Roster  |  Schedule  |  2024 Statistics

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Slippery Rock University men's soccer team was positioned third in the 2025 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division preseason coaches' poll, the league office announced Wednesday.
 
Defending division champions Gannon tallied five first-place votes and was picked to once again capture the PSAC West while Seton Hill took the remaining first-place vote in second place. Following third-place Slippery Rock in the coaches' projection were Lock Haven, California (Pa.) and Pitt-Johnstown.
 
2024 PSAC Tournament champions Bloomsburg was tabbed to win the Eastern Division with three first-place votes. Millersville (2) and East Stroudsburg (1) took the remaining first-place votes in second and third place, respectively, followed by West Chester, Shepherd and Shippensburg.

A LOOK BACK AT 2024
Slippery Rock is coming off a great 2024 campaign in which it went 9-4-5 for the program's first winning season since 2015. The Rock also qualified for the PSAC Tournament for the first time since 2019 while advancing to the semifinals before having its season end against eventual champions Bloomsburg on penalty kicks.

WILHELM BACK FOR YEAR 8
Slippery Rock went through three coaches over a five-year stretch between 2013-17 prior to Kevin Wilhelm accepting the head coaching role. Now in his eighth year at SRU, Wilhelm has provided much-needed stability within the program while steadily building The Rock back into a contender inside the PSAC.

HELP ON THE SIDELINES
Robert Serra was brought on over the offseason as a fulltime assistant coach. A native of San Antonio, Serra most recently served as an assistant coach for two seasons at fellow Division II institution St. Mary's University.
 
Working primarily as a goalkeeping coach, Serra oversaw a defensive third that included both the 2024 Lone Star Conference Goalkeeper of the Year as well as the LSC Defensive Player of the Year. St. Mary's goalkeeper was also named a first-team consensus All-South Central Region honoree in the 2024 season.

A LOT TO REPLACE
Wilhelm and Serra will be tasked with replacing six athletes that started 10 or more games a season ago including All-PSAC West honorees Arturo Pla Hernandis, Rasmus Fugl, Aitor Jorde and Ignacio Rullan. In all, SRU is without 78.1 percent (25 of 32) of its goal production from last year.
 
SRU will also be breaking in a new goalie following the departure of Adam Davies – The Rock's starter the last two seasons who played a combined 3,142 of a possible 3,170 minutes over 2023 and 2024.

BUT STILL PLENTY OF RETURNING TALENT
Despite the abundance of lost production, the roster is hardly void of returning talent as Slippery Rock brings back six athletes which appeared in at least 10 games a season ago - including All-PSAC West defender Colton Spence.

RETURNING SENIORS
Spence more than lived up to expectations a season ago in his first year at SRU. The Robert Morris transfer was one of two Rock field players to start all 18 games and was a constant on the field, playing the full game duration 16 times. Spence spearheaded a Slippery Rock defense that limited opponents to 4.4 shots on goal and 4.6 corner kicks per game to go with five points on two goals and one assist offensively.
 
A veteran of 46 career games played, defender Jack Smith was another crucial piece of The Rock's back line a season ago with 11 starts over 17 games played and an average of 74.2 minutes per game. He also finished the year tied for third on the team with three assists.
 
Midfielder Colton Swanson was off to a great start to his Slippery Rock career before suffering a season-ending injury early in the year. A graduate transfer from Lock Haven, Swanson started the first four games of the season for The Rock before having his year cut short with points in three of the four bouts. Swanson closed the season with six points via two goals and two assists.
 
Rounding out SRU's returning seniors are forward Rocco Birns and defender Ethan Boland, both of whom appeared in one game last season.

RETURNING JUNIORS
Defender Gabin Lonjard and midfielder Ryan Hanes have played in every game during their first two years at SRU.
 
Hanes was on the field for an average of 88 minutes per game last year on the way to finishing with one goal and one assist while Lonjard is a 2023 All-PSAC West honoree who has started 33 of 35 games played in his time at SRU.
 
Another fixture on the pitch for The Rock over the last two seasons is forward Aashi Pandher, who has started 24 of 34 games played in his college career with nine points courtesy of three goals and three assists with 20 shots on goal.
 
After not playing in a game as a freshman, midfielder Jacob Glancy saw an uptick in playing time as a junior with six appearances last year. He scored his first collegiate goal in The Rock's 2-0 win versus Pitt-Johnstown.
 
Defenders Samuel Kightlinger and Nate Stalter as well as forward Dalton DeShong also enter the upperclassmen portion of their careers.

RETURNING SOPHOMORES
Attrition took just two members of The Rock's 2024 freshmen class away from SRU as the overwhelming majority of last season's rookie class are back as sophomores in 2025.  
 
Midfielder Jimmy Irani made an immediate impact in his first year as the local product of Grove City appeared in 16 games while making two starts and tallying one assist while placing two of his five total shots on target.
 
Midfielder Gerard Lopez Marti and forward Kaden Reynolds also return after seeing limited playing time as rookies with three appearances each. Reynolds made the most of his 69 minutes on the field a year ago, with one assist and one shot on goal against California.
 
After not playing during their true freshman seasons, Dylan Bliss and Alvey Kaufman are two of the three goalkeepers that will vie for expanded roles in 2025.

PORTAL SHOPPING
Wilhelm and Serra added three transfers to the 2025 roster with previous collegiate experience in senior midfielder Dylan Greggs, junior defender Patrick Tierney and sophomore goalie Troy Nine.
 
Greggs began his college career at Mercyhurst, spending three seasons as a member of the Lakers. He appeared in 11 games with Mercyhurst and was a part of the 2022 MU squad that won the PSAC Tournament championship.
 
Tierney comes to SRU from West Virginia Wesleyan College, a fellow Atlantic Region school competing out of the Mountain East Conference. He started 12 of his 24 games played for the Bobcats over the last two seasons.
 
One of three goalkeepers on this year's roster, Nine spent his freshman year at Division I Radford before making his way back north. The Lansdale, Pennsylvania native was an all-conference goalie at North Penn High School during his prep career.

2025 FRESHMEN
Included in The Rock's 2025 recruiting class are seven athletes that will be making their collegiate debuts.
 
2025 SRU Freshmen Class
Name-Position-Hometown (in Pennsylvania unless noted)
Jonathan Anthony - Defender - Chesterland, Ohio
Garrett Chandler - Defender - Pittsburgh
Massimo Cuda - Midfielder - Stoney Creek, Ontario
Cornelius Dedecker - Forward - Nykoping, Sweden  
Zsombor Retfalvi - Midfielder - Székesfehérvár, Hungary
Thomas Uckert - Forward - Clarion
Michael Vandermissen - Defender - Noordwijk, Netherlands

2025 SCHEDULE
Slippery Rock's 2025 schedule consists of 17 games including seven non-conference contests and its 10-match PSAC West round robin slate. Nine of the 17 games will be played at The Rock.
 
SRU's non-conference bouts feature a slew of familiar foes from a season ago in D'Youville, Walsh, District of Columbia, Shepherd, Shippensburg and Roberts Wesleyan. Daemen – Slippery Rock's remaining non-conference opponent – has also been a fixture on SRU's schedule as The Rock and Wildcats squared off previously in 20221, 2022 and 2023 before taking last season off.
 
Slippery Rock will play six consecutive non-conference games to open the year before delving into PSAC West competition with only its Oct. 15 game against Daemen breaking up the conference gauntlet.
 
If Slippery Rock finishes in the top three of six teams in the PSAC West, The Rock will see their season continue into the PSAC Tournament for a second consecutive year.
 
2025 Slippery Rock men's soccer schedule:
D'Youville (Sept. 4: Home)
Walsh (Sept. 10: Home)
District of Columbia (Sept. 13 | Away)
Roberts Wesleyan (Sept. 17 | Away)
Shippensburg (Sept. 20 | Home)
Shepherd (Sept. 27 | Away)
Lock Haven (Oct. 1: Home | Oct. 22: Away)
Seton Hill (Oct. 4: Away | Oct. 25: Home)
Gannon (Oct. 8: Home | Oct. 29: Away)
California (Pa.) (Oct. 11: Home | Nov. 1: Away)
Daemen (Oct. 15: Home)
Pitt-Johnstown (Oct. 18: Away | Nov. 6: Home)
 
Schedule notes
• All home games will be played on the grass at Egli Field.
• Slippery Rock has put together an impressive 8-4-4 (.625) record in games played at Egli Field in the last two seasons.
• SRU has finished a year with a losing record at Egli Field just once under head coach Kevin Wilhelm.
• The Rock opens the year with consecutive home games for the first time since 2015.
• Ring of Honor Game: Sept. 20 vs. Shippensburg
 
2025 PSAC Preseason Coaches' Poll
First-place votes in parentheses
 
West Division
1) Gannon (5)
2) Seton Hill (1)
3) THE ROCK
4) Lock Haven
5) California (Pa.)
6) Pitt-Johnstown
 
East Division
1) Bloomsburg (3)
2) Millersville (2)
3) East Stroudsburg (1)
4) West Chester
5) Shepherd
6) Shippensburg
 




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