress, a year ago.
 
Three other freshmen in Kledis Capollari, Matthew Nocito, and David Haston could all play prominent roles as well. Freshman forward Ryan Rooney is not expected to suit up in 2014.
 
Schedule: Saint Rose will open its 2014 campaign with four consecutive home matches. The Golden Knights kickoff off the year versus Molloy on Thursday, September 4, at 7:15 pm and then welcome Daemen and St. Thomas Aquinas on Saturday, September 6 and Wednesday, September 10 respectively. NE-10 action gets started on Tuesday, September 16 when New Haven arrives for a 7:00 pm start. The Golden Knights will participate in 17 regular-season contests, 13 against NE-10 opponents, with 10 dates on its home synthetic turf surface, Sullivan Field at the Plumeri Sports Complex.
 
Summation: From an overall standpoint, the goal is to return to the NE-10 Championship and take at least one step further towards a league title. Saint Rose has been picked eighth in the NE-10 preseason poll, which is fair for what may arguably be one of the deepest squads in program history. There is talent on the roster, a nice blend of youth and experience, and a group that is eager to prove that it can compete in the upper echelon of the conference.

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