Men’s Soccer The men’s soccer team is looking to build on their success and establish themselves as a force in the Little East Conference following a year that saw its highest winning percentage in six years and the emergence of a young nucleus of talent. The team is anchored by the stellar play of goalie Paul Maniscialcio, a 2nd team All-Conference selection last year, who in his freshman season allowed a miserly 2.18 goals per game and had a save percentage of .723 on his way to 3 shutouts and an 8-7-2 record between the pipes. The defense in front of Maniscialcio is led by stalwart senior defender Mike Reda, who despite his size at 5’9″ 180lbs, is a tenacious ball hound and is a team leader as well. On the offensive side of the ball, the super-sophomore duo of midfielder Romeo Zeqo (7G, 2A) and forward Henry Marin (10G) exploded into LEC play last year and jump started a young offense which is still developing and which also includes the play making abilities of junior midfielders Emile Pierre-Louis (2G, 7A) and Guilherme Goncalves (3G, 3A). The Beacons are already off to a strong start beating out of conference opponents Newbury and Fitchburg State by a combined score of 7-1 led by Zeqo’s three goals, including the eventual game winner against Newbury. The team next plays crosstown rival Suffolk at the field outside of the Clark Athletic Center, September 12th at 3:30.

Women’s SoccerThis is somewhat of a rebuilding year for the women’s soccer program following a year in which the team posted a 3-11-2 record (the best winning percentage for the team in 8 years) and lost many of their starters to graduation. The Lady Beacons will field a very young team this year and should benefit greatly from an influx of promising talent, such as freshmen starters forward Erica Marsters and midfielder Krysten Platte as well as sophomore midfielder Stefanie Marini. This group of precocious youngsters is led by returning sophomore midfielder Katherine Wall (5G, 2A) who looks to build on her breakout freshman season and will also see time at sweeper. In addition to the youth movement, the team will rely heavily on the veteran leadership of senior forward Laura Bullis (3G) and Junior defender Marcia Beatty. The Lady Beacons play their next home game against conference rival Plymouth state September 16th at 1pm on the field outside of the Clark Athletic center.

VolleyballAfter posting a 7-16 record last season, the program’s most wins in 4 years, the volleyball team is looking for dramatic improvement this year after adding a significant amount of talent to last year’s squad. Junior Denise Hill returns to lead this promising group after coming off a season in which she recorded a team-high 182 kills from her middle hitter position. The team is also expecting big things from outside hitter Megan MacAulley and middle hitter Natalie Christ, a pair of freshman from California (Upland and Santa Maria respectively) who eschewed schools in their home state to make the trek across the country and play for the Beacons. Senior setter Julianne Farias is one of the few returning players from last year’s squad and will lend some much needed veteran leadership and stability to this very young team. The team is currently competing in the Plymouth State tournament, but upon their return will play a home game in the Clark center on September 12th against Suffolk at 6pm.

X-CountryThe cross country team is coming off of a very successful season in which they finished third overall in the team championships, in addition to numerous individual accomplishments, and is by many accounts much improved from last year. Senior Sara Shapiro hopes to duplicate a spectacular season in which she ran for three individual all-conference titles, leading the team, and finished fourth overall individually in the Little East Conference. The men’s side is led by junior Mike Levett who wrapped up an individual all-conference title on the way to finishing 20th overall in the conference.