ESG - Men's soccer
Open team not strangers with each other, scholastic looks for redemption
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

Amherst residents Brian Knapp, above, and Lee Catchpole, right, are among several University at Buffalo players on the Western Region open men's soccer team. Photo by Joe Eberle Purchase color photos at www.BeeNews.com

Team chemistry should not be a problem for this year's Western men's open soccer squad at the Empire State Games.

Western, winners of the last two gold medals, features eight players who played for, currently attend, or are headed to the University at Buffalo to play men's soccer.

This year's roster includes UB grads Matt Stuczynski and Brian Knapp of Amherst and Greg Galemore and Dave Chojnowski of Rochester, soon-to-be UB juniors Bob Shuttleworth of Tonawanda and Marc Stencel of Cheektowaga and soon-to-be senior Lee Catchpole of Getzville. Jimmy Eiahas of Milton will be attending UB in the fall. Knapp, Galemore, Stuczynski and Chojnowski are playing open for the third straight year. Catchpole was a member of open last year.

"Competing with these guys during college and then in the summer is good because we get a chance to play a lot together," said Catchpole, originally from Norwich, England.

"It's nice to have played with the guys before," added Knapp. "Everybody knows what each other can do."

Western coach Dave Hesch, also UB's head coach, couldn't agree more.

"With some of the other regions, something could go wrong and the boat could sink pretty fast," he said. "Most of the guys (on Western) are familiar (with each other) so if the wheels start falling off the bus, they'll pull it together to win."

Hesch, a Grand Island resident, said Nick Wheeler of Tonawanda, Stuczynski, Chojnowski and Kyle Mansuch of Rochester will comprise the starting defense. Stuczynski is the team captain who Hesch says "kills himself on the field and pulls the team together."

Stencel and Knapp are penciled in at left and right midfield, respectively. Williamsville resident Al Franjoine, a Lancaster High graduate, and Galemore will play at center midfield with Catchpole and Keith Mansuch up top at forward. Shuttleworth, backed by Gavin McInerney of Buffalo, replaces Chris Cage as Western goalkeeper.

Franjoine and Wheeler are also veterans of the Games. Franjoine is playing on open for the fourth time. Wheeler played on the scholastic team in 1999 and open since 2004.

"Nothing is a given," said Wheeler, a Kenmore East graduate and assistant men's soccer coach at Canisius College "It's a brand new tournament. Everyone is going to be coming after us pretty hard."

Rounding out the team is defender Kyle Mansuch of Rochester and midfielders Chris Carpenter of Lockport and Levi Tesch of Wolcott and Mark Konitsch of Clarence.

Konitsch, a 2007 Clarence High graduate, is one of the youngest players on the team. Konitsch, who tried out for the scholastic team as a high school freshman, was surprised he made the open team.

"I knew it would be much harder to make than the scholastic team because players are older and there is no age limit," said Konitsch, who scored 38 career goals and 38 assists and was named twice to the New York State and All-Western New York teams as a member of the Red Devils. "Coming from high school, I'm real happy to make the team."

Hesch thinks Western has a lot of speed and the ability to score goals, something they had problems with during last year's Games.

"Last year, we didn't score many goals (four) but this year I see us scoring a lot," said Hesch, who will be assisted by his brother, Jim, an Amherst resident and head men's coach at Canisius College.

"We dominated games last year but couldn't score goals," added Knapp. "We didn't have any real finishers. We had a goalie that kept us in games."

Western's quest for a three-peat begins at 9 a.m. on Thursday against New York City at Rye Brook Athletic Fields, 830 King St., Rye. Their second game is at 4 p.m. on Friday versus Long Island.

"It's gold medal or bust," said Wheeler. "If we don't win, then we didn't do anything."

"I've been reading in the Clarence Bee over the last few years that Western has won gold so being able to help the team out and win gold would be a great accomplishment," added Konitsch, who will attend the University of Cincinnati.

Scholastic

Western coach Michael DiNunzio hasn't forgotten how last year ended up for the scholastic team.

Western outshot Central, 17-8, in last year's final and lost 1-0 on a penalty kick. The problem is there are only two returning players.

"It makes it a little harder," said DiNunzio who also coaches the JV boys team at Amherst Central and the U-13 and U-14 girls teams for Delaware Soccer Club. "Usually we have about four return but some chose ODP (Olympic Development Program) over Empires."

The scholastic team has nine Buffalo players and seven from Rochester.

For the Buffalo players, it's their only chance to play on scholastic as all are going to be seniors at their high schools in the fall. The Buffalo contingent includes Williamsville's John Piaggione (midfield) and Brian and Sean Durfee (midfield and forward, respectively) of Williamsville North, Williamsville's J.J. Hughes (midfield) and Jordan Zaprowski (defense), both who attend Clarence, Depew's Kamil Cislak (goalie, Lancaster), Snyder's Ryan Walter (midfield, Nichols) and Lockport's Nathan Bechtold (midfield, Lockport) and Kyle Craig (goalie, Starpoint).

Zaprowski and Hughes have played for years together through high school and Delaware Soccer Club.

"We've been playing a long time together and we know how each other plays," said Hughes. "He supports me and it works out well."

For Cislak, the Games are an opportunity to showcase his goaltending talents at a high level. Cislak backed up All-WNY goalie Bill Eberhardt at Lancaster last year. He got a head start to displaying what he can do in net helping the Delaware Soccer Club International team win a tournament over Memorial Day weekend.

"It's exciting," said Cislak. "I'm ready to play my best."

Hughes and Bechtold were All-WNY second team selections. Hughes, Zaprowski, and Piaggione were ECIC I first team picks. Sean Durfee and Brian Durfee were ECIC I second and third team selections, respectively.

Walter earned Monsignor Martin Association first team honors. Craig was an ECIC III second team selection.

The rest of the Western lineup is Rochester's Josh Faga (midfield) and Ben Thorne (defense), the team's only returning players, as well as Rochester's Yannick Prescod (midfield), Brad Shelofsky (defense) and Konrad Witkowski (midfield) and Webster's Matt Schuber (forward).

DiNunzio thinks Western has speed, skill and size but is concerned with his team's depth.

"One through nine, we're very strong," said DiNunzio. "I'm worried about 10 through 16 because of the new faces."

Western begins men's scholastic competition against Central at 9 a.m. on Thursday at Blind Brook High School, 840 King St. in Rye Brook. The Games are being held in Westchester County.

"The first game is real important," said Zaprowski. "We don't want to lose the first game because it will get us down for the whole weekend."

The players don't want to return without gold.

"I think if we don't go and actually achieve a goal, it would be a disappointment," said Zaprowski.

"We recently had a scrimmage in Rochester and coach made it pretty clear we're going down there to win gold," added Piaggione.

"Every year I've coached the team we've been in a medal round," said DiNunzio. "We're going down there as a group of guys to make new friends, have fun, and treat it as a learning experience. If everyone meshes together and follows me, we'll win a gold medal."

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com