ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany men's soccer team is ready to start its 2024 season with a game one road trip to Niagara University on Thursday night. The Great Danes will face off against the Purple Eagles at 6:00 p.m. with coverage on ESPN+.
 
Game Info
Thursday, Aug. 22 at Niagara
Niagara Field at Niagara University, N.Y.
6:00 p.m.
Live Stats | ESPN+
 
Last Time Against Niagara
Thursday's game will be the second straight year UAlbany and Niagara face off in men's soccer. Last season, the Purple Eagles made the trip to Casey Stadium where the Great Danes collected a 2-0 victory. Both goals for the home squad were scored in the first half. The first was scored by Mamadi Jianna just 1:37 into the match on a penalty kick. The second was put in by Ander Castillo in the 36^th minute thanks to help from Timo Jansen and Lovro Horvat. Shafique Wilson earned his 11^th career shutout in the process.
 
New Faces
In early August, head coach Trevor Gorman announced the addition of 12 new student-athletes to the team ahead of the 2024 season.
 
"We are excited to add these players to our UAlbany program," said Gorman. "Some joined us in January and experienced the spring semester adapting to our system and others will join us this fall. It's a talented group that cover all positions on the pitch and have a good variety of characteristics. We look forward to welcoming each of them into our Great Dane family and look forward to seeing their contributions this fall and beyond."
 
New additions to the team include:
Edis Alic: DEF – 6'1 – 175lbs. – Vaxjo, Sweden
Christos Efstathiou: DEF – 6'2 – 180lbs. – Limassol, Cyprus
Breckin Fett: DEF – 5'11 – 180lbs. – Anchorage, Alaska
Luca Grilla: MID – 6'0 – 155lbs. – Orlando, Fla.
Kenan Kanic: MID – 5'7 – 160lbs. – Glenmont, N.Y.
Max Kwitchoff: MID – 5'11 – 175lbs. – Tonawanda, N.Y.
Pedro Lucas: ATT – 6'0 – 170lbs. – Sao Paulo, Brazil
Brennan McDermott: MID – 6'1 – 170lbs. – Rochester, N.Y.
Nassim Nouajaa: DEF – 6'2 – 175lbs. – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Jordan Shullenberger: MID – 6'1 – 170lbs. – Waterbury, Vt.
Kodai Tsuzuki: GK – 6'5 – 185lbs. – Takahama, Japan
Marcos Villanueva: MID – 6'1 – 170lbs. – San Juan, Puerto Rico
 
2024 Schedule
UAlbany is set to face five opponents coming off of 2023 NCAA Tournament appearances. Accounting for the last two seasons, seven of UAlbany's 2024 opponents have made it to the NCAA Tournament at least once and four of them have been seeded. The America East itself was rated the fifth strongest conference last season after having three teams make the tournament with two advancing to the Sweet Sixteen.
 
Thursday's game will mark the official start to the season at Niagara. The team returns to campus next week for its home opener on Aug. 25 against LIU at Casey Stadium. The Great Danes then travel to take on back-to-back Big East opponents in Seton Hall (Aug. 29) and St. John's (Sept. 1) before hosting crosstown rival Siena on Sept. 5.
 
Remaining non-conference home matchups include Cornell (Sept. 14), Syracuse (Oct. 1), and Colgate (Oct. 22) while road matchups include Marist (Sept. 9), Lafayette (Sept. 17), and Rhode Island (Sept. 24).
 
The team's first America East contest is slated for Sept. 28 at UMass Lowell and the team's first conference home game is scheduled for Oct. 5 against Vermont. Other home conference games for the 2024 season include matchups with New Hampshire (Oct. 26) and Bryant (Nov. 5).
 
New Turf, Who Dis?
Saturday's women's soccer game marked the first official contest played on new turf for Bob Ford Field that was installed over the summer.
 
The new playing surface features updated branding at midfield and in both end zones, replacing the original turf that has been in use since the stadium's construction in 2013. The turf project began in late June and was finished in time for soccer preseason practices. The project was completed by Sprinturf, LLC.
 
Unlike the original turf, yardage markers and numbers were not included with the updated surface. The department will utilize a painting system to install necessary markers before home contests to keep a "clean" look when switching between sports.
 
"Everyone is excited for the upcoming fall season, and especially looking forward to playing on a new surface in Casey Stadium," said Gorman. "The players are ready to get to work and we hope the fans will see the benefit of the new turf reflected in the quality of the play on the field."
 
Stay Connected
For more information on the UAlbany men's soccer team, follow the squad's official social media accounts on X and Instagram and UAlbany Athletics on Facebook.