Defending national champions Lions not concerned about three-peat

Matt Dionne | Sports and Health Editor

Featured image courtesy of York Lions

 
York’s men’s soccer team will look to defend their title as national champions when the season kicks off at the end of August.
Last year, the Lions’ men’s team won back-to-back titles for the first time in history. The win marked the fourth time the Lions have won the Sam Davidson Memorial Trophy since 2008.
Despite the recent success, the team has been working harder this offseason according to head coach Carmine Isacco.
“Our approach has been somewhat different. I feel like we’re working harder because we’re going to lose a few key players, and we’re not sure about a couple other ones. So it’s going to be a rebuilding process,” says Isacco.
The Lions will are saying goodbye to midfielder Matt Stinson, goalkeeper Colm Vance, striker Michael Cox and forward Jarek Whiteman. Ben Futorianski is expected to be gone, as is Joey Cicchillo, who injured his ACL during winter training.
Isacco is excited to see who steps up and fills the void.
“We’ve got some players coming in. It’s going to be up to them how they make an impact. They’re going to be good players, but we keep a big roster, and our players who haven’t stepped up and gotten a lot of time in the past are going to have to step up and give us some more minutes.
“Jonathan Lao has always been a stalwart for us; Matthew Arnone who went from a striker to a center back position and was fantastic for us and should have a big impact. We’ll be looking to Malcolm Loukides for a lot more leadership, as well as a couple red-shirts from last year such as Adam LoFranco to step in and do well.
“We’re hoping Cristian Cavallini, who didn’t play last year because he wanted to focus on school, will come back, because he’s quite a talent and he can score goals. We’re going to look to the guys we have to be more responsible.”
When asked about the chance of a three-peat, Isacco says, “We’re not even concentrating on that. We’re concentrating on what we need to do to get better. We’re just trying to be physically, mentally and of course academically prepared for the season. It’s a new game, it’s a new season and it’s 0-0 across the board.”
The Lions open their regular season in the last week of August, with the official date still to be determined.