Hilton, NY—Sage's men's soccer team wrapped the 2019 season with a No. 2 seed in the Empire 8 men's soccer tournament and a 9-9 overall record under the direction of rookie head coach Matt Esposito. With the release of the league's all-conference teams on Wednesday, Sage had five players recognized for their play along the way.
Named to the 2019 Empire 8 Men's Soccer Second Team All-Conference list were a trio of sophomores, Kevin Winglosky (Schodack, NY/Ichabod Crane), Christian Vaalstuen (Lillestrom, Norway), and Giddel Alvarado (Newburgh, NY/Newburgh Free Academy). Junior midfielder Griffin Goodemote (Broadalbin, NY/Broadalbin Perth) was tapped for the Honorable Mention Team, while rookie forward Allan Gonzalez (Lompoc, CA/Lompoc) was selected for the Empire 8 Sportsmanship Team.
Winglosky, who earned second-team acclaim at forward, finished the 2019 season as the team's leading scorer with 11 points on five goals with an assist. He added three game-winning goals to help Sage to victories over Cazenovia, Albertus Magnus, and Utica College. A starter in 15 matches, he has now played in 30 games at Sage with 15 career points on six goals with three assists.
Vaalstuen, who was saluted in 2018 as the Sage Gator of the Year as the team's MVP, started all 18 matches and anchored the Gator midfield. He had a goal with two assists for four points with one game-winning goal to lift Sage past MCLA. He has now appeared in 32 games at Sage with four career points.
Also honored as a defender, Alvarado earned Empire 8 Men's Soccer Defensive Player of the Week acclaim on September 9. Against Baruch, he scored the game-winning goal, while adding an assist in the match as well. He backed up that performance with an assist against Cazenovia to cap the week with four points. Overall on the year, he had a career-best 10 points with three goals and a team-best four assists. In his time at Sage, he has played in 29 matches and now has 11 career points on three goals with five assists.
A junior midfielder, Goodmote capped his season with 17 starts in 18 matches played this year. He was the team's second leading scorer with 10 points on four goals with two assists. He had a pair of game-winning goals helping Sage defeat SUNY-Cobleskill and Houghton to help Sage to a berth in the 2019 Empire 8 Tournament. He has played in 45 career matches at Sage now with 17 career points on seven goals with three assists.
Newcomer Allan Gonzalez earned a spot on the league's sportsmanship team. A starter in one of four matches played, Gonzalez was sidelined for the rest of the season with an injury. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen.
